Megan Savoy

Archaeology Ph.D. student at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor

This was a fantastic hands-on experience to work with human skeletal remains

Megan Savoy (she/her) graduated as an Anthropology major in 2019 with a focus on bioarchaeology. Her interest in this subdiscipline derived from the question, how can human lifeways (diet, health, violence, etc.) manifest physically on the body? Currently, she is an Archaeology Ph.D. student at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor. Her research uses isotopic analysis to detect changes in mobility and diet of early human populations.

For Megan, one of the most meaningful experiences as an Anthropology major at UMass was working at the Holt Lab, directed by Professor Brigitte Holt. “This was a fantastic hands-on experience to work with human skeletal remains (from Italy),” Megan writes, “and produce a senior thesis in the end! I also developed wonderful friendships with the other students that also worked with the collection.” 

Overall, Megan is grateful that UMass stressed the importance of Anthropology as a four-field discipline. “As a result,” she notes, “I have developed the skills to effectively collaborate with anthropologists researchers of other disciplines. There is always something you can learn from other scholars, and by having an open mind the possibilities for research are limitless!”

[Interview edited on 2021]