Susana Carvalho, Ph.D.

Professor Susana Carvalho is a palaeoanthropologist, primatologist, and archaeologist with two decades of field research in Africa and 11 years in Gorongosa National Park. Before taking a full-time position at Gorongosa, she was Professor of Palaeoanthropology at the University of Oxford.

At Gorongosa, Susana has been director of the Paleo-Primate Project (2016-2025), Director of Paleoanthropology and Primatology (2018-2025), and is now acting Director of Science in the Park. Susana has a BA in Archaeology (Oporto University), a MSc in Human Evolution (University of Coimbra), and a PhD in Biological Anthropology (University of Cambridge). She has published nearly 100 articles in peer-reviewed journals. Her career has been recognised for her focus on improving equity in education via local and global actions. She received the Philip Leverhulme Prize in 2016 and the British Academy Mid-Career Fellowship in 2021.

The Paleo-Primate Project Gorongosa, created and directed by Professor Carvalho, consists of an international team of ~40 researchers from around the world, carrying out a unique interdisciplinary programme to understand primate origins, ecology, and adaptations. Carvalho has been directing archaeological and paleontological surveys and excavations of new fossil sites in Gorongosa, and is leading the first studies of primate ecology and behaviour in Mozambique. She has been supervising student research, pioneering new approaches to study human origins with themes that integrate ecology, behaviour, and evolution.

Susana founded the Gorongosa Interdisciplinary Field School in 2018, which has trained ~100 students, including 50 from Mozambique. Her philosophy in education has been to ‘balance and connect’. Directing the field school, she has promoted having 50% of each cohort from Mozambique and 50% from other countries around the world (balance), with students from diverse backgrounds working to reach shared goals with the mentorship of peers and researchers (connect). Between 2016 and 2025, Carvalho supervised 11 PhD students and 15 Master students. She is currently supervising 8 young scholars from Mozambique, including 4 graduate students with scholarships in Europe. Some of these students are the first in their fields (e.g., the first Mozambican primatologist). These students are authors or co-authors of 30 peer-reviewed publications based on Gorongosa research. Since 2018, there have been 22 theses or dissertations completed on Gorongosa research. Susana has been highly successful in obtaining competitive grants for these research and educational initiatives from a broad range of funding institutions, including the British Academy and Leakey Foundation, amongst others.

Susana’s motivation is to dedicate her career to mentoring students from low-income countries and building impactful connections between education, science, and human development. With her background as a field researcher, museum coordinator, teacher, professor, and director of research that is uncovering the natural heritage of the Gorongosa region, Susana is developing the idea of Safaris in Deep Time to bring to light the dynamic history of the Gorongosa ecosystem, and to reach out to local communities, park visitors, and scientists from around the world.