Anthropology students Victoria Bowler and Milena Carvalho have been awarded National Science Foundation graduate fellowships, according to a UNM statement.
NSF Graduate Research fellowships are reserved for students who show exceptional potential for research achievements, according to the statement.
According to the statement, the NSF fellowship pays students' living expenses for three years so they can better focus on their research and is one of the most generous fellowships available to graduate students.
Bowler wants to work in a research area where not much has been done, according to the statement, such as how ancestral pueblo people interacted with dogs. Bowler said in the statement that there is evidence that prehistoric dogs held similar roles to modern dogs as protectors, pets and even workers.
To this end, according to the statement, Bowler will spend the next few years exploring the relationship between humans and dogs to understand the importance of dogs to ancestral Puebloan people.
In her research, she will work in UNM’s zooarcheology lab, which houses collections of bones in several local repositories, according to the statement.
Carvalho attended UNM because she found the elements she needed in the various departments, according to the statement. Specifically, this includes an archaeology program and faculty expertise in zooarchaeology, in an institution with ties to Iberian studies.
According to the statement, Carvalho plans to use the award to examine a collection of animal bones from the El Mirón cave in Spain, where another advisor has spent the last decade excavating remains of a Magdalenian era woman, the Red Lady of El Mirón.
Bowler and Carvalho said in the statement that one of the best things about the NSF grant is that they can support each other through their research for the next three years and have the financial support to help them fulfill their desired academic experiences.
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