Paleoanthropologist Returns to Campus

Paleoanthropoligst and explorer Lee Berger returned to campus on November 13 and spoke with Upper and Middle School students about his historic discoveries and new developments at his dig site in South Africa. In 2012, Professor Berger visited St. Mark’s and shared the story of his discovery of Australopithecus sediba, a two-million-year-old skeleton of an early hominid. The discovery was made by Berger’s nine-year-old son, who was exploring the area around the dig site. Last November, Berger and his team announced another breakthrough discovery: more than 1,200 fossils were found in a cave in the Cradle of Humankind near Johannesburg, South Africa.

 

Before and after his initial visit, Berger kept in touch with John Mead, Eugene McDermott Master Teaching Chair in Science, through email and social media. Berger even tweeted with some of Mr. Mead’s science classes from his dig site in Africa. Over the summer of 2013, Mr. Mead used the Seay Family Professional Development grant to visit Berger’s lab at Wits University in Johannesburg. When Berger learned that he would be traveling to Dallas, he offered to return to St. Mark’s and update the boys on his discoveries. 

 

“Enjoy what will certainly be the greatest age in exploration in the history of human kind,” Berger told the Marksmen. “The 21st century is suddenly a point where we can use technology to empower exploration.”

 

Professor Berger also cautioned students not to let technology replace actual exploration. “We need your generation to step out from behind the computer screen and get back out in the field. There are things all around you to be found and you will not find them in a screen.”