field geoscience
Olduvai Gorge Summer Field Study
The summer field course in Field Geology and Paleoanthro-
pology at Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania, Africa (EAS-X377) was
held for the fourth consecutive year in summer 2017. We had
a total of 10 students hailing from IU-Bloomington, IUPUI,
University of Nevada, Addis Abbaba University (Kenya) and
the University of Witwatersrand (South Africa). As with last
year, the faculty were Jackson Njau and Jim Brophy, both of
Earth and Atmospheric Sciences.

For those EAS (formerly Geological Sciences) alums who have
taken the course, you will be interested to know that we had
to relocate our camping and dining site to the west of the Old
Leakey Compound. The Tanzanian government has decided
to turn the original compound into a Leaky museum site and
they did not want scruffy faculty and students running around.

As part of this project, the small museum along the rim of
Olduvai Gorge has been replaced with a modern 3-building
museum that was dedicated in summer 2017.

The website address for the Tanzanian field course is
http://www.indiana.edu/~olduvai/ support the
Olduvai Gorge Summer Field Study Program
For the past 4 years, Indiana University has offered a unique five-week
Geology and Paleoanthropology Field School taught in the Olduvai
Gorge region (http://www.indiana.edu/~olduvai). The course has been
a truly valuable and sometimes life-changing experience for students.

The Stone Age Institute (http://stoneageinstitute.org) has provided
generous support from the beginning.

For many students, however, participation is still beyond their reach. An
additional goal of the Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Alumni College
is to raise funds for the Olduvai Field School Scholarship Fund. If you
are interested in helping, a donation can be arranged at the time of
registration or any time thereafter.

There are three donation levels:
Silver benefactors ($100-$1,000)
Gold benefactors ($1,000-$2,000)
Platinum benefactors ($2,000 and above)
For information on adonating to the
EAS Alumni College scholarship fund, please visit
https://www.indiana.edu/~olduvai/alumni/index.html 44 | hgr




EAS Alumni College at Olduvai-Serengeti
In last year’s HGR it was announced that an Olduvai-Serengeti
Alumni College was “in the works.” We are very pleased to
announce that we plan to offer it for the first time this coming
summer (2018). This Alumni College offers an exciting ten-day
educational experience in and around Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania.

Olduvai is located in the Ngorongoro-Serengeti ecosystem
where people and their early ancestors have coexisted with
wildlife for nearly four mil-
are very pleased to
lion years.

We announce that we plan to
offer it for the first time this
coming summer (2018)
It is a world heritage arche-
ological site made famous
by Dr. Louis Leakey and his
wife Mary for their ground-
breaking discovers of early human fossils documenting the
evolutionary history of our species, culture and technology.

The College will be led by IU professors Jackson Njau and
Jim Brophy, along with one or more experienced Tanzanian
safari tour guides. Together, Njau and Brophy represent over
a decade of teaching and research in the Olduvai region while
the safari guides bring their vast knowledge of the flora and
fauna of the Serengeti.

The College will begin in the city of Arusha, which is close to Mt.

Kilamanjaro. As you leave Arusha you will see and learn about the
East Africa Rift Zone, arguably the single most famous geologic
feature in the world.

You will spend several days in the Olduvai region working side
by side with students currently enrolled in a 5-week Geology
and Paleoanthropology field school based out of the original
Leakey research camp at Olduvai.

You will participate in lectures.

You will hike into the gorge.

You will get your hands dirty in the field.

You may even make your own stone tool and skin a goat (if
you are up to it!).

You will experience first hand the local Masaai culture as you
interact with them at both the Leakey camp and at their own
primitive bomas.

After leaving the Olduvai region you will travel for three days in the
nearby Serengeti plain where you will experience African wildlife at
its best. From there, you will return to Arusha and home.

All vehicle travel is in comfortable, robust safari vehicles. All acco-
modations are in first class hotels or safari lodges. In short, you
will be comfortable from beginning to end.

apply for the
EAS Alumni College Program at Olduvai - Serengeti
For information on applying for the EAS Alumni Field School in Olduvai, please visit
https://www.indiana.edu/~olduvai/alumni/index.html hgr | 45