I am a paleobotanist & paleoecologist interested in understanding past vegetation change and ecosystems dynamics driven by both biotic and abiotic factors in eastern African region. I analyze and study both plant macro- and micro-fossils (leaves, wood, seeds, pollen, phytoliths, spores and charcoal). My major focus is to study and understand vegetation change, especially grasslands, in response to major past environmental and climatic events. Data collected help explain major evolutionary events especially for mammals, including humans. Timescales: Miocene, Pliocene, Pleistocene, Holocene, Anthropocene Archives: Paleontological & archeological sites, paleolake basins, Swamps/bogs, caves The following are my major research questions: - 1) When is the onset of grasslands ecosystems expansion in eastern Africa region? 2) How did vegetation composition and structure vary across space and through time? 3) What was the main driving factor (s) (climate, tectonic processes, anthropogenic) of these changes at any given time and space? 4) Did these paleoenvironmental changes uniform across the region or were they localized in specific basins/blocks? 5) Pastoralism is one of the oldest subsistence strategies in East Africa, it is mainly practiced in semi-arid and arid regions. What is its impact of vegetation cover?