CALOR TEAM
Dr. Ioana A. Dumitru
Ioana A. Dumitru is an archaeologist of the Indian Ocean World and an Associate Lecturer in the Discipline of Archaeology at the University of Sydney. She investigates the climate-environment-society nexus, focusing on responses to extreme weather and climate, strategic resource exploitation, human-environment interactions, trends in settlement patterns, and human cooperation. Her research engages digital archaeology, GIS, remote sensing, and social network analysis (SNA).
Dr. Elinaza Mjema
Elinaza Mjema is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies at the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM). He completed BA and MA degrees in Archaeology at UDSM in 2006 and 2008, and later a PhD in Archaeology from Frankfurt University, Germany (2015). His PhD study focused on exploring change and the continuity of ancient settlements on the western coast of the Indian Ocean, through the analysis of ceramics, beads, and faunal remains.
In 2016, Mjema was awarded an African Humanities Program (AHP) postdoctoral fellowship. Implementing the AHP fellowship at Pangani Bay on the Northern Tanzania coast, he investigated an ancient burial site he discovered in 2012, and published a paper examining ancient Tsunamic Catastrophes that hit Tanzania’s western Indian Ocean coast during the early Swahili period, AD 900-1100.
Dr. Musa Mwitondi
Musa Mwitondi holds a position as a Lecturer in the Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies at the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM). His research centers on establishing the geochronological sequence of Neolithic sites in the Lake Eyasi Basin, with a particular focus on understanding the interaction between culture and nature. His work delves into how environmental and climatic conditions supported human life during the Mid-Holocene period. Additionally, Mwitondi has conducted numerous studies on community awareness and conservation of cultural heritage resources, notably in Kasoma village in the Mara region and Saadani village in the Coast region.
Dr. Wolfgang Alders
Wolfgang Alders is an archaeologist investigating the emergence of interconnected urban societies in eastern Africa and across the Indian Ocean, drawing on perspectives in historical ecology and landscape archaeology. He has extensive experience organizing and directing archaeological research projects, successfully integrating traditional survey and excavation techniques with advanced geospatial technologies, community-based research design, and training and mentoring for early career scholars from underrepresented and underserved backgrounds. He is currently a Visiting Research Scholar at the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at NYU. He was previously a National Science Foundation SBE postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies (CAST) at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. Wolfgang received his PhD from the Department of Anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley in 2022. His research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the Wenner-Gren Foundation, the Andrew Mellon Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.