Briana's Travels

No, I'm not really going to Nairobi via Minneapolis (that would be a bit out of the way, wouldn't it??), but before I embark on my trip to Kenya, I'm now on a 2-day trip to Minneapolis. I'm attending an all-day workshop on teaching evolution tomorrow, and I'm excited. Anyway, before I get to Minneapolis, this is what I did in the past few days: - I did a lot of work fact-checking scientific content for a big project I'm working on, as we had a big deadline yesterday. Want to know what percentage of our genes we share with a banana? How about how old several more well-known fossil Neanderthal kids were when they died? If Homo erectus was carrying a carcass of a kill back to it's social group to share and eat, what would that carcass look like and how would it be carried? Want to see a map of all the fossil and archaeological sites where modern humans have been found between 200,000 and 100,000 years ago in Africa, which is the span of time during which our sp...

I'm leaving for my annual migration to Kenya soon, just like the wildebeest.... well, only there's a few million less of me than there are of them. Also, I'd like to think I run in a few less circles than they do, given that they spend their year basically making a big circle between Kenya and Tanzania in the Serengeti/Mara ecosystem (though that's debatable!). I'm going through my usual 'I'm leaving soon' routine: getting together with friends who want to spend a little time before I leave for a few months; making sure I can take care of all my (as my fab friend Fire calls it) "personal admin" online while I'm gone - banking, paying utilities, etc.; adding things to the duffel bag I keep stocked during the rest of the year with my 'going to Kenya' things. It's always hectic, and no matter how well I plan - and those of you who know me know I plan! - there's always a lot to do at the last minute. So it's D (departure) mi...