Vanuatu experience introduces UNM undergrads to research
August 4, 2023 - Mary Beth King
Siobhán Mattison, assistant professor of evolutionary anthropology and director of the Human Family and Evolutionary Demography Lab at The University of New Mexico, recently took a group of undergraduate and graduate students to the south Pacific archipelago of Vanuatu to introduce them to and prepare them for future research.
Students on the trip were Biochemistry major and senior Madelyn Gomez, Anthropology major and senior Nick Allen, sophomore and pre-Anthropology student Savannah Mary Gallegos, and Joseph Merl, a senior pursuing a degree in Emergency Medical Services. UNM Anthropology Ph.D. student Khaled Bin Oli Bhuiyan directed energetics on the project; UNM grad student and Mattison’s spouse Peter Mattison was involved in many aspects of the work, including photographing the team’s experience; and Daniela Kraemer, a UNM research assistant professor of Anthropology, who directed fieldwork, assisted Mattison setting up the Research Experiences for Undergraduates field experience. Rutgers University grad student Denise Mercado directed sociodemographic portions. UNM Assistant Professor of Anthropology Ian Wallace also accompanied the group.
The Vanuatu project is both deeply anthropological and highly interdisciplinary, Mattison noted, with a faculty that has expertise in human biology, demography, epidemiology, and bio-cultural anthropology, and chemistry.
“We are very intentional in this project to engage diverse perspectives to ensure the best science. We are also making more connections with policy experts to help understand how we can translate what we learn to support people in different family situations,” Mattison said.
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