Archaeology, nature and cultures propel Rebecca Friedel’s research

Rebecca Friedel was selected to join a prestigious plant humanities fellowship in Washington, D.C.

(April 11, 2019) -- Rebecca Friedel’s passion for nature sprouted while she was growing up in Illinois and working alongside her mom and grandmothers in their gardens.

She never realized this beginning passion would one day lead her to a Harvard University research institute.

Friedel, who is pursuing a Ph.D. in Anthropology at UTSA, has been selected for a prestigious fellowship at Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, a Harvard University research institute, library, museum and garden, located in Washington, D.C.

A first-generation college student, Friedel now shares her passion for archeology, nature and other cultures as a lecturer at UTSA and Northwest Vista College. When she isn’t teaching, she is conducting her own research in UTSA’s Mesoamerican Lab and in collaboration with researchers at institutions like El Colegio de la Frontera Sur in Chetumal, Mexico and the LacCore Facility at the University of Minnesota.

We asked Friedel what excites her about this new opportunity in Washington D.C., and her research currently underway.

Tell us about your fellowship. What excites you about it?

The fellowship will give me the opportunity to work with a multi-disciplinary team on the Plant Humanities Initiative at Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, D.C. Dumbarton Oaks has collaborated with Journal Storage (JSTOR) and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to fund this initiative. Its focus is to create an accessible, well-organized digital tool with resources meant to advance our understanding of how plants have shaped human societies through the field of plant humanities, which is inherently multi-disciplinary.

As part of the fellowship, I will work with a special collections of rare books, manuscripts, and herbaria to research and produce content for the tool on the importance of certain plants throughout the history of the Americas.

I will also receive training in the digital humanities, which will be useful for the future establishment of an online, open-access digitized collection of my own resources. I think if I had to choose, I would say I am most excited about working with and learning from the other researchers at Dumbarton Oaks who will be from a variety of backgrounds.

Describe your research. Why did you decide to enter anthropology?

Ever since I was a child, I loved learning about the diversity of cultures in the world, past and present. I also grew up helping my mom and grandmothers in their gardens, and was one of those kids who was always climbing trees and picking flowers. My mother and grandparents encouraged these passions by reading Archaeology and National Geographic magazines with me and it was always my dream job to be an archaeologist when I grew up.

In high school, I job shadowed at a contract archaeology firm near my hometown, which led me to apply to undergraduate programs in anthropology to pursue archaeology further. After being accepted at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), I took many courses in anthropology and archaeology, including a study abroad field course that brought me to Moquegua, Peru for an archaeological field school.

It was in this field school that I met a graduate student who was studying how people in the past used and interacted with plants. I knew this was an avenue I wanted to pursue because it combined my passion for plants with archaeology.

I was put in contact with an archaeobotanist at UIC, Dr. Andrew Wyatt, who I worked with to complete an undergraduate honors thesis concerning the analysis and interpretation of plant remains found in a number of ancient Maya ritual cave sites of Belize.

After I received my bachelor’s degree, I applied and was accepted to the Ph.D. program in Anthropology at UTSA where I started my project that focuses on understanding the history of human-plant relationships in the Mopan River Valley, Belize, where many ancient Maya political centers and communities were located.

My research takes a multiscalar approach to understanding these relationships by looking at both the broader environmental changes in plant communities as well as specific plants used by the ancient Maya for certain activities throughout time. By taking this two-level approach, my research is able to address questions of broader change as well as more intimate understandings of human-plant relationships.

What impact do you hope your research has on society?

I hope my research will help society better understand the importance of our relationships with the natural world. My dissertation aims to answer questions about the factors of these relationships that can influence broader changes in society, including collapse and reorganization. I also hope to inspire people to "stop and smell the flowers” to gain a better appreciation for the plant world.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

In 10 years, I hope to have an established career with a position either in academia where I will focus on research and teaching or in the public sector where I can improve policy and education more broadly. I also hope to have started a family of my own.

What inspires you?

I think I’m most inspired when I can see other people’s passion and excitement while learning, which I’ve had the privilege of experiencing first-hand by teaching here at UTSA and at Northwest Vista College.

— Kara Soria

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