KATHERINE BRUNSON | PhD, Assistant Professor
NINA HIRAI | Class of 2023
NINA HIRAI is currently head lab assistant and a junior at Wesleyan University where she is a Film and Anthropology double major with a minor in Archaeology. In addition to designing the lab website and coordinating projects taking place in the Environmental Archaeology Lab, she is also creating educational videos about 3D scanning, developing public outreach modules, and assisting with database cleanup and analysis for the Oracle Bones in East Asia project.
AVNISH KULKARNI | Class of 2024
AVNISH KULKARNI is a sophomore at Wesleyan with intended majors in Archaeology and Earth & Environmental Studies, and an intended minor in South Asian studies. In the lab, Avnish is working under Head Assistant Nina Hirai to help rehouse the Environmental Archaeology Lab’s collections, as well as Wesleyan University’s osteology collections. Ultimately, his goal is to study Environmental Archaeology or Paleoanthropology in South Asia.
ANDRES ANGELES-PAREDES | Class of 2024
ANDRES ANGELES-PAREDES is a sophomore at Wesleyan working in the Environmental Archeology Lab. This semester, he is working as a 3D Scanning Technician to scan and model the vertebrate osteology collections in the lab. Andres is a prospective religion major and film minor and is also interested in studying english and archeology.
ELIZABETH COOPER | Class of 2024
ELIZABETH COOPER is sophomore at Wesleyan and an intended Archeology and Anthropology major. They are interested in experimental archeology and the rediscovery of ancient production techniques. In the lab, Elizabeth is currently flintknapping and creating stone tool teaching collections for use in archaeology courses and public outreach.
GUY BENNEVAT HANINOVICH | Class of 2023
GUY BENNEVAT HANINOVICH is a current junior double majoring in Computer Science and Earth & Environmental Science with an Informatics and Modeling minor. Guy is currently working with Dr. Brunson to analyze and compare genome sequences of an unknown ancient cattle species and known ancient and modern, wild and domestic, DNA.
KIRAN KOWLASKI | Class of 2023
KIRAN KOWALSKI is a prospective Biology and Anthropology major at Wesleyan. In the lab, Kiran is currently is working on 3D scanning of Wesleyan’s collections as well as developing teaching materials used in a variety of archaeology courses. Kiran is also taking on the role of teaching assistant for Professor Brunson’s ARCP203: Ancient DNA course.
QUIN STEINMETZ | Class of 2024
QUIN STEINMETZ is currently a sophomore at Wesleyan. She is working as a course assistant to the Ancient DNA class Professor Brunson teaches. Her majors are East Asian Studies and Archaeology, so, naturally, she is quite interested in East Asian archaeology. Quin will help with setting up materials for the Ancient DNA course. And in the lab, she will assist in updating the virtual and physical paleoanthropology collections
FLETCHER LEVY | Class of 2023
FLETCHER LEVY is a Biology and E&ES double major, currently working as a 3D Scanning Technician for the EAL. He is using the Artec Scanner to create models of each bone within the skeleton of mammals that are closely associated with human settlements. It is hoped that these bones can be for identification of fragments while in the field. In addition, Fletcher is working with the Wesleyan Natural History Collections to catalogue specimens and associated information into the relational database “Specify7”. He has also prepared several exhibits across campus including the “Specimen of the Month”, and “Wisdom Teeth”, both found in Exley Science Center.
NICK BOWMAN | Class of 2023
NICK BOWMAN is a junior at Wesleyan University, studying Archaeology and Environmental Studies. He has assisted in 3D scanning projects to digitize the university’s collections as well as producing labels for the Anthropological collections. In the lab, Nick is cataloging stone tool teaching collections and developing educational modules that use the stone tool and paleoanthropology collections.
LAB ALUMNI
ANDY TAN | Class of 2021
ANDY TAN is a former student at Wesleyan who graduated with a double major in Biology and Earth and Environmental Sciences. Working as a student curator at the Peoples Museum, he has worked on natural history collections spanning various taxa, from Lepidoptera to Mollusca. Andy also enjoys exhibit and graphic designing, fossil and historical cast restoration, as well as taxonomy research. He contemplates evolutionary questions during his leisure time and debates about them with his partner-in-crime Yu Kai as they look forward to photographing spring ephemerals and other New England natives.
YU KAI TAN | Class of 202
YU KAI TAN is a former student at Wesleyan who graduated with a triple major in Biology, Earth and Environmental Sciences and Anthropology. Currently, he studies the systematics, functional morphology and biogeography of freshwater mussels (Order: Unionoida) in North America using the 19th century collections in the Peoples Museum. His work as a former student curator in the museum includes: restoring Shelley the Glyptodon, Deinotherium, and Mosasaur; designing exhibitions; and leading digitization efforts on Specify. He enjoys collecting natural history objects and living non-horticultural plants, and painting.
