I am a senior at BASIS Scottsdale and am counting down the days I have until my senior project journey begins. Outside of school, I love swimming, eating good food, and reading books. Some of my favorite books include Bel Canto by Ann Patchett and The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. I also enjoy playing piano and watching cooking shows(Beat Bobby Flay, Iron Chef, etc.) with my sister.
As for my academic interests, I enjoy biology, history, and literature. What am I going to do with my future you ask? Well, right now I am contemplating on pursuing global health and policy or possibly becoming a physician. I am thinking of majoring in public/global health or anthropology or both(depending on the college I go to). As you can see, I'm not the most decisive person at the moment.
During the senior project, I will be working under the guidance and supervision of my faculty adviser, Ms. Brittany Silbaugh and my on-site mentor, Dr. Brenda Baker. I am so thankful that I will get the opportunity to work with them over the course of ten weeks.
For my senior project, I will be working in Dr. Baker's lab at the ASU School of Human Evolution and Social Change. Dr. Baker directs the Bioarchaeology of Nubia Expedition (BONE) in Northern Sudan and has skeletal remains and artifacts from her fieldwork in her lab. I will be involved in the cleaning and labeling of skeletal remains as well as some data-oriented investigations. As someone who loves history, I am excited to learn more about Nubia, an ancient region in Northeastern Africa located in Modern Sudan and Egypt. From my research, I hope to find out what social organizations/roles were present in Nubia from mortuary behavior and the health status of the skeletal remains.
I hope you've enjoyed my first post and are excited to journey with me to rediscover Nubia! Please feel free to comment/add suggestions on what you hope to see on future blogs and what you think of the project.
Hi Nichole! If I may say so, your first post was quite interesting and humerus (sorry, I just had to put in a bone pun). I actually didn't know you had such a great interest in history (I learn new things about you every day!). History may not be my favorite subject, but I do see the fascination it provides, as it tells a story of people who have lived possibly right where we're standing (or sitting). I'm excited to read about what story you'll be able to unearth about the people who inhabited Nubia. Which part are you looking forward to most, the cleaning or the labeling? I know for the labeling, you'll name the bone, but do you know how else you'll be categorizing it? Tibia continued...
ReplyDeleteWow Kiri! First, thank you for being the first to comment on my post! Second, your bone puns are much appreciated, though I'll have to bury my true thoughts about them(so many puns can be made!).
DeleteI'm looking forward to everything about my senior project - both cleaning and labeling of skeletons! I don't know exactly how the categorizing of bones works, but I will definitely provide you with more details once I meet Dr. Baker in person and discuss the project in length with her on February 6th.
Hello, Nichole! I have to say, I really loved your post. You know I always appreciate a good The Office gif. I didn't realize Bel Canto became one of your favorite books, but hey, book club is good for that! Also, I too enjoy watching Bobby Flay, though I prefer America's Worst Cooks. I still say that your project sounds soooo cool, and I am actually jealous that you'll be able to clean and label bone fragments because, frankly, that sounds really awesome. You talked about how you want to learn about the social structure in Nubia. Is there any research now that could lead you anywhere about Nubia specifically, or will you be drawing from the social structures of other regions and extend them to Nubia? Please, patella me more! (mwahaha, I can make bone puns too!) Okay, I'm done. Can't wait for your next post, and have a good life?
ReplyDeleteHi Korina! To answer your question, I did some research on Nubia based on articles I read( I think some of it is included in my project proposal). As for the research I'll be doing, I will update you as soon as I meet with Dr. Baker and discuss the project further with her. I can't believe we're at this point as seniors already. It's surreal!
DeleteWow! Totally cool! You get to clean and label actual human artifacts! That is amazing! I am so envious. I forgot to think of any questions. Take tons of pictures!!
ReplyDeleteThank you for commenting on my blog Mrs. Bailey! I will make sure to take lots of pictures!
DeleteThis is a pretty cool project! I can't wait to read more. Whenever I think someone is working with bones, I just think of the plethora of crime scene shows, and how the analysts perform these bizarre tests. I digress. Have you always had your eye set on anthropology? Or was there this moment where you just knew you wanted to study this?
ReplyDeleteHi Adam! Thanks for commenting on my blog! I've never been one of those people who always knew what they wanted to do when they grew up, so I hadn't set my eyes on Anthropology until recently. I was interested in the Global Health major offered at ASU and checked out the courses that came with such a broad major. Some of the required courses that I found interesting are Bones and Human Evolution as well as Culture in a Globalizing World. With this in mind, I looked at the available research projects at the ASU School of Human Change and Evolution and found the BONES project which sounded really cool! To answer your other question, I've been looking for a major that explores my interests in culture, biology, history, and literature and found Anthropology to encompass all of them! I guess that's when I knew I wanted to study this.
DeleteHi Nichole! I can't wait to follow your blog as your Senior Project Liaison. I wish I had a funny bone pun to include. I will think of one for next week! It sounds like you have a fascinating 10 weeks ahead of you. What originally interested you about the research being done in Dr. Baker's lab?
ReplyDeleteHi Ms. Conner! Thank you for commenting on my blog. I was looking for something global health related and was checking out the required courses for the Global Health major in ASU when I gound that some of the interesting reqired courses were Culture in a Globalizing World and Bones and Human Evolution. Looking at the school's website, I looked for current research projects and found the BONES project! I love learning about history and different cultures so the idea of learning about the types of people and cultures present in Nubia really excites me!
DeleteHey Nichole! It is really cool how you'll be able to work with actual bone samples and learn first hand about an ancient civilization. Do you know if you'll learn about the entire archaeology process, or mostly just the cleaning and labeling? Because if you learned about how they go about making a ditch to gather bones, I would really dig that (sorry I just had to join in on the puns).
ReplyDeleteHi Luke! I really don't know the specifics of what I'll be doing but as soon as I find out, I'll let you know!
DeleteHi Nichole! It's so awesome that you're getting the chance to work in this lab! I hope to see tons of pictures in future posts of what the lab looks like and all the skeletal remains that you will be cleaning, because usually we only see these types of things in museums or documentaries! Which skeletal remains do you hope to work with? How difficult do you think it will be to connect the physical aspects of the remains with the social organization of the people of Nubia? I'm excited to see more of your future posts!
ReplyDeleteHi Urmi! Thanks for commenting on my blog. Dr. Baker has skeletal remains from the el-Ginefab School Site located in Northern Sudan. Dr. Baker and Annie, her RA,have been giving me the background to the BONE project and bioarchaeology in general so I can't answer your other question with 100% certainty, but I will definitely talk about the connection between the remains and social organization in Nubia in further posts.
DeleteHi Nichole! I hope to learn about Nubia as your project progresses as there is little to no knowledge about the subject and I love learning new and interesting things! Is there research that you will be conducting outside the lab of ASU? And if so, what will you be doing?
ReplyDeleteHi Liam! Thanks for commenting on my blog. I will be doing some background reading outside the lab of ASU to further my understanding of bioarchaeology and Nubia, but I will not be conducting research that doesn't pertain to my project at ASU.
DeleteGood luck with all of the bone labelling; it sounds like a lot of work ahead of you. Is this project going to be purely historical, or will there be some modern impacts to the research, like finding solutions to current problems by examining the past?
ReplyDeleteI am still stewing over what my research should concentrate on, but as soon as I find out I will let you know! At the moment, the research seems purely historical.
DeleteTo get the opportunity to handle artifacts thousands of years old must certainly be an eye-opening experience! What I find fascinating about anthropology is that you can discover so much from such minute pieces of evidence! I am curious to know the policies surrounding skeletal remains and their country of origin; don't they have to stay in the country where they were excavated, like the Lucy fossils discovered in Ethiopia?
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DeleteHi Brian! Thanks for commenting. For most countries, skeletal remains do have to stay where they have been excavated. Sudan is one of the few countries with looser policies that allow the remains to be brought to other countries.
DeleteHi Nichole! I enjoyed your first post and it definitely captures your three areas of interests which you discussed in the beginning (biology, history, and literature). Studying the artifacts' relation to the ancient region of Northeastern Africa enhances your passion for history while researching the ties to health statuses can contribute to your love for biology. As for literature, the way you elaborate on the information you collect can really impact the reader's interest for your project! So, I think this project is perfect for you and I wish you good luck!
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ReplyDeleteHi Nichole! I love your first post and most definitely wish you luck on cleaning and labeling those old bones! While I, myself, am not a huge history fan, I love learning about ancient cultures. Will you also be using the bones to research how their lifestyle affected their skeletal structures, if the remains are in one piece? How do you clean the bones? Do you know where they were dug up? And will you be researching on how the different locations of the skeletal pieces had affected them? If they were found in different places.
ReplyDeleteHi Ryan! Thanks for commenting on my blog. Since I am not an Osteology expert, I cannot deduce much from the bones. However, if I get to see Dr. Baker or Annie conduct a Strontium isotope test(fingers crossed!) or any other type of isotope analysis, these tests can reveal the migrations of Nubians. As for looking on how different locations of the skeletal pieces, I know Dr. Baker has skeletal remains from the fourth cataract. Cataracts are rocky areas of rapids that interrupt the flow of the Nile River and there are 6 major Cataracts between Aswan and Khartoum.
DeleteHi Nichole. I am very exited to follow your senior project! Though history has not been my best class, I can already tell you will present your topic in a captivating way. Because I am not advanced in the historical department, I was wondering how you can discover the social structure of ancient Nubia through the artifacts you will be labeling? I can't wait to find out more!
ReplyDeleteHi Sophia! I guess an example of looking at social organizations in Nubia is from the burials, we can see differences between Meroitic period and Christian period burials in terms of body orientation and artifacts found in burials. I hope I can give you further details as the project progresses.
DeleteHey Nichole, this is definitely a very interesting topic to research as a senior project. I myself am quite intrigued by history and I am looking forward to following your project over the next ten weeks. I do have one question which is, will you only be cleaning and labeling the skeletal remains or will you get to analyze them more deeply?
ReplyDeleteHi Henri! I will definitely be doing more than cleaning and labeling the skeletal remains. Dr. Baker has given me a couple of options and I will get back to you when I finalize what exactly I'll be doing.
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