Facilities, Anthropological Sciences

Extensive laboratory space as well as desk space is available for all graduate students. The archaeology and physical anthropology labs housed in the Department of Anthropology provide facilities for the analysis of artifact collections, especially stone tools, faunal and botanical remains, application of remote sensing and Geographic Information Systems (GIS), analysis of primate or human remains, and advanced electron microscopy (EM), and primate endocrinology. Housed in the department are archaeological collections from Africa and the Near East. A fully equipped preparation lab provides opportunities for state-of-the-art mineralized tissue research. Laboratories also contain 3D state-of-the-art scanning/ and digitizing equipment and analysis software, for example for the analysis of micro-Computed tomography (uCT). The laboratory for endocrine analyses contains a gamma counter and a plate reader necessary for most immunoassays.

Outside of the Anthropology Department, interested students have access to the research facilities for comparative primate morphology, human anatomy, and human and primate evolution housed in the Department of Anatomical Sciences, which are at present unparalleled at any other institution. The collections include primate fossils; primate osteological material from Africa, Asia, and South America; and living nonhuman primates, including New and Old World monkeys and lemurs.

Students interested in experimental animal models for the study of functional morphology or morphogenesis have access to core facilities, including modern small animal facilities, micro-Computed tomography (uCT) imaging, and confocal imaging systems.

The Department of Geosciences houses several mass spectrometers capable of measuring many isotopes and elemental abundances, as well as petrographic and dissecting microscopes with digital cameras. Students have access to excellent libraries and collections and to campus computing services.

Field work opportunities are available in primate behavioral ecology, paleontology, and archaeology. Primate behavior research is conducted in Ecuador, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Peru, Sri Lanka, and Tanzania. Paleontological field research is current in Argentina, Kenya.

Madagascar, South Africa, and Zambia. The archaeology faculty have active field sites in Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan, France, Madagascar, Maine, and Bolivia,. The Turkana Basin Institute provides IDPAS students with access to field opportunities for paleontology and archaeology in northern Kenya.