May Murungi is an archaeobotanist who studies phytoliths (microscopic structures made of silica in plants), in Stone Age archaeological deposits as well as in lake sediments. The work is an increasingly important area for archaeologists who seek to understand how ancient populations may have been influenced by environmental change.
Phytolith analyses, for example, can provide key information on which plants such as grasses and sedges were used by ancient people and how the climate may have contributed to the development of technology and modern behaviours.
May’s research has provided analysis like this at various sites in South Africa including Sibudu Cave and Umhlatuzana Rock Shelter in KwaZulu Natal, and at Bushman Rock Shelter in Limpopo. Also, in lake deposits from the inactive volcano Mount Muhabura sitting between Rwanda and Uganda to reconstruct past vegetation and infer climate.
As a HERI postdoc and Carnegie Foundation fellow, she continues this exploration in South Africa, and the application of phytoliths in modern plant taxonomy and phytolith deification. She does this at UCT alongside HERI Director Dr Robyn Pickering.
“May’s research, sitting at the intersection of past human activity and past climatic variability, is fascinating and aligns closely with my own,” says Pickering. “I am so excited to work with her and learn more about phyoliths, these incredible tiny silica particles that can reveal so much about our past environments.”
1. What excites you most about the palaeosciences?
The various scientific questions asked in this field and the revelation of what the past looked like are both exciting, but most exciting for me has been exposure to evolution in a way that my education system swept under the rug. In high school it was more like a contentious subject, and even at the higher level of learning I can recall the two main examples used to illustrate the types of evolution: Darwin’s finches and the orangutans of Borneo and Sumatra. That is as far as my knowledge went on the topic and I did not try to investigate further as I was studying various topics in Biology. I only became aware of it through summer schools and my own research topic in South Africa. Basically, human evolution was not talked about, and it remained far removed from our own species. The field of palaeoscience has exposed me to a wealth of knowledge about the topic from different living organisms. It is also interesting seeing how this field has transformed around me in the last eight years.
2. Describe your research in three words.
Human-environmental interactions.
3. Who/what is your biggest inspiration?
Life in all its forms, but mainly human life seen through the stories of others, both beautiful and ugly. Also, those in situations that make me wonder how they carry on or carried on.
4. What has been your biggest academic challenge?
Getting involved in a discipline that has issues that go far beyond those normally encountered by my peers elsewhere in Africa in the day-to-day passion for science that I was not initially aware of. The connection between what one’s research is and who they are is relevant in our field and has been another learning process. However, I think the most important challenges lay ahead in incorporating what I have learned into a space where the topic is glossed over. As a teacher myself, I was once part of the same problem I speak of, but I am now more confident in passing it on in a better format and explaining the misconceptions associated with human evolution.
5. What is the soundtrack to your studies?
It has been Southern Cross by Crosby, Stills and Nash for a while now.