Tsilavo Razafimanantsoa is a researcher working with the Human Evolution Research Institute (HERI) and the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Cape Town (UCT). His work involves analysing environmental changes and their impact on nature – and on early modern humans.
Born in Madagascar, Razafimanantsoa has had a life-long fascination with nature. That drove him to a career in palynology, or the study of pollen. He then earned a master’s degree with distinction in palynology from the University of Antananarivo in Madagascar.
He went on to complete PhD studies in the Department of Biological Sciences at UCT in 2022, where he specialised in applied palaeoecology to investigate landscape changes and their drivers, including human history and activities over time.
Razafimanantsoa is the recipient of a prestigious fellowship from GENUS (DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence in Palaeosciences), which supports his postdoctoral work at UCT, specifically on the Kalkkop Palaeolake Project.
Investigating the vegetation history and fire activities in the Eastern Cape region during the Quaternary period, the Kalkkop Project is focused on a drill core through ancient lake deposits preserved in a small meteorite impact crater situated in what is today a water stressed environment. The research aims to reveal insights into the relationship between early modern humans and their changing environmental conditions.
“We have been building the Kalkkop team for the last few years and the big gap was finding someone to look at the ancient pollen preserved in the core – so we are delighted to welcome Tsilavo to HERI and have him contributing his time and expertise to this project,” says HERI Co-director Dr Robyn Pickering.
1. What excites you most about the palaeosciences?
I'm particularly excited to see how human evolution, arrival, and settlement impacted the environment in Africa. Providing multi-proxy evidence to understand those past changes and applying the outcome to address current environmental challenges makes it more interesting.
2. Describe your research in three words.
Quaternary, vegetation, and fire.
3. Who is your biggest inspiration?
My mum is my biggest inspiration as she always pushed me to continue and to go far in my studies.
4. What has been your biggest academic challenge?
My biggest academic challenge was the loss of my samples and notebook as a result of the large-scale wildfire at UCT which destroyed several buildings in April 2021. The Plant Conservation Unit, where I was based during my PhD, was affected by the fire. Although I lost everything that I left on campus for my day-to-day work, I was mostly devastated by the loss of my notebook and my samples. Fortunately, I was already halfway through my PhD writing when it happened and therefore did not need to do any more labwork. However, it drained me emotionally and physically because my office was my comfort working zone. After the fire, I did not have an office for a few months and had to borrow offices. Despite this devastating experience, I managed to submit my PhD on time and graduated on July 2022.
5. What is the soundtrack to your studies?
There is a song in Malagasy (the national language of Madagascar) by Agraad titled, Aleo handeha, which means, “let it go and focus on your goal, whatever is happening.” That song has helped me to push through difficult times during my academic journey.