Received Sylff Fellowship in 2019
Academic supervisor: Prof. Stephen R. Frost (University of Oregon)
Academic achievements, social engagement initiatives: Before I have joined my PhD program at the University of Oregon, I was an academic faculty at Mekelle University, Ethiopia. Moreover, I was a chair of the department of Anthropology in the same University from 2012 to 2015. The department, I was chairing, has been involved in training undergraduate and graduate students. Further, there have been departmental activities focusing on research and community services. One of the community services was about improving societal awareness related to Paleoanthropology Heritages in Ethiopia. I was the coordinator of that project. Apart from this, I had received a research grant from the Paleontological Scientific Trust (PAST) in 2014.
To pursue my PhD program, I was awarded the Baldwin Fellowship from the Leakey Foundation for 2015-2017. Similarly, I was a recipient of the 2017/2018 Promising Scholar award from the University of Oregon. I am also the recipient of the 2019 Sylff Fellowship. In addition, the Leakey Foundation has supported part of my dissertation research.
Apart from these, I have been participating in professional conferences and fieldwork activities. As a result, I have presented several of my research results in the American Association of Physical Anthropologists (AAPA). I also became a member of AAPA since 2017. Similarly, I have presented at the East African Association for Paleoanthropologists and Paleontologists (EAAPP), and the 19th International Conference of Ethiopian Studies (ICES). Further, my paper was published on the Journal of Mammal Evolution. To improve my fieldwork experiences, I have been participating in different Paleoanthropology Research Projects that carry out their research activities in East Africa.
Current affiliation: University of Oregon (PhD candidate)
Currently, I am working on my dissertation research project, which is funded by Sylff and Leakey Foundation. My dissertation focuses on reconstruction of the environments of early human ancestors with the help of Old world monkey as ecological proxy. At the same time, the project would also create an important opportunity for individual and institutional connections because I have been collaborating with different researchers working in East Africa with regard to my project.
