May 29, 2025 — The groundbreaking research published recently in Nature by faculty members Mike A. Adler, David J. Meltzer, and Matthew T. Boulanger was the subject of a news feature on KRQE in Albuquerque (below). This work has also been covered by the Washington Post, Houston Chronicle, Smithsonian Magazine, Associated Press, Reuters, LiveScience, ArsTechnica, and other outlets.
May 1, 2025 — In a landmark study in Nature, SMU Anthropology’s Michael A. Adler (co-first author), David J. Meltzer (co-last author), and Matthew T. Boulanger, along with their international collaborators, including the University of Copenhagen’s Thomaz Pinotti and Eske Willerslev, have used ancient DNA to definitely link the people of Picuris Pueblo with an ancestral heritage site, Pueblo Bonito in Chaco Canyon. This innovative research, which brought together archaeologists, geneticists, and the Picuris Pueblo community, is not only groundbreaking in its findings but exemplary in its modeling of tribal data sovereignty.
A video and more information are available here.
Mar. 21, 2025 — Among the recipients of this year’s Dean’s Research Council (DRC) grants are two Anthropology faculty. Michael A. Adler has been awarded funding for his new project, “The Glaze Ware Conundrum: Picuris Pueblo’s Role in Rio Grande Glaze Ware Production and Exchange, 1325-1700 A.D.” Neely Laurenzo Myers will use her grant for “Strengthening an Application to Design and Test a Safe and Fun Generative AI Companion for Youth Mental Health.”
The department, which was the only one to win multiple awards, congratulates Profs. Adler and Myers!