NSF REU Student Fellows and faculty preparing seaweed salad and fishing with Fijians, Salia village, Nayau (Photos by S.Jones).
Check-out our new NSF REU (Research Experiences for Undergraduates) Fiji Program website at:http://hulamo.com/2009_NSF_REU_Fieldschool_in_Fiji/Home.html
The Fiji REU program engages students in interdisciplinary problem based research, exploring long-term dynamics in human interaction with the environment. Project participants learn about anthropology (the study of humans and culture) as well as historical ecology, a discipline focused on the relationships between people and both physical and biological environments. In the context of various study areas in Fiji’s Lau Island Group, students and faculty engage in meaningful scientific research incorporating the methods of anthropology and ecology.
Mallory Messersmith filming a fishing expedition on Nayau (Photo by S.Jones)
Students’ activities and projects include: archaeological surveys, mapping, and excavations; collecting and analyzing ethnographic data on resource exploitation and foodways; conducting lab analysis of archaeological materials; working with database systems and computer software; and interpreting data in written, digital, and oral presentations for the academic and general public.
Checkout the new website for more information on this interdisciplinary fieldschool and research program (plus more photos!):
http://hulamo.com/2009_NSF_REU_Fieldschool_in_Fiji/Home.html
There were about 3 burial sites in the woods that search teams eventually found, a booby-trapped cabin and car that was blown up. Some students searched for timers and batteries used to blow up the car. Others helped with the excavation of skeletal remains, finding shovel prints and other tool marks used by perpetrators. Dr. Wheatley directed the UAB team, who found a pistol in the cabin and de-fused a light sensitive timer rigged in a tool box in the house.
