African Research At The California Academy of Sciences
The California Academy of Sciences (CAS) in San Francisco is one of the four largest institutions of its kind in the United States and is the oldest on the West Coast. Researchers at the Academy study the origins, evolution and diversity of species, their adaptations, systematics and phylogenetics. The Department of Anthropology joins departments of Ichthyology, Herpetology, Ornithology and Mammalogy, Aquatic Biology, Invertebrate Zoology and Geology, Entomology and Botany, as well as centers for Applied Biodiversity Informatics and Comparative Genomics, to study the biodiversity and evolution of living things through fundamental laboratory and field research. This collaborative environment, in which original research and public outreach are given primacy, is an ideal setting for Alemseged’s interests.
Alemseged and the DRP return to the Dikika field site every fall. The team’s research during these field seasons has contributed significantly to the Academy’s research on human origins and has added valuable data to the CAS Anthropological collection. In addition to Alemseged’s anthropological work in Africa, the Academy sponsors a number of different African projects led by researchers in varied disciplines. Dr. Robert C. Drewes, Curator of Herpetology, leads an annual expedition to the Gulf of Guinea Islands (Principe, Sao Tome and Annobon), to study the region’s amphibian fauna. Dr. Frank Almeda, Chairman and Senior Curator of Botany, studies the vascular plants and lichens of the rainforests of southern Madagascar, and members of the Invertebrate Zoology and Geology Department have conducted field work in both Madagascar and South Africa. Additionally, in 2007, Dr. Galen Rathbun and Dr. Jack Dumbacher, of the Ornithology and Mammalogy Department, led a collecting expedition to the Namibian desert. This multidisciplinary approach to the biogeography of the region allows the California Academy of Sciences to study the full spectrum of Africa’s natural history and its vital role as the birthplace of mankind.
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