Exploring the subterranean world for records of Central African rainfall
WEBINAR
22nd October 2025 19:00 BST
by Lisa Baldini (Teesside University)
ABSTRACT
West and Central Africa are highly vulnerable to climate change with millions of Africans reliant on seasonal rainfall for subsistence agriculture. Limited observational data and a lack of high-resolution palaeoclimate records hinders accurate climate change forecasts for the region. Using a combination of geochemical and petrographic approaches, stalagmites can serve as a powerful tool for reconstructing surface climate including rainfall, temperature, and vegetation dynamics. These records can extend over millennia, with typical resolutions ranging from seasonal to multi-annual scale. In 2022, Dr Baldini was awarded a National Geographic Level II Explorer Grant to seek out speleothems from the region to fill the data gap.
In 2023 and 2024, Dr Baldini led an international research team from the UK, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, and Austria to explore the karst landscapes of southwestern Gabon. Their caving expeditions uncovered stalagmites that record seasonal-scale climate variability. An initial modern calibration study has reconstructed seasonal rainfall patterns extending back more than a century, and ongoing analyses aim to push this record further, reaching as far as the Last Glacial period in Europe. Continued exploration in Nigeria and Cameroon highlights the broader potential of West and Central African cave systems to illuminate regional climate dynamics and improve future predictions of climate change impacts across the tropics.
BIOGRAPHY
Dr Lisa M. Baldini is a climate and environmental scientist with over 20 years of experience in climate and palaeoclimate research. Her work has been featured in international journals and media, including BBC and National Geographic, and she has led multidisciplinary projects across Europe, Africa, and Central America focused on understanding long-term climate dynamics. She recently transitioned from academia to focus full-time on charitable work and is currently the Development Officer (Grants & Trusts) for Durham Wildlife Trust, supporting nature recovery through strategic project development and fundraising.