Rising Star Expedition

  

For those of you who know me well you know I have a lifelong passion for paleoanthropology - the study of early human and human like fossils. I had the great thrill to spend a week last July in Dr. Lee Berger's lab in Johannesburg, South Africa. I had the chance to see the detailed work that is going on regarding his signature discovery, the 2 million year old specimens of the new species Australopithecus sediba which he and his son Matthew discovered in 2009.

This past week his team began the process of retrieving fossils from deep (30 meters down) in a cave located in the Cradle of Humankind near Johannesburg. The team has been doing a GREAT job of sharing their discovery in real time through Twitter. Seeing the work happen like this is amazing and I have been sharing it with my middle and high school students. I have begun creating a daily video update of relevant tweets from teh team to give sort of a "play by play" for those without access or the inclination to use Twitter. Below you will find my videos - feel free to get caught up and experience Science in the making! 

UPDATE (September 2015) - With the results of the Rising Star Expedition soon to be released, I had the chance to visit the Rising Star cave and work with many of the team members.  I interviewed them and many of those interviews can be found at THE RISING STAR INTERVIEWS page here on the Blue Lion Blog. 

Listen to Lindsay Eaves Describe the thrill of getting the skull from the deepest part of the Rising Star Cave to the surface! 

"ACCIO SKULL!"

Thanks so much for sharing this Lindsay!  

I'll be adding new updates and links about the Rising Star Expedition in this space as time progresses! 

• The Nat Geo Rising Star Expedition Blog  
• Lee Berger's Twitter Feed
• Rising Star Expedition's Twitter Feed
• John Hawk's Twitter Feed
• Lindsay Eaves Twitter Feed
• Elen Feuerriegel's Twitter Feed
• Alia Gurtov's Twitter Feed
• Mail and Guardian article detailing the end of Rising Star 2013
• TrowelBlazers Profiles of the 6 Advance Scientists
• Lee Berger's Interview with Boyd Matson on National Geographic Weekend Radio Show - A MUST listen ! 
• Catherine Brahic's superb overview of the Rising Star Expedition from the New Scientist- A great update from November, 2014.

Civil War Days in Allen, Texas

Recently, I was asked by friends to shoot the activity at the Allen (Texas) Heritage Guild’s Civil War Days. I did not expect much from this small event which consisted of a small encampment of reenactors, a realistic medical test and surgeon (including a lower leg amputation!),  a skirmish on both Saturday and Sunday and some dramatic readings related to Civil War letters, the Gettysburg Address, and  a period debate regarding the secession of Texas from the Union.

  

   

As you can see in the images in this post, the event was a success! It was small enough that I was able to get images of many of the activities. In addition, I am very pleased with how they came out. As is now my style, I processed them to reflect images that would have actually been taken during Civil War times. 

    



Please feel free to let me know what you think of these images and especially their level of realism in your eyes - I am striving to develop techniques that lend these digital images a genuine feel of being Daguerreotypes, wet plates, and tintypes from the earliest days of photography. As such, all constructive criticism is welcomed!  Keep your eyes on this space as I'll be sharing my visit to the "Battle of Fort Richardson" in Jacksboro, Texas later this week! 



Thanks again for your support!