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ARCHAEOLOGY PROFESSOR WINS NATIONAL AWARD
By Courtney Robishaw
UConn Daily Campus
http://www.dailycampus.com/news/archaeology-professor-wins-national-award-1.1958667
Feb 3 2011
Alexia Smith, an assistant professor in the old world archaeology
program in the anthropology department, won a National Science
Foundation CAREER award, an award designed to help advance the careers
of young faculty members at eligible institutions.
Smith will use the CAREER award, worth more than $400,000 for five
years, to study archaeobotany at six locations in the Middle East.
"I chose to focus on archaeobotany because it provides a wonderful way
to explore ancient agriculture and interactions with the environment,"
Smith said.
Smith will study what plants were grown and how at the six
archaeological locations. She will also be testing whether or not
changes in climate have influenced empires and shifts in power in
the Middle East.
"I will be exploring the role that food production played with emerging
social complexity and societal collapses," Smith said.
At one of the sites, in Areni, Armenia, Smith will work with an
Armenian archaeobotanist, who will then come to Storrs as a research
scholar.
This award will affect the students at UConn, as it will provide
undergraduates the opportunity to gain more experience in labs. Smith
also hopes to have a "Sorting Club" established by next semester.
Smith's CAREER award provides benefits to her department as well.
"The award will provide rare funding opportunities for graduate
students carrying out dissertation research, as well as exciting
international field opportunities for both undergraduate and graduate
students in locations such as Syria and Armenia," said Natalie Munro,
director of undergraduate studies for the anthropology department.
Smith also plans to collaborate with Professor John Settlage from
the Neag School of Education to provide training for Kindergarten
through 12th grade archaeology and archaeobotany teachers.
Finally, Smith plans to organize workshops and lectures through the
Connecticut State Museum of Natural History.
Both Smith and the entire Department of Anthropology are very excited
about the award and the opportunities it will bring to Storrs.
"We are enormously proud of her," said Anthropology Department Head
Sally McBrearty.
From: A. Papazian
By Courtney Robishaw
UConn Daily Campus
http://www.dailycampus.com/news/archaeology-professor-wins-national-award-1.1958667
Feb 3 2011
Alexia Smith, an assistant professor in the old world archaeology
program in the anthropology department, won a National Science
Foundation CAREER award, an award designed to help advance the careers
of young faculty members at eligible institutions.
Smith will use the CAREER award, worth more than $400,000 for five
years, to study archaeobotany at six locations in the Middle East.
"I chose to focus on archaeobotany because it provides a wonderful way
to explore ancient agriculture and interactions with the environment,"
Smith said.
Smith will study what plants were grown and how at the six
archaeological locations. She will also be testing whether or not
changes in climate have influenced empires and shifts in power in
the Middle East.
"I will be exploring the role that food production played with emerging
social complexity and societal collapses," Smith said.
At one of the sites, in Areni, Armenia, Smith will work with an
Armenian archaeobotanist, who will then come to Storrs as a research
scholar.
This award will affect the students at UConn, as it will provide
undergraduates the opportunity to gain more experience in labs. Smith
also hopes to have a "Sorting Club" established by next semester.
Smith's CAREER award provides benefits to her department as well.
"The award will provide rare funding opportunities for graduate
students carrying out dissertation research, as well as exciting
international field opportunities for both undergraduate and graduate
students in locations such as Syria and Armenia," said Natalie Munro,
director of undergraduate studies for the anthropology department.
Smith also plans to collaborate with Professor John Settlage from
the Neag School of Education to provide training for Kindergarten
through 12th grade archaeology and archaeobotany teachers.
Finally, Smith plans to organize workshops and lectures through the
Connecticut State Museum of Natural History.
Both Smith and the entire Department of Anthropology are very excited
about the award and the opportunities it will bring to Storrs.
"We are enormously proud of her," said Anthropology Department Head
Sally McBrearty.
From: A. Papazian