Africa Initiative for Planetary and Space Sciences

As part of the 2018 Outreach Program to Africa, the European Association of Geochemistry (EAG) and the Geochemical Society (GS) co-sponsored the Africa Initiative for Planetary and Space Sciences (AFIPS), whose objectives are:

• to connect African Planetary and Space Scientists with their international peers;
• to build a road map for Planetary and Space Sciences in Africa, by identifying key research areas where African scientists can make significant contributions;
• to solicit sponsors to support the development of this research domain in Africa;
• to contribute to sustainable development in Africa through research, education, and public outreach in Planetary and Space sciences.

An article on the activities of AFIPS initiative, written by the AFIPS Steering Committee, was published in the February 2018 issue of Elements Magazine.

As part of the initiative, two workshops were organised with financial support from the EAG and GS:

• 4-7 February 2019: First Africa Initiative for Planetary and Space Science Workshop – Ethiopian Space Science and Technology Institute (ESSTI) and Bahir Dar University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
• 13-17 May 2019: Eastern Africa Global Navigation Satellite Systems and Space Weather Capacity Building – Pwani University, Kenya.

Outreach Lecturer: Axel Hofmann

Associate Professor, Department of Geology, University of Johannesburg, South Africa

Axel Hofmann holds a doctorate from the University of Mainz in Germany and has worked as a researcher and lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe in Harare, Wits University in Johannesburg and the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban. His main interest and expertise is centred on the Archaean geological record of southern Africa. His research emphasizes the importance of field work and the usage of an integrated suite of petrological and geochemical tools in order to decipher the geological history of Archaean volcano-sedimentary successions. His research is undertaken at the interface between geology, geochemistry and geobiology, utilizing analytical equipment for in-situ trace element geochemistry, geochronology and (non-traditional) stable isotope geochemistry at the micro- and nano-scale, for the understanding of Archaean surface processes, early life and sediment-hosted mineral deposits.

Short course

Early Earth Life and Mineral Systems

Locations and dates

Photos from Ghana

Outreach Lecturer: François Chabaux

François Chabaux is Full Professor of Geoscience and Geochemistry at the “Ecole et Observatoire des Sciences de la Terre (EOST)” at the University of Strasbourg, France. Since 2000, he chairs the Isotope Geochemistry and Environmental Chemistry team (co-chairs with D. Lemarchand since 2014). Currently, he heads the “Laboratoire d’Hydrologie et de Géochimie de Strasbourg” (LHyGES- Laboratory of Hydrology and Geochemistry of Strasbourg), which he founded in 2009 with his colleague P. Ackerer (Research Director, CNRS). Read more

Lectures and Workshops

• Lecture: U Activity Ratios in Surface Waters as Tracers and Chronometers of Water Transfers in the Critical zone
• Lecture: Interest of U-series nuclides for dating soils and weathering profiles: Principles, applications and limitations
• Workshop: Principle of functioning and use of U-series nuclides in Earth Science
  View details

Locations and dates

Photos from Cameroon

François Chabaux and the Earth Sciences Department at University of Yaoundé I

The very attentive audience of the Earth Sciences Department, University of Yaoundé I

Outreach Lecturer: Pierre Deschamps

Pierre Deschamps is Research Scientist at IRD (Institut de Recherche pour le Développement) and he is currently working in the Geochemistry and Geochronology Group at CEREGE (European Centre of Research and Teaching in Environmental Sciences).
His fields of expertise cover isotopic geochemistry and geochronology by using a large range of isotopic tracers, including U-Th and U-Pb chronometers and cosmonuclides (¹⁴C, ³⁶Cl, ¹⁰Be). He uses this isotopic toolbox in studies ranging from Earth surface processes, human evolution to quaternary climate change. For the last years, a large part of his research has been carried out on the African continent and has focused on the past climate variability and its impact on hydrological cycle, including groundwater. Read more

Lectures and seminars:

• Groundwater dating: the isotopic toolbox (3-day seminar)
• Quaternary geochronology: the geochemical toolbox for Archaeology, Palaeontology and Paleoclimatology (2-day seminar)
• Sea-level variations: past, present and future (half-a-day lecture)
• Climate Change and its impact on the African continent (2 hour lecture)

Locations and dates

Outreach Lecturer: Bernhard Wehrli

Bernhard Wehrli is Full Professor for Aquatic Chemistry at the Department of Environmental Sciences at ETH Zurich. He is a member of the directorate of Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag).

The research of his group is focused on the assessment of biogeochemical processes in rivers and lakes. The group combines chemical sensors, stable isotope techniques and molecular ecology to quantify carbon and nutrient cycles in aquatic systems. Part of his research is focused on the development of interdisciplinary approaches to improve the sustainable management of water resources. Read more

Lectures and seminars abstracts:

• In search or rare elements: mining for cell phones (lecture)
• Where oxygen disappears: the deep waters of East African lakes (lecture)
• Chemistry for safer drinking water (lecture)
• Global water quality issues (seminar)
• Water and nutrient supply for agriculture (seminar)
• Stable isotope techniques for analyzing geochemical processes (seminar)
• Chemical sensors, analytical chemistry (seminar)

Location and dates