Introducing the #HERIspotlight series, which uncover our members as sources of inspiration and drivers of excellent science. We launch with a spotlight on HERI doctoral student Robyn Humphreys.

UCT News profiles HERI’s inaugural 2020 Advancing Womxn fellows and their efforts to make a mark for science and diversity in a field that is still too homogeneous.

On Women’s Day weekend in 2019, HERI ran its first annual women’s field camp. While COVID-19 has put 2020’s camp on hold, HERI’s Dr Robyn Pickering and Dr Jayne Wilkins say it hasn’t diminished the positive experience it gave women or the value such camps can have for changing the face of palaeoanthropology in South Africa.

HERI announces Precious Chiwara-Maenzanise and Rivoningo Khosa as its inaugural Advancing Womxn fellows, recognising their research excellence and their future as leaders in the palaeosciences.

Visiting academic Elizabeth Niespolo gives an overview of her work as a geochronologist and her journey as a first-generation university graduate.

The legacies of racism and colonialism in archaeology should be acknowledged, says HERI student Robyn Humphries and its Deputy Director Rebecca Ackermann.

Homo erectus lived 200,000 - 100,000 years earlier than we thought, says new research. An international team of scientists, including HERI's Tara Edwards and its Director Dr Robyn Pickering, made the discovery by dating fossils found in the Drimolen cave system near Johannesburg.

HERI’s Dr Jayne Wilkins leads a team of global researchers to discover the archaeological significance of South Africa’s Kalahari basin. And reveals why other researchers should be looking there too.

Indonesia and South Africa share deep political, economic and cultural histories that have contributed to a lack of diversity in palaeoscience, says visiting academic Paige Madison from Arizona State University.

Visiting academic Kimberly Tommy writes about rediscovering her confidence as a scientist and a women of colour in academia during her visit to HERI.

A new code of conduct, driven by HERI’s Rebecca Ackermann, has been accepted by the UCT Science Faculty to help tackle discrimination and harassment in classrooms, laboratories, field camps and other settings.

Visiting academic Silindokuhle Mavuso writes about his time with HERI and how its gives validation to a diversity of students researching our origin story.

From equipment stores to on-the-ground support, HERI helps prepare student for the field so they can focus on what matters most.

Awarded by the Mail & Guardian at the end of Women’s Month, Ackermann said, “we all need to double down on uplifting women and fighting for their rights to exist and thrive in all spaces”.

The recent three-day Human Evolution Research Institute’s (HERI) field camp on the West Coast quietly marked milestones in Women’s Month at the University of Cape Town (UCT).

HERI’s Deputy Dean discussed her work in human evolution and gave insight into deeper questions around race and nationalism in the fourth Vice Chancellor’s Inaugural Lecture of the year.

HERI has announced new projects and fellowships aimed at driving a new generation of South African women scientists.

HERI has opened applications for young black South African women to apply for PhD and postdoc fellowships as part of the Advancing Womxn initiative.

Ayanda Mdludu, HERI archaeology student at UCT, shares the good and the bad that she's experienced as a young South African woman in the field.

HERI calls for young black women and trans students to apply for PhD and postdoc funding opportunities as part of the Advancing Womxn initiative.