Georgina Luti, a doctoral student in the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Cape Town (UCT) an member of the Human Evolution Research Institute (HERI), has been named a 2023 Francis H. Brown African Scholar by The Leakey Foundation.
The Francis H. Brown African Scholarship was established in 2018 to honour the life and work of the eminent geologist Dr Francis H. Brown. This award supports human origins research in earth sciences and botany by providing grants to East African students and researchers.
Luti has been named among the Spring 2023 scholars with Bahru Zinaye Asegahegn (Ethiopia), Venanzio Munyaka (Kenya), and Husna Mashaka (Kenya) for their work exploring geological and ecological contexts in human evolution, ancient biodiversity, climate, and palaeobotany. This prestigious award recognises their contributions to the field and their outstanding potential for future success.
“Our main goal at HERI is to do excellent research into human origins in Africa. To someone of Georgina’s calibre working on her PhD with us is both wonderful and exciting,” says HERI with co-Director Dr Robyn Pickering.
About Georgina Luti
Georgina Luti is a doctoral student in the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. This is her second year as a Francis H. Brown African Scholar. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in geology from the University of Nairobi, Kenya. She also trained at the Turkana Basin Institute field school, where she learned about ecology, palaeontology, geology, archaeology, and palaeoanthropology.
In addition, she completed a four-year internship in the palaeontology section of the Earth Sciences Department at the National Museums of Kenya. During her tenure there, she was part of field expeditions in West Turkana and Baringo. She has also worked with UNESCO, helping to assess the sustainability of water resources in Nairobi’s urban areas.
Her PhD project is focused on two hominin archaeological sites called Gondolin and Kromdraai. These sites are the only major undated cave sites in South Africa. Her research will help provide dates for the two sites and build a more complete picture of the caves’ development through time. Her research will also involve mapping the sites and determining stratigraphical sequences. The aim of her multi-disciplinary work is to offer geological context for the fossils already found and those yet to be discovered.
She is a member of the Human Evolution Research Institute (HERI) and aims to teach at a Kenyan university and introduce isotope geochemistry to a new generation of students.