This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
With support from a National Science Foundation Major Research Instrumentation grant, Utah State University (USU) will purchase an integrated system of instruments that facilitates collection, analysis, interpretation and presentation of anthropological spatial data at a variety of scales. For the collection of field data, the research team will acquire ground-penetrating radar, resistivity, and magnetometry systems for collecting sub-surface spatial data; GPS units with sub-meter accuracy, a robotic total station, and a balloon aerial photography system for efficiently compiling spatial data from landscapes; x-ray, video microscope, and 3-D scanning devices to extract precise spatial data from artifacts and ecofacts; and GIS-equipped, networked computers to process and disseminate these data.
The NSF-MRI award represents a collaborative application by a consortium of entities including the USU Anthropology Program, the USU Museum of Anthropology, USU's Regional Campuses and Distance Education (RCDE), and the newly launched small, private business USU Archaeological Services, Inc. Eight individuals will serve as major users of the equipment: six archaeologists, one biological anthropologist, and one cultural anthropologist. Despite users' varied backgrounds and research foci, the NSF-MRI grant will provide the resources necessary for each researcher to increase the efficiency of data collection, interpretation, and publication. The award will also enhance users' research opportunities and open up new avenues for collaboration within and outside the consortium.
The broader impacts of the NSF-MRI grant reside primarily in the dramatic changes it will bring to education in anthropology at USU's main campus and USU's Regional Campuses and Distance Education (RCDE). In fall 2009, USU's first cohort of M.S. students began a graduate program designed to prepare them for jobs in the private and government sectors of archaeology, which host 90% of jobs in the field. These sectors are often better funded than academic programs and routinely use the array of instruments the NSF award will fund. In addition to using the instruments to facilitate their own research, USU faculty members will also use them to prepare Utah State students to serve as the next generation of highly sought-after, technologically skilled anthropologists.
Utah State University anthropologists are particularly excited about RCDE's involvement in the NSF-MRI consortium. RCDE will outfit the Logan-based instrument laboratory with broadcast capability. This will permit anthropology faculty members to reach students at regional centers across the state of Utah and as far away as East Asia, enabling and enlisting them to participate in original scientific research. Many of USU's Distance students are of Navajo, Northern Ute, Shoshone, and Latino descent. By incorporating them into the Anthropology Program's diverse research as USU's archaeological and museum internships for Native American and Latino high school students have done for years, the NSF-MRI grant will help increase the diversity of future professionals in the field of anthropology.
Finally, the USU Museum of Anthropology will provide a vehicle for disseminating to a large, public audience the results of cutting-edge research generated by USU and USUAS scientists and the importance of science generally and anthropology specifically in the world today.
Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE In our 2009 proposal to NSF we proposed to create a laboratory dedicated to the scientific study of spatial data in the social sciences at Utah State University. The purpose of the lab was to make state-of-the art scientific equipment and software for collecting, visualizing and analyzing spatial data available to social science professionals and their students for research and training. The lab would provide scientific capacity for research ranging from microscopic study of ancient stone tool surfaces to examination of social geographies at a global scale. We met our goals and exceeded our expectations for the lab during the granting period from 2010-2013. The Spatial Data Collection, Analysis and Visualization (SDCAV) lab now provides a physical research space with dedicated computers, software and visualization tools (e.g., video-scope, portable X Ray ), as well as a range of field equipment (e.g., ground penetrating radar, total stations) for research and instruction in advanced geographic information science applications in anthropology and sociology. This STEM lab in a social science unit not only introduces many students to scientific equipment and methods of inquiry, but it also serves to demonstrate the need for and central role of rigorous scientific inquiry in the social sciences. One of the primary purposes of the SDCAV Lab is to train the next generation of social scientists in the acquisition and analysis of scientific data for both explanatory and predictive purposes. The lab is a hub for undergraduate and graduate student education in applications of geographic information science to social science inquiries that range from local cultural resource management issues to public health assessments in East Africa. Students may first be exposed to the SDCAV Lab through courses that use the lab’s equipment for data visualization and analysis, but often continue on to conduct their own research projects in the lab once they learn to use the equipment and software. Faculty members also hold graduate courses in the lab to provide instruction in statistical and spatial analyses using the computer workstations. Online courses developed in conjunction with the lab will go live this spring to provide training remotely to regional campuses in rural Utah. Our students have the opportunity to incorporate spatial analysis into their own research through the use of state-of-the-art mapping equipment for data collection, sophisticated geospatial and statistical software packages, and visualization tools. Access to the SDCAV Lab provides students with opportunities to advance their undergraduate and graduate careers through completion of honors and graduate theses, the development of museum exhibits and the acquisition of highly marketable technical skills. The acquisition of these skills occurs in a context of an advanced problem-solving education in the social sciences, thus preparing the next generation with the technical and critical thinking skills needed to solve the social problems they will encounter when they join the workforce. The lab also provides the tools and teaching opportunities for faculty to share with students how to disseminate their research findings. Students develop posters and electronic presentations, and have presented their research to legislators on Utah’s Capitol Hill, in the USU Museum of Anthropology, and at a number of professional conferences. They have also worked with faculty to publish their findings in academic journals in their fields. Faculty and students in Anthropology and Sociology engaged in research involving the SDCAV and its equipment have pursued a number of projects in the social sciences, including: a quartzite source analysis aimed at reconstructing ancient human use of the Rocky Mountains; the identification of an ancient irrigation system where none was previously known in southern Utah; a study of how urban landscapes impact water use and management in the Intermountain West; modeling the relationship between veteran status and socio-economic status across the U.S.; and a global investigation of how traumatic injury patterns map on different agricultural systems. Lab users have developed new models for understanding human behavior, and for predicting social and environmental issues that may arise in consequence of human behavior in the future. They have presented their findings at academic conferences and in scientific journals, but have also shared their findings in public presentations at museums, military bases and other public venues. Faculty lab users have successfully developed and secured additional extramural funding to continue research that blossomed from their interactions within the SDCAV Lab, submitting proposals through the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units National Network, the National Geographic Society and NSF. Each of these projects has provided additional support for students through tuition and wage hourly positions on research projects. As envisioned, the lab acts as a springboard for innovative new projects engaging both faculty and students, ensuring that the public investment in the SDCAV Lab at USU will continue to bear fruit for generations to come.
