Assistant Director of Collections and Research
I am the Assistant Director of Collections and Research. One of my main duties is to help Ralph Chapman run the lab as well as provide input on possible lab projects and coordinate such projects once they are chosen. Another duty is to obtain, inventory and coordinate the scanning of specimens for the lab, as well as making sure said specimens are safe and secure within our facility. This includes the development of and adherence to the handling protocols under which the lab operates. It also includes working with the collections managers of the various institutions in order to obtain the objects we scan and to return the objects to them when we are finished. I even scan the objects myself on occasion. In addition, I am also responsible for locating and applying for grants. Finally, I take on any necessary miscellaneous tasks assigned by IVL Director Ralph Chapman.
I hold a Bachelors of Arts and a Masters of Science in Physical Anthropology. My specialty is the human skeletal system, though I would define myself as an educator. In addition to my duties within the IVL, I am employed by the Idaho State University's Department of Anthropology, teaching several introductory courses in anthropology.
Those courses are:
- Anthropology 100 General Anthropology
- Anthropology 230 / 232 Introduction to Biological Anthropology and Lab
- Anthropology 237 Peoples of the South Pacific
- Anthropology 430 / 530 Human Evolution and Diversity
There is no such thing as a typical day in the lab. As Assistant Director of Collections and Research, my job has a high degree of variability, something I enjoy a great deal. On any given day I might gather updates on the scanning progress for a given specimen, help scan if there is a scanner available, inventory the objects over which we currently hold custody, help Ralph Chapman or other lab employees seek grants, seek grants on my own, work toward obtaining new specimens to scan and any number of other tasks that might arise.