Western African Palaeoclimate Project

Our project PhD student Fatai is spending time recently at Northumbria University (UK) where we are working with our project partner, Prof Mike Rogerson, trouble shooting new ways to use portable FTIR to accurately map out changing carbonate mineralogy in Gabon stalagmites. So far so good but some (rather large) stalagmites will require that we build a bespoke apparatus.

Happy to report that today, copies of the National Geographic Magazine's December 'Pictures of the Year' issue are finally en route to our African team leads in Nigeria, Cameroon, and Gabon. These extra copies are likely to adorn a few walls and will be shared with government ministers and local community leaders who supported the expedition and can help protect these wonderful natural resources.

The team were so incredibly cooperative and patient as Robbie Shone Photography did his art. A great learning experience and a wonderful outcome.

Nat Geo photographer Robbie Shone sheds light on how he photographed the image that’d become the cover of our 2024 Pictures of the Year issue. 📸 Read the stories behind more of our top photos: https://on.natgeo.com/4i8mOdo

Nat Geo photographer Robbie Shone sheds light on how he photographed the image that’d become the cover of our 2024 Pictures of the Year issue. 📸 Read the stories behind more of our top photos: https://on.natgeo.com/4i8mOdo

Looking forward to sharing our team's excellent progress tomorrow at the second day of the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology conference on West African archaeology in Jena, Germany. Today was full of interesting talks but, so far, no new limestone cave sites mentioned. Plenty of rock shelters but wrong lithology for stalagmite formation.

We are very excited to share Western African Palaeoclimate Project partner Robbie Shone Photography talking on live Canada television about his career photographing caves. He even gives our project a very articulate plug. Thanks Robbie and good luck with your speaker tour across North America.

Robbie Shone explores some of the earth's strangest and most remote places He presented some of his work at Roy Thompson Hall yesterday, and is here this morning to give us a preview of his images.

We are so incredibly proud to announce that our research has made it onto the cover of National Geographic Magazine's December 'Pictures of the Year' issue. We also have a two-page spread inside the issue! Huge congratulations to Robbie Shone Photography for his vision and special thanks to the team who were either front and centre in the image (L to R: Professor Ndukauba Egesi, Fatai Ilesanmi, and Dr Mike Agbebia) or providing illumination in the background. Check out Teesside University's press release to read more about this important work: https://www.tees.ac.uk/sections/news/pressreleases_story.cfm?story_id=8631

Tomorrow is the big day...stay tuned!

A hard-working expedition team. This project's success is thanks to the international field team's hard work and dedication. Below, the 2024 expedition team: Nigeria (Professor Ndukauba Egesi and Dr Mike Agbebia), Cameroon (Dr Salomon Bisse), Gabon (Professor Mike M'voubou, Dr Alexis Ndongo, and Dr Stevy Retonda Kondja), UK (Mr Fatai Ilesanmi and Dr Lisa Baldini), and Austria (Mr Robbie Shone). Thanks to the National Geographic Society for funding this expedition and several others since 2022.

After several months of continued progress with the research, a really exciting delivery arrived. Stay tuned until next week to find out what it is!