UNCW anthropology alumni have continued success in their concentration of choice. Check out some of our alumni updates!
UNCW, B.A. Anthropology 2017
Wes Nimmo is a historical archaeologist and UNCW alum. Wes attended the UNCW Archaeological Field School in the Lower Cape Fear region in 2016. He attended ECU for his master’s degree under Dr. Charles Ewen, where he continued an interest in African American archaeology and ethnology in the Lower Cape Fear region.
His thesis research focused on his work as graduate assistant for two years with the UNCW Field School in this area in 2018 and 2019. Wes successfully helped excavate two slave cabins associated with a rice plantation. Then matched them with historic records and ethnographic interviews to an informal settlement of African Americans living in the same location until the 1940s.
Wes has done impressive work linking archaeology and ethnography and uncovering some of the unwritten African American history of the Lower Cape Fear region. Recently, he is working at the Atlanta History Center in their Civil War Cyclorama exhibit, which explores the different ways past events have been interpreted and how these ways of understanding the past can impact our understanding of both history and the present.
University of Chicago, Ph.D. Anthropology (expected)
UNCW, B.A. Anthropology 2017
Now a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Chicago, she’s just completed her first field season at Tell Edfu in Egypt.
"I was able to excavate part of a large villa dating to the early New Kingdom period. In the villa, we found one of the earliest examples of a domestic sanctuary in ancient Egypt, in addition to very cool stelae, an offering table, and two complete statutes. During my time at Tell Edfu, my field directors were very happy with my excavation techniques and I told them it was all thanks to you, Dr. Reber!"
Didi was the recipient of the Society for American Archaeology's historically underrepresented group scholarship (2016), as well as participating in two NASA internships, while at UNCW.
The University of Texas at Austin, Ph.D. Anthropology, 2018
UNCW, B.A. Anthropology, 2012
Luisa graduated from UNCW in December 2012. She obtained her Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin at the end of 2018. Her graduate research focused on the ancient Maya cultural transition from the Archaic to the Preclassic Period in the Neotropics.
Most of Aebersold's field research primarily took place in Belize where she explored the magnitude and timing of impacts concerning early human-environmental dynamics. Aebersold focused specifically on evidence concerning the transition of subsistence strategies from semi-nomadic hunting and gathering into more intensive agriculture in the Maya Lowlands.
Luisa employed a multi-proxy approach to address questions related to early anthropogenic change tied to the success of early sedentary villages in northern Belize. Fieldwork and geoarchaeological investigations provided insight concerning the long occupation of Colha and manipulation of the Blue Creek rejollada.
Research also included a botanical component, which included a dental calculus study at Colha. Luisa’s modern ethnobotanical study also provided overlap in horticultural and agricultural practices in the region despite cultural and temporal distances between ancient and modern people.
Luisa now works as a Grant Program Coordinator in the Department of Behavioral Science at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. Her primary role is to provide administrative support to the principal investigators, their research programs and research administrative leadership to submit highly competitive proposals for cancer research. She coordinates all support in administrative functions associated with the preparation, submission, formatting, establishing and monitoring of grant budgets and proposals.
Luisa works closely with the Office of Sponsored Programs and maintains current and ongoing knowledge of policies, regulations, guidelines and procedures related to all types of proposal submissions.
UNCW, B.A. Anthropology 2018
Kate Woolard graduated from UNCW in May 2018 with a B.A. in Anthropology. She served as the Chairwoman of the Dean’s Leadership council and the President of the UNCW Department of Anthropology Club while at UNCW.
Additionally, she worked with Dr. Michaela Howells in the Growth Adaptation Pregnancy and Stress (GAPS) lab. Research focused on the impact of creative extra credit test questions on student stress and compared the energy expenditure of students on study abroad to traditional classroom environments.
Kate also participated in several anthropology research experiences outside UNCW, including an NSF Natural History Research Experience. During this time she studied paleoanthropology at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History’s Human Origins Program.
Kate also attended the Balinese Macaque Ethnoprimatology Field School in Bali, Indonesia, with Dr. Howells where she examined interactions between macaques and shopkeepers. She presented results from these research experiences at several regional and national conferences. Kate is pursuing a Ph.D. in Global Health within Arizona State University’s School of Human Evolution and Social Change.
University of South Florida, M.A. Applied Biocultural Medical Anthropology 2018
UNCW, B.A. Anthropology 2015
Cheyenne graduated from UNCW in 2015 with a BA in Anthropology and a BS in Community Health Education. While at UNCW, she worked with Dr. Howells on her research on the relationships between marital status and neonatal health outcomes in American Samoa. Cheyenne also worked in Dr. Howells’ Growth, Adaptation, Pregnancy and Stress Lab.
Cheyenne continued her education in a dual master’s program at the University of South Florida with an:
In this program, Cheyenne’s research focused on women’s health issues such as:
Cheyenne moved back to North Carolina and began work as the Toxic Free Kids Program Manager at the nonprofit Toxic Free NC after graduating in 2018. In this role, Cheyenne conducts community outreach and education to reduce, and ultimately eliminate, children’s exposure to harmful pesticides and persistent toxicants.
UNCW B.A. Anthropology 2017
Holly graduated from UNCW in December 2017. She attended the Human and Biological Dimensions of Wildlife Conservation Field School in Cameroon, West Africa, led by Dr. Carolyn Robinson while in our program. The goal was to understand the repercussions of conservation and western medications on traditional medicinal use and poaching through ethnographic interviewing and participant observation.
She also worked under Dr. Michaela Howells as a research assistant doing data entry and collecting data samples for the Inking of Immunity project. While assisting Dr. Howells with this project, Holly also observed traditional Samoan tattooing of the pe’a and malu and conducted surveys while participants in the study were being tattooed.
Holly now works as the office manager of the Full Belly Project in Wilmington, NC. Their mission is to design and distribute innovative, sustainable technologies with our local community that empower people all over the world to improve their own lives.
She is working alongside the board of directors of the Full Belly Project to tackle aflatoxin, a carcinogenic byproduct of a fungus that grows in the ground on nuts and maize, in Zambia. Their current initiative is aiding in decreasing direct exposure to the toxin, while also increasing local farmer revenue for their crops in the market.
University of Florida Ph.D., Anthropology, 2020 (expected)
University of Florida M.A. Anthropology, 2015
University of Florida MPH Epidemiology, 2017
UNCW, B.A. Anthropology, 2013
David graduated from UNCW in December 2013. He worked with Dr. Alexander on his immigration enforcement and migrant farmworker health project and presented a paper on this research at the Society for Applied Anthropology (SfAA) annual meeting. He was also a research assistant in the bioarchaeology lab of biological anthropologist Dr. Dan Temple.
For his Master of Arts in Anthropology at University of Florida he studied the health effects of pesticides exposure on commercial farms in Tanzania. For his Master of Public Health Epidemiology he worked at the Center for Environmental and Human Toxicology researching air pollution toxicants and morbidities associated with chronic exposure to emissions from incomplete combustion of biomass fuels.
David is conducting Ph.D. field research in Chipata, Zambia. The goal of this research is to investigate whether perceptions of risk and vulnerability act as mediators of human exposure to environmental toxicants associated with biomass fuel use.
His work sits at the intersection of anthropology, toxicology and public health. It contributes to a range of contemporary global health and economic development efforts.
Duke, M.Sc. Global Health 2019
UNCW, B.A. Anthropology 2014
Mary graduated from UNCW with a B.A. in Anthropology in December 2014. Mary was a research assistant on Dr. Alexander's on-going migrant farmworker health project.
Her contribution to this research took an in-depth look at social justice, morbidity, mortality and mobility issues experienced by undocumented farmworkers in eastern North Carolina. Their article (co-authored with Anthony Guevara) “Using Ethnographic Video to Cast Light in the Shadows of Checkpoints” appeared in the Winter 2016 issue of Practicing Anthropology.
She's worked in human services and social innovation and received a Master of Science in Global Health from Duke University since graduating from UNCW. Her most current research is titled “Investigating Attitudes and Preferences of a Pregnancy Support Chatbot within Facebook’s Social Media Platform Amongst Pregnant Women in Kenya – a Feasibility Study.”
This project focused on the idea of bringing free personalized pregnancy health information to women in Kenya. She built a chatbot using Human Centered Design (HCD), a very anthropological (and participatory) approach to innovation. Her team found that using this approach improved the acceptance of a chatbot guide for pregnancy and increased access.
Other experiences include:
These combined experiences, along with UNCW training in medical anthropology, encouraged her to forge paths in which she can be innovative in her approach to serve vulnerable populations and their self-identified needs.
University of South Florida, M.A. Biocultural Medical Anthropology, MPH Global Health 2017
UNCW, B.A. Anthropology 2013
Ann Vitous graduated from our program in Fall 2013. She worked with Dr. Alexander, who directed her Honors thesis “Sustainable Health in Rural Panama: An Ethnographic Approach.” This research was based on her fieldwork conducted during the Summer of 2013. The following fall she began graduate studies at the University of South Florida where she received a dual degree in:
Ann was funded under a NSF research project conducted by an interdisciplinary team of anthropologists and engineers. They explored how local village councils, environmental NGOs, tourism organizations and other community members experienced the following as large-scale tourism rapidly expanded:
In addition to the work in Belize, Ann was also part of a team evaluating food insecurity and healthcare decision-making among mobile food pantry clients in Tampa Bay.
Ann accepted a position as a research analyst for the Center for Healthcare Outcomes and Policy (CHOP) at the University of Michigan. She has provided qualitative research consultation and expertise on a range of surgical and clinical topics including but not limited to:
In addition to her work at the University of Michigan, Ann also works as a part-time consultant for the Pacific Institute of Research and Evaluation (PIRE). Her focus in this position has been evaluations, including a program aimed at reducing LGBTQI adolescent suicide and a comparative effectiveness trial to reduce child maltreatment, improve client outcomes and examine client burden in the state of New Mexico.
Georgia Southern University, MPH Community Health 2015
UNCW, B.A. Anthropology 2012
While in the Anthropology program, Rachel Kiliany completed the Honors Project “Cultural Influences on Natural Birthing in the Modern Age,” under the direction of Dr. Alexander. For her thesis, she conducted ethnographic interviews and researched the birth doula and midwife movements in North Carolina.
Rachel earned a Master of Public Health, with a concentration in community health, from the Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health at Georgia Southern University after graduating from UNCW in 2012.
She worked as graduate assistant on the University Wellness Program, creating, implementing and evaluating health and well-being interventions for students, faculty and staff. This included writing a proposal that resulted in the creation of an 8-week wellness development program that allowed staff to take time out of the workday to participate in a holistic well-being curriculum that Rachel created and led.
She later assumed the position of health promotion specialist in the Office of Health Promotion at the University of Virginia. In this role, Rachel leads UVA’s sexual harm prevention work by creating, implementing and evaluating both universal and targeted interventions around the prevention of sexual harm, specifically through bystander intervention.
She has also co-taught Psychology and Women, Gender and Sexuality courses on culture change and the prevention of gender-based violence. Her research has focused on measuring students’ attitudes, confidence and intention to act in situations where they are bystanders to sexual harm.
University of Virginia, McIntire School of Commerce, M.S. 2015
UNCW, B.A. in Anthropology/International Studies 2013
Juliet worked with Dr. Alexander on his migrant farmworker health and immigrant policing project while in our program. Her ethnographic interviews and research contributions to that project formed the basis of her Honors thesis “Migrant Health Issues Relating to Pesticides in North Carolina,” which he directed.
Juliet’s thesis received “Honors Global Citizen Recognition” from the Honors College. She presented information from it at the Society for Applied Anthropology (SfAA) annual meeting in Denver in 2013.
She attended the University of Virginia McIntire School of Commerce with a dual degree in Anthropology and International Studies. There she received a Masters of Science in Commerce (Marketing and Management emphasis) in August 2015.
Juliet is VP of Business Development for Red River Foods, a U.S. supplier of nuts, seeds, dried fruit and specialty snacks. The company’s mission is to:
Red River works on vertical integration of local producers. They also train farmers on best agricultural practices and assist in the creation of farmer cooperatives to ensure quality and fair pricing.
Juliet is also president of Red River's 501c3 nonprofit that she created called the Red River Foods Foundation. In her work, she travels constantly to visit farmers, factories and teams on the ground in places such as:
Columbia University, Teachers College, Communication Sciences and Disorders, M.S. 2021 (expected)
UNCW, B.A. Anthropology 2017
Rachel graduated from UNCW in December 2017 with a B.A. in Anthropology and a minor in Biology.
She worked in a directed individual study with Dr. Alexander where she:
She has been pursuing a M.S. in Communication Sciences and Disorders at Teachers College, Columbia University in New York City. This degree, combined with a clinical fellowship and licensing exam, will allow her to become a practicing speech-language pathologist. Rachel’s expected graduation date was in May 2021.
This program is dedicated to providing graduate students with immense clinical and academic knowledge, while also developing their ethical awareness and related skills. This ethical awareness is meant to help students serve increasingly diverse local and worldwide communities.
The program offers opportunities to participate in ongoing faculty research, as well as opportunities to partake in international programs in either Ghana or Latin America. She planned to participate in the month-long Ghana program, working with doctors in teaching hospitals and special education teachers in schools.