(Text of Research links) *KEY: 1) Those in Yellow highlight BOLD have own links and should have one photo adjacent. 2) (link to “X abstract”) means link within text that has blue font 3) [link to “X” abstract] means actually type “link to x” and hyperlink. The “…” is the abstract’s name.

China (Click link to China here – insert photo)

My interest in China stems from an early curiosity about my cultural heritage and from a longstanding fascination relating to social transitions and their consequences upon human health during China’s long history. In 2003 I was awarded the Humanities and Social Sciences Research Grant (UCSB) to travel to northeast China’s Jilin University. I began to formulate my dissertation research design after preliminary analysis from agro-pastoral finds while visiting a Jilin University’s research institute in Chifeng, Inner Mongolia.

Dissertation Pastoral Nomads and China: Bioarchaeological Analysis of Frontier Interaction (Center title)

In 2004, I was awarded grants from Fulbright-Hays: Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Program and the Pacific Rim Research Program to fund dissertation research conducted at Jilin University. My research focuses on the role nomadic pastoral groups played in China’s cultural development. I have explored this issue through bioarchaeological studies of over 1000 individuals from 12 archaeological sites along China’s northern steppe frontier. I presented the results of some of my findings at the 2006 71st SAA meeting in San Juan [link to abstract “SAA 2006 abstract”].

Research 2006

During the summer of 2006, Dr. Phillip Walker and I visited several key research institutions in China. We were awarded funding by UCSB’s ISBER Social Science Research Grants Program to begin a pilot study (link to “China 2006 abstract”) of ancient Chinese health via adult stature data. We also discussed future collaborative projects with scholars at Jilin University (Changchun), the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (Beijing), the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (Beijing), and the Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology (Zhengzhou). Iceland (Click link – insert photo)

During the summers of 2001-2003, I participated in an international project exploring Viking Age settlement at Mosfell. As an osteologist and archaeologist, I gathered data on early Icelandic remains. I presented my findings at the 69th SAA meeting in Montreal [link to abstracts “SAA 2004 abstracts”]. Preliminary findings were also described in Antiquity (link to http://antiquity.ac.uk/ProjGall/erlandson/erlandson.html )

Link to Mosfell Archaelogical Project http://www.anth.ucsb.edu/faculty/walker/Iceland/mosfell.html Romania (Click link – insert photo)

In 2002, I performed bioarchaeological analysis of post-Medieval skeletal remains from Transylvania. This work culminated in my advancement to candidacy paper [link to abstract “Romania data paper abstract”]. I also presented my finds in a poster at the 72nd AAPA meeting in Tempe [link to pdf, 4.7MB “Eng AAPA 2003 Romania]. United States (Click link – insert photo) I have excavated archaeological sites in Illinois (Hopewell culture) and California (Middle Horizon to historic period). For my senior honors thesis at UC Davis, I collected skeletal data from central California collections spanning the Early to Late Horizons. I examined the health consequences of transitions in subsistence as measured by stature data [link to abstract “Honors thesis abstract”].

As a graduate student at UCSB, I have worked on several forensic cases and have participated in determining the cultural affiliation and repatriation of Native American finds. I presented my research of a local case at the 71st AAPA meeting in Buffalo [link to pdf, 2MB “Eng AAPA 2002 abstract”].