EAR-PF: Mapping the effects of drought on human evolution and East African ecosystems during the late Pleistocene using triple oxygen isotopes and bulk geochemistry in paleosols

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Dr. Emily Beverly has been granted an EAR Postdoctoral Fellowship to carry out research and education plans at the University of Michigan. Using geochemical characteristics of ancient soils (paleosols) understood through the use of multiple proxies, Dr. Beverly will reconstruct paleoenvironmental conditions in the Lake Victoria region in East Africa from about 100,000 to 33,000 years ago. This data will be used with in situ fossils and Middle Stone Age artifacts to bring insights to the question of whether humans migrated out of Africa during a wet or dry period. The education plan will focus on engaging undergraduate students in research. In addition, Dr. Beverly will continue her efforts to encourage and mentor young female scientists by participating in the Females Excelling More in Math, Engineering, and the Sciences (F.E.M.M.E.S.) program at the University of Michigan. The investigator will organize an event related to this investigation for girls in 4th through 6th grade with the goal of increasing excitement about the STEM fields and confidence in their abilities as scientists. Lastly, Dr. Beverly will partner with the Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) Program to encourage science education in local African schools.A new triple oxygen isotope proxy will be used to isolate the influence of evaporation in the water balance in combination with more traditional isotopic proxies and non-isotopic bulk geochemical methods. Complimentary studies of these proxies in modern Serengeti soils will anchor the paleoenvironmental interpretations and allow for the reconstruction of aridity for landscapes occupied by humans to help evaluate the role of long-term drought on human evolution and the emergence of the modern Serengeti Ecosystem. The addition of the triple oxygen isotope proxy will provide a means to reconstruct evaporation and will expand the ability to extract paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic data from paleosols. In addition, the proposed study in East Africa will provide key calibration data for interpreting these geochemical proxies and expand modern soil data available in a climate sensitive region.