National Geographic's newest Explorer-in-Residence

Brilliant Scientist visits Maropeng

When Vince and I first set up house after we were married, his dowry included three things of note to add to our new domestic life. A California king-size waterbed, a stereo and speaker system more suited to Madison Square Garden than to our little one-bedroom apartment, and complete collections of Mad and National Geographic magazines.

I'm not going to go as far as to say his National Geographic collection had an influence on my decision to marry Vince, but like chicken soup when you're sick, it didn't hurt.

my knobby knee sticking into the photo on the far right

We kept up his subscription throughout our marriage until we knew we'd definitely be moving overseas. It was tough making the decision whether to keep the collection in storage in the US or put it out in the recycle pile before we moved to South Africa. In the end, we went through the entire collection and kept the issues we considered sacred.

Like the one on the first lunar landing or the one where a picture of my knee made it into the article about the Jersey Shore. It was from a Yoga on the Beach session in Bay Head. You cannot tell it is my knee. It was not named, but I knew where I was positioned that day Amy Toensing was in Bay Head to photograph us and that is most definitely my knee. No autographs please.

National Geographic photography exhibit @ Chautauqua

w/ Will Steger at a Waterkeeper event at NY's Explorers Club

I actually had the opportunity to study with another National Geographic photographer, Annie Griffiths Belt, during National Geographic week at Chautauqua Institution and I was able to put my studies into action on a National Geographic and Lindblad Expedition in the Galapagos.
 

But those were not my only brushes with the National Geographic Society. When I worked for Waterkeeper Alliance, a world-wide environmental water resource conservation not-for-profit, I was extremely lucky to be to able to meet and, in a very small way, even work with several of my idols, anthropologist and ethnobotanist Wade Davis and Arctic explorer Will Steger, both National Geographic Society Explorers-in-Residence.

National Geographic's Explorers-in-Residence are some of the world’s preeminent explorers and scientists and represent a broad range of science and exploration; they develop programs in their respective areas of study, carrying out fieldwork supported by the Society.

In August, 2013 Paleoanthropologist Lee R. Berger, who is the Research Professor in Human Evolution and the Public Understanding of Science at the University of the Witwatersrand here in Johannesburg, was named National Geographic's newest Explorer-in-Residence.

Berger’s explorations into human origins in Africa over more than two decades have resulted in many significant discoveries, and he directs one of the largest paleontological projects in history, leading more than 100 scientists who are studying fossils from a rich, recently discovered site outside Johannesburg called Malapa. The excavated fossils are currently being analyzed and prepared at Wits University and it is expected that an exhibition showcasing the find will soon follow. Can't wait!

In the meantime we stopped by Maropeng in the Cradle of Humankind to see the latest exhibition of the world-famous cranium fossil Mrs. Ples alongside a selection of hominid fossils discovered in the nearby Sterkfontein Caves located in this important World Heritage Site.

These significant fossils, usually housed in the Archaeology Department at Wits, were let out of hiding for a short amount of time and were on rare display for the public to view. Including this "brilliant scientist" at the tippy top of this blog post whose visit to Maropeng made the cover of  "Nationals Ceographic"! No autographs please.