Our People
Co-Directors
Dr.
Paul Dirks:
Paul Dirks has served as the Head of the School of Geosciences at the University of the Witwatersrand
(Wits) since 2001. As head, Dirks oversees the largest academic earth-science institution in Africa
with programmes in geology, geophysics, geochemistry and paleontology. Dirks has served as co-Director
of AfricaArray since the programme’s launch in 2004.
Prior to his appointment at Wits, Dirks was professor of geology at the University of Zimbabwe in Harrare. While there, he was part of a team committed to high-level research and empowerment of black African scientists. He also established the university’s Mineral Resources Centre.
Dirks is a structural geologist with research interests in geodynamics and the tectonic history of cratonic terrains and adjacent mobile belts, including mineralization patterns. He has worked across five continents and also has experience as a professional consultant. Dirks can be reached at: paul.dirks@wits.ac.za
Dr. Gerhard Graham: Gerhard Graham is the Executive Manager-Scientific Services,
Council for Geoscience, headquartered in Pretoria, South Africa. As the executive manager, Graham
has responsibility for the operation and management of the South African National Seismograph Network
and other commercial seismological networks. In addition, he serves as project leader for research
on and development of modern data acquisition and processing techniques in earthquake seismology
in South Africa. He also serves at the principle contact for South Africa under the Nuclear Test
Ban Treaty.
Graham started with the council—formerly the Geological Survey of South Africa—in 1984. His past positions have included Head, Seismology Unit; Deputy Manager, Seismology Unit; and Scientific Officer. He leads the participation of the Council for Geoscience in AfricaArray. Graham can be reached at: gerhardg@geoscience.org.za
Dr. Andy Nyblade: Andy Nyblade, professor of geosciences at the Pennsylvania
State University, has served as co-Director of AfricaArray since its launch in 2004.
Born and raised in Tanzania, he has been leading geophysical research in eastern and southern Africa for more than 20 years. Prior to his involvement in AfricaArray, Nyblade conducted broadband seismic projects in Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia and Cameroon, and heat flow and gravity projects in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Tanzania, and Kenya.
Nyblade is a geophysicist who has worked globally on the structure and evolution of continental lithosphere and its relation to mantle dynamics. In Africa, some of his most recent work has focused on the origin of continental rifting, the causes of plateau uplift, and the nature of Precambrian lower crust. Nyblade can be reached at: aan2@psu.edu