Undergraduate Research Mentor of the Year 2009
College of Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences

Bonnie Pitblado is an associate professor of anthropology and director of the USU Museum of Anthropology, and she mentors undergraduate students in both capacities.  Her fifteen year-old archaeological research program focuses on Ice Age human occupations of Utah, Idaho and Colorado.  Every other summer, Dr. Pitblado takes 16 undergraduate students with her to very remote locations, where they spend six weeks learning how to locate, excavate, and interpret some of North America’s oldest archaeological sites.  In interim summers, she uses research-grant funding to hire field-school graduates to work on other field projects, so they gain advanced research experience that most do not get until they are senior graduate students.

Dr. Pitblado also mentors student researchers in her archaeology lab during the year, with four to a dozen students at any given time working and reporting their progress in weekly team meetings with Dr. Pitblado.  Most students begin as volunteers or interns, then work their way up to paid lab assistantships and eventually to supervisory positions that allow them to mentor other students.  Before they graduate, most of Dr. Pitblado’s students have extensive curation and analytical experience and present papers or posters based on their research at regional or national conferences.  Some also publish papers as solo authors or as a co-author with Dr. Pitblado.  As a result of these unique research experiences, which expose them to every step of the scientific method, Dr. Pitblado’s students are routinely accepted into the nation’s premier anthropology graduate programs with generous aid packages; or are immediately hired into private- or government-sector archaeology jobs.

Dr. Pitblado has also mentored many students as director of the Museum of Anthropology.  Most students first join the museum team as docents who give tours to our elementary-school visitors.  Many elect to pursue a “museum studies certificate,” a 24-credit HASS “Area Studies” initiative launched by Dr. Pitblado in 2006 that requires undergraduate participants to complete internships in two different museums.  Museum students also gain paid work experience accessioning and managing our collections; researching objects; developing and executing outreach programs for the Cache Valley community; designing and building exhibits; conducting public relations and marketing campaigns; and otherwise participating in the day-to-day operations of the museum.

In 2008 – 2009, a record 25 undergraduate students are working in one capacity or another in the Museum of Anthropology, and like their archaeology colleagues, their real-life experiences lead to top-notch graduate programs (a former student will complete a master’s in museum studies at Tufts University in May 2009) and to highly sought-after permanent jobs.  One of Dr. Pitblado’s museum studies students now serves as director of the Brigham City Museum, and others have gone on to full-time administrative and interpretive jobs at such popular Utah museums as the American West Heritage Center, the Living Planet Aquarium, the Treehouse Museum, Dead Horse Point State Park, and of course, the USU Museum of Anthropology.

Dr. Pitblado is committed to mentoring her undergraduate students over the long term, helping them plan four-year programs that will over time give them the research background and practical skills they need to succeed.  She does not always start the process in a student’s freshman year, however; whenever possible, she reaches out to students earlier.  Dr. Pitblado oversees the USU Native American High School Archaeological Internship program, which with National Science Foundation support brings high school juniors and seniors of Ute and Shoshone descent to summer archaeological field school, where they learn to practice science first-hand and to work alongside USU students.  She is currently recruiting two students for summer 2009 internships, and she hopes that like others before them, they will matriculate to USU when they graduate from high school.

In the museum, Dr. Pitblado initiated the Latino/Latina High School Internship program in summer 2008, introducing four Sky View and Mountain Crest students to the fields of anthropology, interpretation, and bilingual education. For 40 hours a week for 12 weeks, the students studied exhibit content, wrote interpretive scripts in English and Spanish, and recorded their scripts on audio devices museum patrons now use for self-guided tours.  Both seniors plan to attend USU this fall (and we hope the two juniors will follow them in fall 2010); and both shave jobs and many more learning experiences waiting for them at the Museum of Anthropology.