General202
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Geology with a Taste of Safari
We started the morning with breakfast and shopping for lunch provisions. We bought a large bag of oranges grown in the groves that surround this region for the equivalent of $1.50, along with cheese and, of course, biltong. The butcher offered many kinds of biltong, from the shaved, proscuitto-like variety to the serious cowboy jerky…
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Rock Collecting While Watching for Crocodiles, Leopards
On Saturday morning, Ed and I left Pretoria for the next phase of our trip: field work near the Loskop Dam in Mpumalanga Province where a large volcano once existed about two billion years ago. No one has been able to find where this ancient volcano stood but lava flows in the area suggest there…
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Singing, Clapping, Smiling over Geology in S. Africa
After a morning lecture about the Bushveld Complex and the processes of concentrating ores in magma bodies, Ed and I had to go to the University of Pretoria for Thursday afternoon. I was invited to give a lecture and we were able to have some very interesting conversations about Bushveld research with the people who…
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Newlyweds Direct Wedding Gifts to the Earth Institute
When John Amore and Aylin Tugberk married at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Brooklyn this past June, they were following three-generations of family who have celebrated and worshiped there. But another aspect of the couple’s wedding was anything but traditional: instead of creating a typical gift registry, John and Aylin asked guests to…
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Getting Underneath South Africa’s Mineral Wealth
Our teaching workshop continued Tuesday with a lecture about mineral resources and their economic importance. South Africa has abundant platinum and gold but also lesser-known elements like vanadium, chromium, and manganese. Vanadium and chromium, important to the steel industry, are found predominantly in the Bushveld Complex where our research is focused. Chromium gives steel much…
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New York City Rocks Spark Cultural Exchange
The workshop that we are here leading is designed to help South Africa high school teachers make geology come alive for their students. We want to share basic concepts, such as how rocks and minerals form, but also provide activities and materials that can make the concepts more accessible. In planning the workshop, we outlined…
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Discovering Biltong, Brooklyn, in South Africa
We arrived in the city of Tshwane (formerly named Pretoria) on Sunday after a day-long journey from New York. Tshwane is the executive capitol of South Africa and according to several locals we met while walking through the city, home to the most national embassies after Washington D.C. More importantly, Tshwane is where the U.S.…
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Playful Times at TCC
Some children remark that as they grow older, the roles they play with their parents seem to switch. The cared for become the caregiver and vice versa. This seemingly cyclical reversion to a time of jovial frivolity does not escape the patients at TCC. With his ever-reliable dry wit Raphy brings us a short anecdote that likens…
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South Africa-Bound with Sand from Coney Island
I’m flying to Johannesburg on Friday in what will be my third expedition to South Africa. In the past I’ve traveled here to study the Bushveld Complex, a huge lava formation that provides over 70 percent of the world’s platinum as well as other valuable ores, such as vanadium and chromium, both used to make…
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