Blog Posts

Water is life and humankind’s best friend and, sometimes, one of worst foes.  Water’s presence or absence, abundance or scarcity has shaped and continues to determine daily life, ecological, and geopolitical landscapes.  From hunter-gatherers to pastoralists, farmers and city dwellers, water is a key component of daily life.  The rights to water are fundamental to life as we know it.  Managing and gaining access to water is the centerpiece of social organization and a major component of unrest.  Not surprisingly, water management is often regarded a major precursor to the origins of civilization.  My research in Eastern Africa is concerend with the origins of the state and governance.  In this expedition, we will study how both rural and urban communities in Kenya and Madagascar manage, use, store, and distribute water.  The principle goal is to enable us to understand the social, political, and conservational implications of water management systems.  Data and knoweledge will be gained through participatory learning.   These expedition will also enable us to understand and, at least think about, the consequences of water scarcity from a variety of perspectives.

Using a polythene transfer pipette as an embedding medium for making hand-cut fiber cross-sections.

Using the portable XRF to zap decorated earthenware from Tanjay, Philippines...

My students and I are currently exploring the biological underpinnings of our human capacity to say hello even to strangers