Five anthropology students from Missouri State University gave impressive performances at the Society for Applied Anthropology (SfAA) conference March 26-30.

Two of those students, senior anthropology major Jacob Rosecrans and senior anthropology major McKennzee Newton, won first and second place honors, respectively, for their research poster presentations.

Senior anthropology major Brianna Rodgers and junior anthropology and agriculture double major Kyra Uphoff presented their research on the benefits of student-led college clubs, fielding questions from both faculty and students throughout the entire conference.

Junior sociology major Isabella Rossi gave an oral presentation of her research on public housing in St. Louis.

“All presented as undergraduates,” said Dr. Mary Willis, head of the Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Gerontology (SAG). “That’s a huge accomplishment given that undergraduates are less likely to do their own research compared to graduates and less likely to have the chance to present.”

“Every single one of them was poised, confident, and able to talk about their research in clear, straightforward and engaging ways,” said associate professor Dr. Marnie Watson. “Their work was at the level of the graduate students and faculty who presented at the conference.”

“In fact, several people expressed amazement that our undergraduate students were able to engage so professionally with others at the conference,” she added.

The students were accompanied to the conference by Willis, Watson and instructor Jason Shepard.

During their stay, the students visited Pecos National Historical Park and several museums in Sante Fe’s Museum Hill. After the conference, the group enjoyed a celebratory dinner at Jambo Café, a Sante Fe restaurant that was featured on “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.”

“We didn’t realize that we would have so much to celebrate,” Willis said. “When I was looking at the posters before the award ceremony, another conference attendee said to me, ‘Wow, Missouri State really dominated the awards this year’.”

First time conference appearances a big success

Although some of them had previously presented at smaller conferences, this was the first national conference for Rossi, Rodgers and Uphoff.

Rossi was enrolled in Watson’s “Anthropology of the Ends of Life” class when she grew interested in issues of housing inequality.

“This led her to do a deep dive into public housing in Missouri, with a special focus on the failure of the Pruitt-Igoe housing complex in St. Louis,” Watson said.

Rossi practiced her presentation several times on her own initiative, Watson said, while together the two brainstormed on potential questions Rossi might be asked.

“Isabella was the only student to do an oral presentation and, by all accounts, did a superb job presenting and fielding questions,” Willis said.

Meanwhile, Rodgers and Uphoff were looking for an opportunity to gain more conference experience.

“Both had talked to me about what they could do to attend the SfAA meetings,” Willis said. “Because of their leadership roles, we decided to have them research the impact of clubs on undergraduate success, including looking up some of the history of the anthropology club in the department.”

Uphoff and Rodgers are president and vice president, respectively, of MSU’s Anthropology Club. Together, they developed a project titled “Clubbing at Missouri State University, Anthropology-Style.”

“We started this research to get a better understanding of how extracurricular activities affect student success in higher education settings, especially in a post-Covid world,” said Rodgers, who graduates in May.

“To study this, Kyra and I looked through historical data—club scrapbooks, documents and emails—review[ed] relevant literature and surveyed current members to see if the Anthropology Club is addressing the needs and providing activities to engage the largest number of students,” she explained.

Their conclusion: extracurricular activities do contribute to student success.

“They provide a greater sense of community, while offering opportunities for skill development in their respective major,” Rodgers said.

Both Uphoff and Rodgers were pleasantly surprised by the amount of interest conference attendees showed in their work.

“There were faculty members from various schools across the country who asked us about how we run the Anthropology Club and took the advice back to the clubs they advise at their home institution,” Rodgers said.

“I gained a lot of confidence in my academic abilities,” she said of the conference’s impact. “The poster that Kyra and I presented at the conference is something that I brag about to my family back home, and it is something that I am immensely proud of.”

Uphoff enjoyed the opportunity the conference gave her to visit with other club presidents.

“Many other clubs are having issues retaining members and growing their club,” she said. “So, it was nice to know we aren’t alone in our struggle.”

“Kyra and Brianna did a great job discussing their poster,” Willis said. “They had faculty and students stopping by non-stop to talk about their findings and to get ideas for resurrecting the club.”

Zambia research results win big

Rosecrans and Newton were among eight students who accompanied Willis to Zambia for a 2023 Education Abroad project. Both presented the research they had gathered during that trip.

“I knew that both Jacob and McKennzee had an interest in going to graduate school for anthropology at some point in the future, so I asked each of them if they wanted to submit their Zambia posters for the conference,” Willis said.

“The judges told me that they were impressed by both [Rosecrans and Newton] and that the posters were colorful, visually appealing and had all the basics in the IMRAD (introduction, methodology, results and discussion) format,” Willis said.

Rosecrans and Newton both agreed it was more rewarding than intimidating to answer questions about their research.

“It felt like someone took a legitimate interest in it,” Rosecrans said.

Rosecrans wins first for agricultural research

Rosecrans will graduate this May. He is headed for Nepal as a Peace Corps food security volunteer. When he completes his tenure with the Peace Corps, he hopes to attend graduate school.

His award-winning research project was, “The Seeds We Sow: Gardening and Growth Among Primary School Children in Zambia.”

While in Zambia, Rosecrans spent four weeks interviewing, conducting height and weight screenings and assessing the dental health of nearly 1,000 Zambian primary school children.

He said his research findings suggest that “subsistence farmers fare better than people reliant on grocery stores and supermarkets for their food.”

“As a food security volunteer and prospective anthropologist, I want to use this information to encourage more people to grow more of their own food, or to support the people in their communities that do,” he explained.

The research itself was not the biggest obstacle for Rosecrans. Instead, learning how to use the statistics software gave him fits.

“My biggest obstacle probably came from my own pride,” he admitted. “I wanted to learn my way around the statistics program myself.”

“In a department full of social scientists who could have run the data in their sleep, I was insistent on fumbling around the menus and commands until I learned,” he added. “As a result, I learned a lot and only pulled out some of my hair in the process.”

Rosecrans said he was surprised when he learned he had taken top honors for his work.

“There were some really amazing posters and research premises,” he said. “I took a moment, before the session began, to walk around and admire them all.”

Meeting people was the best part of the conference experience, Rosecrans said. “I want to do anthropology one day, and it was great to mingle with people who could one day be my peers.”

“He [Rosecrans] has an amazing career ahead of him and through it all, he remains humble,” Willis said. “I saw the reviewers clustered around him and watched him speak, answering questions without hesitation. He’s already a pro.”

Newton wins second for research on corn nutrition

Newton will graduate in December 2024 and plans to become a researcher in biological anthropology and ethnology.

Her project, “Maize-Centrism: On Cooking and Consumption in Eastern and Southern Provinces of Zambia,” reflected her research as part of the 2023 Zambia Education Abroad program.

It took Newton about one year to conduct, record and analyze her research.

“I studied the significance of corn in the diets of primary school children within two provinces of Zambia,” Newton said. “I observed cooking methods, storage tactics, took inventory at local markets and interviewed well over 800 students between the ages of 10 and 21.”

“It is important to note that the same nutrients which maize is deficient in are largely the same nutrients this portion of the Zambian population are lacking in,” she added.

Her research conclusions included recommendations to incorporate more native grains, such as sorghum, into traditional diets and to adjust cooking methods so that the nutritional value of maize is not lost.

But her research is also important to her because of the skill sets she has acquired.

“Participating in this study has provided me with data entry skills, research and writing skills, interview skills, anthropometry experience, dental exam experience and new resources both in Zambia and in other anthropology departments,” Newton said. “Having this experience will serve me extremely well in graduate school and has given me a better understanding of my own interests and abilities.”

Newton found the conference experience equally rewarding.

“My trip to Zambia provided me with a passion I didn’t previously know I had, and to be told by experienced anthropologists that I have done good work was such a valuable experience for me,” she said.

She added that Willis should be proud of the work she does to take students abroad. “I could not be more thankful to her for providing us with this opportunity,” Newton said.

“It’s difficult to explain the love I have for my new friends in Zambia, the support of the SAG department I have received, and my very good friends from Missouri State I made throughout my research,” she said.

“Working with people is what I find most fulfilling in life, and I am so lucky to have experienced such an impactful time with these amazing people.”

Research experience enhances quality of program

Watson commented on the quality of training the SAG students receive at Missouri State.

“Our students leave MSU with an action-centered approach, knowing how to identify problems in our society, how to design research to address those issues and how to conduct that research,” she said. “This provides us all with a corps of experienced researchers who are dedicated to using anthropological knowledge and methods to solve community problems.”

Willis sees direct connections between the research training SAG students receive and the university’s public affairs mission.

“The application of the…public affairs mission, which embraces community engagement, cultural competence and ethical leadership, requires research skills in the social sciences,” Willis said.

“Research projects take dedication and determination—something all these students have,” Willis continued. “But it also takes patience, stamina and a willingness to remain open-minded.”

“I always remind them that there is no perfect research project. What’s important is that you learn from each project and that you leave a community better off than when you arrived.”

Photos provided by Mary Willis.