Explorer Shares Discovery with St. Mark’s

Professor Lee Berger received a rock star welcome on Wednesday, September 30, speaking to Middle and Upper School students at two special assemblies. Dr. Berger and his team recently made worldwide news by unveiling their discovery of Homo naledi, a new species of our genus.

Joining Dr. Berger were three “cave astronauts,” researchers who crawled through narrow, dangerous tunnels to reach the cave chamber containing Homo naledi. Students were entranced watching footage of the explorers shimmying through passageways and navigating over deep chasms.

In appreciation for St. Mark’s support over the years, Dr. Berger presented the School with the first casts of Homo naledi for students to study up close. After the assembly, the boys crowded the stage to get autographs from the explorers. One student even got his arm cast signed by the paleoanthropologist.

Dr. Lee Berger is in the midst of a worldwide press tour after revealing his team’s discovery of Homo naledi at the Rising Star Cave dig site in South Africa. John Mead, Eugene McDermott Master Teaching Chair in Science, visited Dr. Berger and his team over the summer and was invited to research and interact with the historic fossils months before the public announcement. Throughout the dig, Berger personally interacted with Mead’s science classes through social media. This is Dr. Berger’s third visit to St. Mark’s School of Texas.