Decades of Quaternary Research in Eastern Africa: Implications for Sustainable Future

The Decades of Quaternary Research in Eastern Africa: Implications for Sustainable Future workshop will be held in Mukono, Uganda, from 4-7 July 2017.

This is the 5th Eastern Africa Quaternary Research Association (EAQUA) workshop, an open call workshop for 70 participants.

Overview

Over the last six decades, research studies of quaternary environments of eastern Africa have generated rich scientific information on the long-term environmental dynamics of the region. For instance, the last thirty years of Paleontological research in northern Uganda, has yielded immense palaeo-information of environmental and fossil records spanning the last 20 million years.

On a similar note, records indicate that the last two million years of East Africa region are characterized by variable climate conditions with high fluctuating lake levels and records of arid episodes that caused significant drop in lake levels and desiccation of some lakes such as Lake Victoria during the late Pleistocene. Recent climatic variations in the region at decadal and centennial scales are characterized by strong rainfall seasonality resulting from the annual migration of the Inter-tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). This inter-annual variability is also linked to other mechanisms such as sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies attributed to the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) and El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO).

In-spite of the rich paleoscience data from quaternary researches in Eastern Africa, little emphasis has been put on integrating the paleo information into practical application or policies to address the social and environmental challenges, including calamities affecting the region. The proposed workshop therefore intends to foster ways of (a) integrating the long-term palaeo scientific research findings of the various paleo-studies in eastern Africa over the last six decades (b) Synthese the paleo- information and design strategies to address future environmental challenges for sustainable development in the region.

Topics

1.0 Regional Climate Dynamics for Eastern Africa

1.1 Temperature and Hydroclimate variability over Eastern Africa in the last 2,000 years
1.2 East African regional Climate Variability during Holocene
1.3 Climate change: Physical forcing and biogeochemical feedbacks
1.4 The Role of Ocean Circulation in Climate Dynamics of Eastern Africa
1.5 Sea Level Change and the Coastal Zone: Threats for Human Societies in Eastern Africa

2.0 Quaternary Human- Environment interactions in Eastern Africa

2.1 Biodiversity and refugia in Eastern Africa – Lessons learnt from the past
2.2 Natural and Human Effects on Ecosystem Processes in Eastern Africa
2.3 Land cover change in Eastern Africa over the last 6000 years
2.4 Abrupt Changes and Extreme Events in Eastern Africa- Assessment and Risks

3.0 Past Changes in Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems in Eastern Africa

3.1 Past Changes in Fluvial Systems, Floodplains and Estuaries in Eastern Africa

4.0 Natural and Cultural Heritage in Eastern Africa

4.1 Museums and Monuments in Eastern Africa
4.2 Conservation and Management of natural and cultural heritage resources in Eastern Africa
4.3 Rock Art in Eastern Africa
4.4 Natural History of Eastern Africa

5.0 Anthropology, Archaeology and Paleontology in Eastern Africa

5.1 Fossil records in Eastern Africa
5.2 Human Evolution and Civilization in Eastern Africa
5.3 Archives of environmental change, palaeontology and archaeology in Eastern Africa
5.4 Implications of palaeontological and archaeological research in Eastern Africa

6.0 Archaeobotany and Palynology in Eastern Africa

6.1 Palaeo-biodiversity and biodiversity in Eastern Africa
6.2 Use of archaeo-botanical and palaynological techniques in environmental reconstruction

7.0 Paleo-Science in other regions of Africa

7.1 Paleo studies in other regions of Africa

8.0 Techniques and Methodological Development in Quaternary Research

8.1 Chronology
8.2 Modeling in Quaternary Research
8.3 Developing Techniques for Paleo-environmental reconstruction in Eastern Africa

Confirmed keynote speakers

Martin Pickford (Sorbonne Universités - CR2P, MNHN, CNRS, UPMC - Paris, France) - has conducted paleo research in Uganda for the last three decades.

Abstracts

The abstract deadline is 31 March.

Abstracts should be summarized in one paragraph (250 words) having a brief introduction, methods, results, conclusions and recommendations.

Abstracts should be sent to the following email addresses: amorganmust.ac.ug (amorgan[at]must[dot]ac[dot]ug) and jlejjumust.ac.ug (jlejju[at]must[dot]ac[dot]ug)

Conference fees

Students: USD100
East African: USD200
Others: USD250

Important dates

Abstract submission deadline: 31 March
Feedback on abstract: 15 April

Futher information

Contact Julius Lejju, Mbarara University of Science and Technology: jlejjumust.ac.ug (jlejju[at]must[dot]ac[dot]ug) or Dr Morgan Andama: amorganmust.ac.ug (amorgan[at]must[dot]ac[dot]ug)