Achievement

IGERT trainee Katherine Murtough participated in the Mountain Gorilla Skeletal Project in Rwanda, directed by IGERT faculty. Working with another US PhD student, Murtough designed and co-directed a field course for three Rwandan student interns, including undergraduates from the National University of Rwanda’s B.S. program in Zoology and Conservation Biology. Murtough engaged students through readings, hands-on learning exercises, and discussions on such topics as: comparative skeletal anatomy; methods for assessing age, sex and pathology from the skeleton; and skeletal excavation and curation. She also conducted assessments, including practical exams, oral presentations, and student-led discussions of articles chosen from the primary scientific literature. These internships are helping to build local expertise in Rwanda to support the curation of its newly recovered mountain gorilla skeletal collection as a resource for education and research.