About

This NSF-GeoPRISMS synthesis workshop will bring together US, African and international scientists to synthesize recent scientific results on continental rifting in the southern East African Rift System (EARS), discuss future projects, and foster new collaborations. Over the past 10 years, a number of new scientific studies focused on the weakly extended and magma-poor southern part of the EARS have emerged that are providing new and surprising insights into the onset of continental breakup. We aim to bring together ~50 scientists from Africa, the US and elsewhere to share and synthesize the results of these recent studies to achieve a more comprehensive understanding of continental stretching and associated hazards in the southern part of the East African Rift system. Contributions from scientists working on other parts of the EARS and other rifts globally are also encouraged.  The four-day workshop will take place July 25-28, 2023 in Blantyre, Malawi, within the rift valley, including three days of scientific sessions and a one-day field trip.

Key workshop goals include: 

  • Showcasing recent research that has advanced our understanding of continental rifting in the southern EARS and other rifts worldwide. 
  • Strengthening interdisciplinary and international collaborations, and facilitating the formation of new collaborations, particularly for early-career scientists.
  • Enhancing education and outreach of scientific results, and the implication of those results for regional hazards in East Africa. 

We strongly encourage applications from students, postdocs, and early career scientists.

Funding:  Thanks to support from the NSF GeoPRISMS program, there is no registration fee, and limited partial travel and lodging support will be available, with funding priority given to students, early career scientists, underrepresented groups in the geosciences, and African and US scientists. 

Map of the East Africa Rift with volcanos from Global Volcanism Project (red triangles), Global CMTs (Ekstrom et al., 2012), and earthquakes from the NEIC catalog. Topography from the GMRT (Ryan et al., 2009). Grey lines and text indicate country borders. Dashed red box shows approximate emphasis area for workshop. Inset shows location of map with respect to Africa.

Workshop organizing committee:

Estella Atekwana (University of California, Davis)

Peter Barry (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

Patrick Chindandali (Malawi Geological Survey Department)

Zuze Dulanya (Chancellor College, University of Malawi)

James Gaherty (Northern Arizona University)

Donna Shillington (Northern Arizona University)