MHAAM Fellowship Recipients

During my undergraduate career in archaeology, I was fascinated to learn the potential of technologies such as stable isotope analysis, ancient DNA, and proteomics to illuminate the human past. As someone interested in human-environmental interactions, mobility, and trade, I wanted to learn to integrate these approaches into my own research. The MHAAM fellowship program offers just such a path, aiming these exciting technologies at the questions remaining about the peoples of the Mediterranean at the nexus of prehistory and history— one of the most integral turning points in humanity’s past.

As a proud fellowship recipient, I have started my PhD at Harvard University, and have already begun to benefit from the guidance of the influential minds of both Harvard’s Science of the Human Past Initiative and the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History as I cultivate my own research interests. To someday contribute to the body of work already produced by this truly unique collaboration will be a great honor and an unparalleled start to my career as a researcher. I feel that there is no better place that I could be to tackle the big archaeological questions that inspire me.

During my MHAAM fellowship, I plan to continue to research the demographic changes associated with the Chalcolithic period in the Levant using ancient DNA. I am eager to extend the scope of this project, to explore data from additional archaeological sites and time periods, and to examine ancient DNA from individuals from neighboring regions. I am also excited to begin a collaborative project with the Krause Lab in Jena, examining the massive collection of ancient DNA in the Reich Lab for evidence of pathogens. Additionally, I am grateful to be able to participate in the many multidisciplinary conversations that are fostered by MHAAM throughout the year.  

As a graduate student interested in human-microbial coevolution, I am incredibly honored and excited to be a part of the new Max Planck-Harvard Research Center for the Archaeoscience of the Ancient Mediterranean (MHAAM). Questions relating to the role of pathogens in human evolution are inherently multidisciplinary, drawing on knowledge from the biological sciences as well as anthropology, archaeology, history, and beyond. MHAAM is breaking down these disciplinary boundaries, bringing together the world’s leading experts from diverse fields to pursue a more holistic understanding of human history in the Mediterranean. I am eager to contribute to this common goal, broadening my own understanding of human evolution through cross-disciplinary exchange and collaboration.