The Rising Star (Homo naledi) Interviews

During July of 2015 I was fortunate to be able to spend two weeks at the Evolutionary Studies Institute (ESI) at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa with a remarkable group of scientists and explorers. As followers of this blog know I have been following and supporting the work of the Rising Star expedition which discovered and recovered a huge collection of hominin fossil bones starting in November, 2013. Indeed the open access nature of that excavation allowed my students and I to follow the hour by hour updates on Twitter which led to he creation of what's become known as the "Twitter Play by Play" of the excavation - you can access that resource HERE.

My recent visit allowed me to get to know many of the Rising Star team members and I was struck by the immense dedication and teamwork these varied researchers and explorers shared with me. That has led me to interview members of the team so that you can get a taste for how a great team can work cooperatively in a complex endeavor to make the most of what is a groundbreaking fossil discovery. All interviews were conducted by me either in the entrance chamber of the Rising Star cave, at the Evolutionary Studies Institute, or via Skype.  With the PBS/NOVA/National Geographic documentary about this discovery ("Dawn of Humanity") set to air on September 16th, I hope these interviews will allow you different and possible deeper view into the people and personas that made this expedition such a success.

This page will be continually updated with new interviews as they become available so please bookmark this page and come back often for updates!

Dr. Lee Berger & Dr. John Hawks discuss the discovery and significance of Homo naledi 

Interview #11 - Matthew & Megan Berger - Fossil photography and caving support

Interview #10 - Marina Elliott - Lead excavator

Interview # 9 - Hannah Morris - Primary excavator

Interview # 8 - Alia Gurtov - Primary excavator & Rising Star Workshop Member

Interview # 7 - Lindsay Hunter - Primary excavator

Interview # 6 - Becca Peixotto - Primary excavator

 Interview #5 - Elen Feuerriegel - Primary excavator and Rising Star Workshop Member

Interview #4 - Maropeng Ramalepa  and Dirk Van Rooyen. - Exploration Technicians

Interview #3 - Nompumelelo Hlophe - Exploration Technician

Interview #2 - Rick Hunter  - Exploration Technician and one of the original "discoverers" of the fossil chamber.

Interview #1 - Steven Tucker  - Exploration Technician and one of the original "discoverers" of the fossil chamber.

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.