At #KR10 last week, someone told me they knew me from #LinkedIn. Mortifying.

Today was the last day of #KR10, with workshops this morning, and then some touristing this afternoon. The Aussies, Kiwis, and a couple of honorary Aussies and Kiwis made the treck up Lion's head for sunset. Special times with friends new and old. I've been reflecting a bit on conference friends - these ppl that you see fairly infrequently, but when you do, you spend such an intense amount of time together that friendships start to feel quite real, despite tyrannies of time and distance. #KR11 can't come quickly enough. We were rewarded with beautiful misty sunset views.

Heading home after a great week at #KR10. #Cave researchers take note: KR11 will be in Mérida, Mexico! #geology #earthscience

Excellent mid-week field trip to the West Coast Fossil Park today! The fossil beds are incredible, I had a lot of fun picking through sediment in their sieves for microfossils. Found a shrew tooth, which was pretty exciting!

The short necked giraffe is a common find here (300 individuals!) and these sculptures of them in the museum by a local artist are incredible.

This part of SA reminds me a lot of parts of WA. Similar coastal heathland, and vegetation that LOOKS very Australian. All the invasive eucs certainly add to the vibe. It's prompting feelings of being both home sick and at home, very odd!

Great first day of #KR10. I've been told my talk was "entertaining" which feels slightly backhanded

First day of #KR10 today! I'm presenting after lunch on the past few years of work done at ANSTO/UNSW, and what we're working on now. This is the first time ever that I've gotten to get my presentation done and dusted on day 1, I'm looing fwd to being able to relax and enjoy the rest of the week.

Day 2 of the #KR10 field trip took us to three caves in the cradle. Sterkfontein (home of famous australopithecus' little foot and Mrs Ples), Coopers (we got to get into the deposit and look for fossils - SO MANY!) And Wonder - the biggest formations I've ever seen, and the only cave in the cradle to mostly survive the calcite mining industry of the late 1800s/early 1900s.

Really fantastic first day of the #KR10 field trip. Got to say hi to some distant relatives (Australopithecus africanus, A. naledi, A. prometheus), see some amazing art at the Origins Centre (a reminder that humans have been making art for a long time), and ended with some cultural learning at Lesedi Cultural Village.

Getting to see our ancient rellies in the flesh was surprisingly emotional. They're so much like us. It was good to be reminded about how many hominids coexisted, when H. sapiens can barely manage to tolerate other H. sapiens. We can do better.

Heading to the #KR10 conference to present work in this and other #caves in #Utah. #geology #earthscience #climate #paleoclimate #science

First run through my talk for #KR10 and it's EXACTLY 8 minutes (target is 8 + 2), nailed it.