2021 REU Fellows

Name: Christian Berends

University/College: Muskegon Community College, Grand Valley State University, University of Michigan

Year: Junior, Class of 2023

A bit about me: I grew up in a small and quiet city in North Muskegon, Michigan, but since I was young, I have always craved exploration. I looked for it in everything from climbing trees to get a different vantage point of the world to making fast friends with incoming exchange students so I could learn more about foreign cultures. Traveling and learning new things quickly became a hobby of mine that I continue until this day and has motivated me to experience cultures in Japan, Brazil, Puerto Rico, and most places along the Eastern United States.

Entering this program was a further extension of this wanderlust, allowing me to explore and experience new things outside the realm of normalcy. Coming to the University of South Alabama, I brought with me limited experience in bioarchaeology but become familiar with Umm an-Nar culture through a term paper I wrote analyzing the subsistence patterns, pathology, architecture, and trade routes from this time period. This is a project that I hope to continue in graduate school and beyond, exploring Middle Eastern archaeology with an emphasis on cultural changes and their side effects on the health of populations.

Fun fact: I broke my nose 5 times so if you found me archaeologically you may think I was reckless and you would probably be right.

What is your favorite bone, and why?: My favorite bone is the humerus because I think it’s at least a little funny.

Name: Alyssa Bolster

University/College: Vanderbilt University

Year: Senior

A bit about me: Hello all! I grew up in Clarksville, TN in a military family; my father is Special Operations and instilled a healthy amount of discipline in my brothers and me, encouraging us to work in a field we were happy and stimulated in. I enrolled at Vanderbilt University after high school to originally study political science and history, dead set on going to law school, and stumbled upon archaeology in a freshman liberal arts course. Since then, I have majored in anthropology with a focus on bioarchaeology and osteology, worked in a stable isotope research lab, and completed a few independent research projects at the intersections of isotopic theory, bioarchaeology, forensics, and social theory. I was pointed towards this NSF-REU by one of my biological anthropology professors, and upon acceptance, waited excitedly for our start here in Mobile after a long COVID delay! I aim to apply to grad schools this coming fall to study bioarchaeology, specifically diet and lifeways in pre-contact Latin America, and hopefully work as a professor and researcher.

Fun fact: I love public speaking! In high school I did speech and debate, and now in college I am a campus tour guide.

What is your favorite bone, and why?: The clavicle! I love how much information about an individual’s potential occupation and activity level can be extrapolated from MSM sites on the bone, and it is one of the few bones I can side just by looking at it.

Name: Brittany Clark

University/College: Georgia Southern University (Savannah)

Year: Senior in Nursing and Anthropology

A bit about me: I am a married mom of three and am originally from Houston, Texas. I am also an Army veteran and I worked as a UH-60 Blackhawk Helicopter mechanic for nearly 5 years. I was a volunteer firefighter for 3 years, and an EMT for 5 years as well. Shortly after finishing paramedic school I decided to go one step further and get a bachelor’s degree in nursing. I fell in love with anthropology in the process, and what started out as a minor quickly became another major for a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology. The area of focus I am most interested in is forensic anthropology, which is why I was so excited to attend this particular REU program and add to my previously small repertoire of osteological knowledge.

Fun fact: I love hockey, especially playing street hockey.

What is your favorite bone, and why?: The stapes! It is the tiniest bone in the entire human body, and it has such an important job. The stapes transmits sound vibrations to the inner ear and allows us to listen to music, laughter, birds chirping, and many other wonderful sounds that we wouldn’t be able to experience without it.

Name: Hannah Jeanlouis

University/College: Daytona State College (2018) & University of Central Florida (current)

Year: Senior

A bit about me:

Hey there, I’m Hannah! I’m from sunny Central Florida and grew up about an hour away from Orlando! When I was in fifth grade, my teacher, Shannon Woodward, taught the class about Mt. Vesuvius and its effect on the neighboring city of Pompeii. She explained how the archaeologists recovered artifacts from the site and analyzed them to interpret what life may have been like in the Roman city. That same day, my mom found me in the backyard trying to unearth artifacts of my own! Although my excavations proved fruitless, the prospect of learning about the past through what they left behind attracted me to pursue archaeology as a career. After completing my Associate’s degree in Behavioral Psychology, I transferred to UCF (Charge On) and enrolled in the Anthropology program. Since then, I have been fortunate enough to excavate historic and prehistoric sites at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station with the Cape Canaveral Archaeological Mitigation Project (CCAMP).

CCAMP is where I learned about this NSF-REU! I am especially interested in trauma and injury in battlefield sites, but I am also interested in early African American bioarchaeology and mortuary. In Spring 2022, I will be working as a graduate student with Dr. Amanda Groff at my soon to be alma mater, UCF.

Fun fact: I got stuck in a babydoll stroller when I was 7. The Volusia County Fire Department had to come with 1 fire truck, 3 police cars, and an ambulance to cut me out with the jaws of life.

What is your favorite bone, and why?: My favorite bones are the phalanges because without them we couldn’t do jazz hands!

Name: Urvi Kaul

University/College: Texas A&M University (graduated December 2020)

Year: First Year Graduate Student as of Fall 2021 at UConn

A bit about me: Hi! I’m Urvi, and I’m from Austin, Texas! I recently graduated with a degree in Anthropology this past December from Texas A&M University. I’m planning to attend graduate school this coming fall to train as a genetic anthropologist. I became interested in biological anthropology my freshman year of college and have been in love ever since. Through various research opportunities I’ve been able to travel around the Southwestern U.S., Peru, and India.

Fun fact: Not fun, but I am terrified of squirrels.

What is your favorite bone, and why?: My favorite bone in the body is the scapula because of its unique shape and importance in upper body movement.

Name: Rachael Orkin

University/College: Los Angeles Pierce College

Year: Sophomore

A bit about me: I am from and grew up in California’s San Fernando Valley. My interests are all over the place, but I enjoy learning about physical anthropology, microbiology, infectious disease, and genetics. I also love worms, specifically polychaete taxonomy! In my free time, I love to paint, sculpt ceramics, and play video games such as Pokemon and Kirby. My favorite Pokemon is Nincada, and my favorite Kirby ability is Poison! I have taken anthropology courses since I was 15 at Pierce College, and have had the privilege of learning under amazing anthropology professors who have inspired and motivated me to attend this REU. I am a microbiology major, and I hope to transfer to UCLA or UC Davis and attend medical school to become a molecular pathologist.

Fun fact: I love and collect items that look like food but are not edible. I also have an online collection of pictures of rocks that look like food.

What is your favorite bone, and why?: Sesamoid bones are my favorite! People don’t talk enough about how we could simply just grow extra bones. Sesamoid refers to how the bones looks like sesame seeds, which I think is really neat as well.