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The Packing Frenzy

Snapshots

A map of Texas with a magnifying glass over the southern border counties and Brooks Co highlighted in Red

In just a few short days the UIndy team will be heading back to South Texas to help with the humanitarian efforts in Falfurrias and at Texas State University. The Archaeology and Forensics Laboratory (AFL) is abuzz with activity. The beginning of the summer has been especially busy for us, packed with tons of casework, a conference, and a weeklong recovery out of state. This flurry of activity continues as we get closer and closer to the day we leave. As excited as I am to get to Texas, I’m starting to realize all the prep work that still needs to be done. Oh sure, the supply lists have been made, the plane tickets and hotel accommodations have been taken care of ages ago, but now the packing frenzy begins.

This afternoon we put those supply lists to good use and packed a bag with field supplies and everything that we would need to do skeletal analyses. Our field gear includes measuring tapes, compasses, string, stakes, and a north arrow, among other things. Our skeletal analysis supplies consists mostly of paper forms and reference materials. The most sophisticated pieces of equipment we’re bringing with us this year are a set of sliding and spreading calipers, which are tools that we use to measure bones with. Most notably, we will be carrying with us a box full of animal bones that will be used for teaching purposes, of course. Carrying this box through the airport should be interesting.

For my own personal packing, my top priority is what books I’m going to pack. Already, there is a stack of books next to my empty suitcase on the floor. I know that much of the trip will be spent working hard, so I’ll have to be judicious about the number of books I carry with me. At the top of the stack sits Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, followed by Pride and Prejudice, and The Time Machine by H.G. Wells. Off to the side I have a book of poetry by Elizabeth Bishop, an American poet who did quite a bit of traveling herself. She writes some truly amazing stuff. This one will go directly into my carry-on.

I have never been to Texas before and I’m glad for the opportunity to be able to do so. I’m a New Yorker, born and raised, and until I went to graduate school I had never lived anywhere else. I haven’t really travelled much in the United States. I’ve mostly stuck to the Northeast and Canada with an occasional visit to Florida, where my brother lives. Everything I know about Texas comes from books, TV, and the three Texans that currently inhabit the AFL. I’ve been told that Texas is extremely hot and humid, that the people there are the nicest you’ll ever meet, that the tacos are amazing, and that, yes, everything is bigger in Texas. I’m excited to immerse myself in all things Texas and am lucky to have two native Texans, Dr. Krista Latham and Ryan Strand, to show me the ropes.

Amanda

Update: STHRC Internship

Uncategorized

I have a quick and exciting update for our readers (and on that note, always a sincere “Thank you!!” to all of our readers) since my last post from past summer. At the end of this summer, I will be moving back to Texas to start an internship at the South Texas Human Rights Center.  This is a transition that I’ve been hoping for, and I absolutely can’t wait to begin working with the center.South Texas Human Rights Center logo with a simple all black eye and an animated green plant in the center

As graduate students, we fine-tune our skills within a confined specialty. We learn everything there is to know about how bones work in our bodies, what they look like when altered (broken, burned, buried for a long time, etc.) and how we can apply this knowledge to assist law enforcement. We are trained as scientists, and so we learn how to form and test hypotheses and how to prevent any source of bias from affecting our interpretation of the results.  We learn how to put emotion aside so that it doesn’t distort our vision.

Most importantly, we learn that a holistic approach is imperative to understanding what we see, and so that is what I am excited to expand upon by taking this internship. I likely won’t see too many bones. Instead, I’ll be looking at personal artifacts, organizing missing persons data, filling water stations, listening to distress calls, and ultimately trying to put any pieces together that might help locate the remains of a missing loved one. I’ll be working alongside professions that I’ve never worked with before. I’m excited to see these different perspectives and hopefully I will be able to use my knowledge to contribute in new ways that are revealed by these new perspectives.

An additional note that I should include is that I will be replacing Hailey Duecker, who recently received her Master’s degree from Texas State University and is moving to the University of Florida to begin her Ph.D. work. She has been at the Center since December 2014. Hailey and I were undergrads together at Texas State University and were some of the first undergraduate volunteers at the Forensic Anthropology Research Facility. I am elated and honored to be picking up her work; her work ethic is second to none and I am eager to try and match it. It’s funny how life works sometimes: even after we chose to study at different institutions for graduate school, somehow we ended up right back together to assist with this crisis.

We are about to head back to Texas for another season of human rights work. With my upcoming internship in mind, I am going to constantly think about how I might be able to help when I start my internship. My eyes will be more open than ever, looking for those opportunities that I might have not seen before. More updates will follow with what we find!

Ryan

All My Ex’s Live in Texas

Reflections, Snapshots

Texas is the place I’d really love to be.  We will soon be returning to south Texas to continue our human rights work.  I am incredibly excited to get back, yet this year will be different from the past.  We won’t be doing excavations, instead our efforts will focus on analyzing remains that we exhumed in previous years that are now located at Texas State University and training local authorities in Brooks County.  Adding to the change, three of our past team members will not be with us.  This year’s UIndy team will consist of Dr. Latham, Ryan, Amanda (the rookie), and me.  This leaves us a few cards short of a full deck.  I would like to pay a small tribute to the incredible ladies that helped to form the foundation of a strong team.

Erica looking down at her clipboard with pencil in hand
Erica in her natural habitat, mapping.

Erica

I’ve known Erica since before either of us came to UIndy.  We are both Michigan State Alumni (Go Green!).  We met on a study abroad in London, and then became fast friends while working in the Nubian Research Lab at MSU.  Erica and I have worked so closely for so long that people often mistake us for a couple in a relationship, which she hates.  Erica was an essential part of our team because of her incredible mapping skills.  Strange fact- Erica loves forms and paperwork, which makes her a mapping savant.  Erica was an amazing teammate and a great friend, and her presence will be greatly missed.

Jessica looking into the scene with sunglasses and a pensive look.
Jessica surveying the scene.

Jessica

Jess is tough as nails.  If you think that you can shovel I have sad news for you, you can’t and that Wisconsin girl can.  I’d like to think of myself as a hard worker and tough, the problem is having someone like Jess to which you are comparing yourself.  Try as you might, there is no one that time and time again gives so much of herself.  I feel honored to have someone so strong and dedicated having my back.

Justin and Ryan carrying Cheneta in a dramatic fashion
Cheneta doing her best Labron James impersonation.

Cheneta

Cheneta was our “rookie” last year, so I was hesitant to accept her at first… I was a fool.  Cheneta turned out to be one of the most hard-working and dedicated members of our team.  She made sure that all members of our team (and the entire field crew) watched out for one another.  She is the reason that to this day, I cannot hear the word “teamwork”, without finishing the phrase with, “makes the dream work”.

These three ladies have made immense contributions to our human rights work in Texas and we couldn’t have done it without them.    I’d like to take a quick moment to thank them all for everything they have done.  Thank you.

Justin