Nancy Stevens and Pat O’Connor spent their summer leading paleontological teams exploring for Oligocene and Cretaceous vertebrate fossils in sub-equatorial Africa.  Their project  - Closing the African Gap: Cretaceous and Paleogene paleontology in the Rukwa Rift Basin of southwestern Tanzania - is a collaboration among several institutions including Ohio University, University of Dar Es Salaam, Michigan State University, Tanzania National Museums, and Southern Utah University.  Field research involved exploration for new fossil localities, as well as excavation of fossils ranging from tiny mammals to huge plant-eating dinosaurs.  Field sites for the project are located near the town of Mbeya, Tanzania.  The project also launched an exhibit on Tanzanian paleontology and biodiversity through time in English and Kiswahili languages at the Tanzanian National Museum. For more information on the Rukwa Rift Basin Project, click here. The research project is funded by the National Science Foundation’s Sedimentary Geology and Paleobiology program. 

Images from Tanzania highlighting paleontological field research