Alena Wigodner, a double major in anthropology and environmental studies, received a prestigious National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduate Fellowship. The objective of this program, which is run through Indiana University and the Glenn A. Black Laboratory of Archaeology, is to advance multidisciplinary training for students in environmental and social sciences through archaeological research.
The summer program included fieldwork and laboratory training. Wigodner conducted her fieldwork at the Angel Mounds State Historic Site in southwestern Indiana, a late Pre-Columbian town and National Historic Landmark site occupied during the Mississippian cultural period (A.D. 1050 to 1450) and highlighted by 11 earthen mounds and a series of palisades.
The goal of this fellowship is to foster a new generation of scholars who can work across disciplinary boundaries to craft cogent, meaningful, and empirically sound interpretations. Nationally recruited undergraduates from the environmental and social sciences and humanities, as well as other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines are provided training in archaeology, geophysics, geoarchaeology, and geochemistry.
In addition to receiving a stipend and support for housing, travel, and research costs, each fellow receives a $500 allowance for presentations of research findings at a regional archaeological conference in the fall.