Anthropology and Museum Studies
Barlow Award Recipients
Recipients
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2020
Ashton Asbury, Primate Behavior, MS
Barlow Experience: Master's thesis research, stay tuned for more details!
Carson Black, Primate Behavior, MS
Barlow Experience: Master's thesis research, stay tuned for more details!
J.P. Calcitrai, Primate Behavior, MS
Barlow Experience: Master's thesis research, stay tuned for more details!
Trevon Covington, Primate Behavior, MS
Barlow Experience: Master's thesis research, stay tuned for more details!
Mars Galloway, Cultural and Environmental Resource Management, MS
Barlow Experience: Master's thesis research, stay tuned for more details!
Courtney Garzone, Primate Behavior, MS
Barlow Experience: Master's thesis research, stay tuned for more details!
Jonah Kathlean, Anthropology Minor
Barlow Experience: Documentary film, stay tuned for more details!
Miranda Maple, Anthropology, BA
Barlow Experience: Internship in Iceland, stay tuned for more details!
Jake Miller, Anthropology, BS
Barlow Experience: Cultural Resource Management Field School, stay tuned for more details!
Claire Olney, Anthropology, BS
Barlow Experience: Cultural Resource Management Field School, stay tuned for more details!
Astra Palmer, Anthropology, BS; American Indian Studies mino
Barlow Experience: Cultural Resource Management Field School
The funding from the Barlow Award provided an enriching and insightful experience with anthropology! The scholarship allowed me to attend the CRM Field School, where I not only got hands on experience with the techniques and policies of archaeology, but also bonded with the other students and professors over our love and fascination for the archaeological world. Field school activities included excavations, ground surveys, GPS work, GPR work, lithic analysis, learning the details of state and federal archaeology policies, and listening to guest lectures by professional archaeologists! The overall experience has confirmed my goal to become an archaeologist and bring new insights to the science of anthropology.
David Pitchford, Primate Behavior, MS
Barlow Experience: Cornell University Ornithology Workshop, stay tuned for more details!
Kate Ramos, Anthropology, BS
Barlow Experience: Cultural Resource Management Field School, stay tuned for more details!
Maya Reda-Williams, Anthropology, BS
Barlow Experience: Documentary film, stay tuned for more details!
Nik Simurdak, Anthropology BS; Museum Studies Minor
Barlow Experience: Cultural Resource Management Field School, stay tuned for more details!
Skyler Smith, Anthropology, BA
Barlow Experience: Study abroad in China, stay tuned for more details! -
2019
Rhiannon Belcher, Primate Behavior MSBarlow Experience: Research, Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle, WAI am immensely grateful as the Barlow Award helped fund part of my stay in Seattle for my master’s thesis research. During my research, I was able to study the environmental use of two different species of captive lemurs and gain valuable experience in designing and conducting my own research to help me prepare for (hopefully!) future research examining lemur behavior and cognition.
Kailyn Campbell, Primate Behavior MSBarlow Experience: Research, Oregon Zoo, Portland, OR
I will be observing four chimpanzees at the Oregon Zoo and recording their behaviors with the goal of developing baseline data before the introduction of a new enclosure and unfamiliar chimpanzees. With the zoo in a state of construction and transition, I will also be recording the sounds and vibrations of construction throughout. I look forward to spending time at the zoo and learning more about the chimpanzee residents!
Miranda Cays, Primate Behavior & Ecology, BSBarlow Experience: Research, Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest, WA
The Barlow Award enabled me to continue volunteering at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest, in addition to getting my first research assistant experience for an alumnus of CWU's Primate Behavior program. Because of my time at CSNW, I've learned to prepare and serve meals, clean enclosures, prepare enrichment, and safely interact with the chimpanzees. Getting to build relationships with each of them has been a very rewarding process that I plan to continue over the next year. Through my work as a research assistant I gained experience digitizing records and insight into the research process. Both of these experiences have helped me develop my résumé and have made it possible for me to begin pursuing my own undergraduate research project.
Elizabeth Coggeshall, Primate Behavior MSBarlow Experience: Research, Thailand
The Barlow grant was instrumental in conducting my master’s research in Panah, Thailand. My research focuses on the relationship between maternal investment behaviors in long-tailed macaques and variable parasitic loads in offspring. The opportunity to afford to conduct my research in another country yields more benefits than just scientific research. I learned so much about Thai culture and Buddhism, which taught me about friendship and kindness in a way I have never experienced here in America. Creating relationships and experiencing different cultures is so crucial for learning and understanding others. My summer was indescribable - I was surrounded by the kindest people, the pluckiest monkeys, the most beautiful cultures, and unfathomable scientific opportunity. And those experiences definitely allowed me to learn a thing or two about myself! I am deeply thankful for this scientific and cultural opportunity that the Barlow award allowed me to achieve.
Bradley Esparza, Anthropology BS; Forensics CertificateBarlow Experience: Bioarchaeology Field School, Salango, Ecuador
I spent three weeks in the August of 2019 working as a student in Prof. Nicole Jastremski’s Bioarch field school, located at the Museo de Salango in coastal Ecuador. Though I have traveled to Europe several times, this was my first time traveling to South America. We stayed in cabañas inside the museum compound. We worked in the labratorio and had our meals in the comedor in the building next door. Local women came in to cook our meals, so the food was always fresh. Human burials and cultural objects uncovered before a planned factory expansion back in the 1980s was the focus of our research at the field school. As a group we had two weekend outings, one to La Isla de Plata to look at blue footed boobies and humpback whales, and down the coast to the communa of Valdivia, where the oldest ceramic culture (5,000 BCE) was found in coastal Ecuador, and the nearby tourist town of Montañita.
Qion Green, Museum Studies MinorBarlow Experience: Intern, Northwest African American Museum
During my Barlow experience I was able to be a participating member of NAAM as well as become part of the NAAMily. My Barlow experience allowed me to gain hands-on experience working in a museum not only as a Museum Studies minor but as a Business major as well. Being able to complete my internship with NAAM has helped be build upon my studies and build relationships with people from my community.
Sydney Haglund, Anthropology BS; Forensics CertificateBarlow Experience: Bioarchaeology Field School, Salango, Ecuador
This summer I had the opportunity to analyze prehistoric human skeletal remains down in coastal Ecuador. I gained invaluable hands-on experience in the different methods and techniques used in bioarchaeology. I am extremely grateful for the financial support provided by the Pete and Sandra Barlow Award, as this opportunity would not have been possible without it. This was definitely the highlight of my summer!
Nik Harkins, Anthropology BS; Museum Studies MinorBarlow Experience: Cultural Resource Management Field School, WA
The Barlow Award allowed me to attend the Anthropology Department’s Cultural Resource Management (CRM) field school during the summer of the 2018-2019 school year. This opportunity was more than I could have imagined, as the field school was weeks of intensive, hands-on learning. We did the work someone in the CRM field would do; recording archaeological sites and site data, processing map data, building site profiles, and even excavation! Most of this material I had read about or learned about through other classes, but there’s nothing quite like doing it in person and getting a sense for what jobs in the field are actually like. Without the Barlow Award, I would not have had this opportunity, and I would not know just how much I love archaeology and CRM. It was an opportunity I have never before had the chance to partake in and it cannot be overstated just how much I loved the experience and how much I learned. I am incredibly grateful for the chance to attend field school and am thankful to the Barlow Award for enabling this opportunity for me.
Shaun Mayo, Primate Behavior MSBarlow Experience: Research, Duke Lemur Center, NC
This summer I collected data for my master’s thesis at the Duke Lemur Center to identify if individuals showed hand preferences for certain types of food in their diet. With the Barlow Award, I was not only able to cover the cost of travel but also research fees for the entirety of my time at the DLC. I am grateful to Pete and Sandra Barlow for their generosity in funding my research and allowing me the opportunity to study such a unique species of primate.
Emily Patton, Primate Behavior MSBarlow Experience: Research, Wildlife Waystation, CA
I set out at the beginning of this summer to conduct my graduate thesis research at Wildlife Waystation, home to over 400 animals in the Angeles National Forest in California. I collected behavioral data on nine chimpanzee residents to assess how they responded to their human caregivers’ behavior during informal interactions like grooming or playing. I am curious to see whether the chimps responded differentially to their caregivers using either human-like or chimp-like behaviors during these interactions and whether their early life experiences and exposure to humans had an impact on their responses. I am very eager to analyze the data and share my results. I hope that this research will help us better understand the relationships between humans and nonhumans and discover new ways to improve the welfare of captive chimpanzees.
Roxanne Sanders, Primate Behavior & Ecology BS; Anthropology BSBarlow Experience: Biodiversity of Bhutan Field School, Bhutan
While participating in the Biodiversity of Bhutan field school with Dr. Sheeran and Dr. Barlow I was not only given the opportunity to turn my primatology and cultural anthropology knowledge into hands-on experience but was taught many new skills in the field of conservation biology and wildlife ecology by numerous experts from Bhutan as well. Participating in this field school really helped me improve myself both academically and personally, as I learned many new things that will accentuate my career goals and career path, along with many new things about myself and the cultures outside of my own. I was given the opportunity to grow in many ways during this field school, and my appreciation for everyone and everything incorporated will continue to thrive in my heart always. I am and always will be thankful for being able to participate in this incredible program.
Leah Shenyer, Anthropology BABarlow Experience: Archaeological Field School, OR
When I signed up for this field school, I did not know what I was getting myself into. I was nervous because this was going to be a six-week camping trip in the middle of high desert Oregon. Once the excavation was opened, the screening pit set up, and the computer station running, we were assigned a partner and unit and got to work. We were taught how to dig, record artifacts in our paperwork, what to keep on the screen, and how to enter artifacts into the electronic database. Once we got to the bottom of the excavation, we did profiles of all the walls and took samples for soil and botanical research. Out of all the possible outcomes of this experience, I never thought at the end of the six weeks that I would find myself hesitant to leave the new family I have grown to love. I never would have had the opportunity to have this amazing experience without the Barlow scholarship, I do not know to thank them enough.
Maddie Spencer, Primate Behavior MSBarlow Experience: Research, South Africa
I spent this past summer in Phalaborwa, South Africa at the Centre for Animal Rehabilitation and Education (C.A.R.E.) to collect observational data for my master’s thesis. C.A.R.E. is home to over 450 chacma baboons (Papio ursinus) whose lives started traumatically after losing their mothers and sometimes their entire troops. During my time at the center, I was able to observe a troop of captive chacma baboons who are awaiting re-introduction to the wild. My goal here was to provide new information to other rehabilitation sites on the benefits this process has in regard to the ultimate goal of re-introduction into the wild. My time at C.A.R.E. provided me with so many great experiences and learning opportunities. Being able to observe the individuals on a regular basis was so beneficial in helping me to learn each individual’s identity, behavior, and idiosyncrasies. It was amazing to observe how they interacted with each other and begin to understand their social system. Beyond observations, I was able to talk to management and learn from their shared experiences. I am incredibly grateful to have received the Barlow Award as it aided in helping me have this experience that taught me so many lessons, that I will carry for years to come.
Mallory Triplett, Cultural and Environmental Resource Management, MSBarlow Experience: Archaeological Research, Columbia Plateau in Kittitas and Yakima counties
The funding that I received from this award allowed me to conduct the fieldwork necessary to complete my Master’s research. My fieldwork over the summer included going to several different locations on the Columbia Plateau in search of a unique type of rock used to create prehistoric stone tools. During this process, I worked with locals and professionals who have extensive knowledge in the area in order to locate and record these unique rocks and feel fortunate to have had this experience. -
2018
Erica Beck, Anthropology BS, Museum Studies Minor
Barlow Experience: CWU Archaeological Field SchoolThis experience was amazing. I have always dreamed of doing an archaeological field school and receiving the Barlow award helped me to achieve this dream. It was so surreal. I experienced and learned so much in addition to meeting new people, and the Barlow award allowed this opportunity to be possible for me.
Sofía I. Castro-Loza, Primate Behavior MS
Barlow Experience: Ethnoprimatology of Urban Cebus albifrons: An Evaluation of Human-Nonhuman Interactions and Local Perceptions in Misahullí, EcuadorHaving the opportunity to conduct my thesis research in South America is definitely the highlight of my studies to this day. I got to immerse myself in the culture of people from Waorani and Kichwa decent and their perception of the monkeys that live in their town all while studying the interactions that urban white capuchin monkeys have with locals and tourists that visit Puerto Misahuallí. I am very grateful to have received the Pete & Sandra Barlow Award because it made it possible for me to spend a month and a half in la amazonía, Ecuador studying the human-nonhuman interface.
Grace Coffman, Primate Behavior MS
Barlow Experience: Visiting Intern Program, Fauna Foundation and data collection for thesis entitled "The Effect of Sound on Captive Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)"This summer I traveled to Quebec, Canada to intern at the Fauna Foundation. It has been an amazing and invaluable experience, where I have been able to participate in husbandry tasks like preparing meals and enrichment. I have also been collecting data for my master's thesis, which focuses on the effect of sound on chimpanzees. The Barlow Award assisted in paying for internship and equipment fees, while also giving me the opportunity to stay at the Fauna Foundation for an additional two months. I am endlessly grateful to Pete and Sandra Barlow for their generosity in funding my time here, it has been amazing!
Nakita Hesketh, Anthropology BA; Primate Behavior & Ecology BS
Barlow Experience: Internship at Riverside Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre, South AfricaMy internship at Riverside was an incredible experience. It enabled me to work closely with baboons and vervet monkeys and taught me valuable captive husbandry skills. Working with the monkeys and meeting people from all over the world was amazing and I will never forget my time spent there. If it weren't for the Barlow Award, I would not have had the funds to participate in this exotic internship, so thank you!
Ruth Linsky, Primate Behavior MS
Barlow Experience: Orangutan STR DNA AnalysisThe Barlow Award allowed me to complete this microsatellite marker fingerprinting analysis as a part of my master’s research into the genetic relatedness within a wild population of Bornean orangutans. Without these funds, this important part of my thesis work would not have been possible. Many thanks to the Barlow's and the department for granting these funds and making this work possible.
Keenan O’Brien, Anthropology BS
Barlow Experience: CWU Cultural Resource Management Archaeology Field SchoolThrough conducting archaeological fieldwork over the summer of 2018, I was able to gain a much better understanding of the field of archeology as it is practiced today. It was a great pleasure to learn about prehistoric native populations in the Central Washington area, and the experience could be quite powerful at times. It was also the experience of working with my fellow students that strengthened my ability to work as a team, especially in building and maintaining team member cohesion. Through this field school, I was able to determine a much more clear path for my future in archaeology.
Rachel E. Parrish, Anthropology BA
Barlow Experience: CWU Forensic Anthropology Field SchoolDuring this field school, I got to experience what a job on a forensic case is like both in the field and in the lab. I learned and practiced techniques with excavation, mapping, and documentation, and in the lab, I was able to gain practice in research, observation, and organization in a forensic setting. At the end of this field school, I was able to present the findings of my group, doing our best to explain our project in a manner that was both understandable and thorough, as it would need to be in an official forensic context. The rigors of this field school barely scrape the surface of the intensity of forensic anthropology, but there is nothing quite like hands-on learning!
Caroline Rowley, Primate Behavior MS
Barlow Experience: Acoustic Analysis of Nomascus Songs as a Potential Measure of Current Health StatusMy research at the Endangered Primate Rescue Center in Vietnam was a valuable experience. Over three months, I was able to collect over one hundred complete song bouts from the individuals I studied. I look forward to analyzing these songs and completing my project! As an emerging researcher, the opportunity to conduct my own research and make adjustments in the field has been a worthwhile experience. Additionally, forming connections with other conservationists and researchers who have similar or complimentary interests will be beneficial in future projects and collaborations. The Pete and Sandra Barlow award funded my housing as well as some of the necessary equipment for my research. I’m extremely grateful for their support in making my field experience possible!
Alexandra Sacco, Primate Behavior MS
Barlow Experience: An Evaluation of Individual Health Status in Free-Ranging Sympatric Saguinus imperator and Leontocebus weddelli Using Urinary Neopterin Levels and Blood Chemistry AnalysisThis summer I was able to collect and analyze samples in the Peruvian Amazon to evaluate health trends in two species of tamarins. The Barlow Award was incredibly helpful to me in acquiring the lab supplies necessary to collect these data abroad.
Destiny Towery, Anthropology BS
Barlow Experience: Independent research project at a burial site in Salango, EcuadorWithout the Barlow award, I would not have been able to travel down to Ecuador. Since the trip was out of pocket for me, my financial situation would not have allowed me to participate in the amazing experience I had outside of the country. This was my first time out of the country and my first time being able to do hands-on work in my field of interest, which made it an invaluable opportunity.
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2017
Elizabeth Cook, Primate Behavior MSBarlow Experience: OPR Coastal Primate Sanctuary Internship
I was an intern at OPR Coastal Primate Sanctuary in Longview, WA. I assisted the founders/caregivers with cleaning, feeding, and enrichment. I also assisted with picking up two new macaques that were retired to OPR and getting them settled in their new home. With these two additions, OPR currently houses 17 primates (mostly macaques). This was a fantastic experience and I learned a lot about captive macaque behavior and caring for primates in a sanctuary setting. The Barlow Award covered tuition and transport allowing me to focus on learning.
Kailie Dombrausky, Primate Behavior MSBarlow Experience: Visiting Intern Program at Fauna Foundation, Quebec, Canada
This summer I traveled to Canada where I spent ten weeks interning at a chimpanzee sanctuary. I gained valuable hands-on experience as a chimpanzee caregiver, including cleaning and preparing meals and enrichment. I also learned about chimpanzee behavior and collected data for a research project on enrichment use. The Barlow Award covered a portion of the costs, which allowed for this amazing opportunity.
Jake Funkhouser, Primate Behavior MSBarlow Experience: Chimpanzee-Caregiver Relationships and Dominance Hierarchy Analyses at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
This study investigated an aging population of seven chimpanzees who were retired from biomedical research. This group of chimpanzees is especially interesting because of their unique group composition, varying life histories, and important connections with human caregivers. Specifically, this project looked at the social relationships within the chimpanzee and chimpanzee-caregiver societies to aid in sanctuary policy, husbandry, and expansion, as well as investigate the theoretical underpinnings and statistical representations of dominance relationships in this unique group of chimpanzees.
Receiving the 2017 Pete & Sandra Barlow Award has been instrumental in carrying out my master's thesis research at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest. Because of this support, I've been able to focus on collecting this data without financial strain. This project, along with other projects supported by the Barlow Award (2015/2016), has enabled my continued investigation of captive primate welfare while challenging and developing my research ability; doing so will make me a more competitive applicant for Ph.D. programs and ensure I'm able to perpetuate the understanding of dynamic primate systems (social, structural, welfare and otherwise). Thank you to Pete and Sandra Barlow for their continued support of my education and research!
Josefine Holms, Primate Behavior MSBarlow Experience: Single- and Pair-Housed Chacma Baboons' (Papio ursinus) Response to Caregivers' Use of Species-Specific Behaviors
This project was conducted at the Centre for Animal Rehabilitation and Education (C.A.R.E.) in the Limpopo province in South Africa. The Pete and Sandra Barlow award helped ensure that I could pay for the equipment used during my research and provided some of the funds used towards lodging during my stay, and therefore was a vital component of my research. I spent eight weeks observing four captive Chacma baboons and their interactions with caretakers at the site. I am trying to determine if these interactions can be altered and adjusted to ensure the highest poosible welfare for captive Chacma baboons.
Darian Johnson, Anthropology BA; Law and Justice, BABarlow Experience: Archaeological field work in coastal Ecuador
This field school was a wonderful opportunity to go out into the real world and learn new techniques that are difficult to practice in a classroom setting. We worked in groups to learn how to identify, document, map and excavate an actual archaeological site. Along the way, we also ran into several obstacles that we needed to overcome, such as language barriers, cultural differences, and very large spiders. But over the 6 weeks we learned how to adapt to these new challenges to complete out work more effectively. All in all, it was an incredible learning experience. Unfortunately, flying to another country for a field school is quite expensive. I wasn't sure that I would have enough money to go on this trip, but thanks to the Pete & Sandra Barlow award, I was able to comfortably afford the chance to participate in this fantastic field school.
Samantha Jones, Primate Behavior MSBarlow Experience: Interspecies comparisons of captive gibbons' (Hylobatidae) intra-pair behaviors indicative of the pair bond
This research took place at the Gibbon Conservation Center in Santa Clarita, California. I focused on the interactions between mated adult pairs. This is important research to help conservation efforts in programs that want to release gibbons back into the wild. The Pete and Sandra Barlow award aided in these conservation efforts by making this research possible. It covered research fees and housing at the center. I am so grateful for this award so I could conduct my research.
Ruth Linsky, Primate Behavior MSBarlow Experience: Camp Leakey Relatedness, Orangutan Genetics at Tanjung Puting National Park, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia
Thanks to the Barlow Award, I was able to purchase critical genetics kits, reagents, and equipment to employ a cutting-edge methodology utilizing passively collected fecal samples and next-generation sequencing. These funds allowed me to begin work on perfecting and verifying the methods towards my master's research to acquire an unprecedented level of detail into individual orangutans' genomes and insight into the population of critically endangered orangutans at the world famous, Camp Leakey.
Kristín Ocasio-Rodriguez, Primate Behavior MSBarlow Experience: Adult male-immature relationships and stress in rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta)
I feel privileged to have worked with the rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) of Cayo Santiago in my homeland, Puerto Rico. I studied how adult male-immature relationships may be related to stress behavior indicators (e.g., scratches). The Caribbean Primate Center's fees are far from my budget, and I also had to pay for many other things while there (e.g., meals and lodging). The Barlow Award made my project's budget more bearable. I am grateful to be a recipient of this award that helped me to complete my fieldwork.
Amanda Osborne, Primate Behavior MSBarlow Experience: Enrichment Assessment for Geriatric Old World Monkeys Under Human Care
For this research, I collected observational, behavioral data from geriatric and young monkeys including Allen's swamp monkeys, De Brazza's monkeys and mandrills. I observed these monkeys for eight weeks at the Oregon Zoo in Portland, Oregon. During this extended period of time, I was able to stay near the zoo to conduct research, due to the funding of the 2017 Pete and Sandra Barlow Scholarship. Thank you!
Blanca Ponce, Primate Behavior MSBarlow Experience: Preparing the Yucatan black howler monkey for its return to the wild and assessment of Wildtrack's approach to rehabilitation and release
I am eternally grateful to Pete and Sandra Barlow for their generosity. This award contributed to my very first field excursion and helped me further develop my skills as a primatologist. Pete and Sandra Barlow's award also contributed to Wildtrack's conservation efforts in Belize and helped to provide a better quality of life for monkeys that have been victims of the illegal pet trade.
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