Bilby Research Center

The Social Science Community-engagement Lab (SSCL)

Director: Dr. Lisa J. Hardy

Key faculty partner: Dr. Leah Mundell

Location: Room 131

The SSCL serves as a central location for learning and best practices for community-engaged research in northern Arizona. Faculty, students, and community partners develop and implement interdisciplinary projects through the SSCL. With a focus on medical anthropology, partners develop projects and conduct training sessions on ethics, primary data collection, mixed-methods analysis, and dissemination of findings through professional presentations and publications. The lab also… Read more

Cultural Medical Anthropology Analysis (CMAA) Lab

Director: Dr. Emery Eaves

Location: Room 131

The CMAA offers a space for graduate and undergraduate students in anthropology, health sciences, and other social sciences to gain experience in medical anthropology research and in-depth analysis. Students have opportunities to work alongside professionals from multiple disciplines to develop research skills and contribute to impactful, engaged health research. Student interns and volunteers contribute to the research design, gather primary data, analyze secondary data, build professional networks, and use… Read more

Medical Anthropology Practice Collective (MAPC)

Medical anthropology has served as the foundation for widely used theories and methods used in interdisciplinary health work and continues to provide valuable insights to ongoing health-focused research and practice. Students and partners working with the MAPC engage in theory-driven qualitative and mixed-methods approaches to explore and understand the root causes of health outcomes.

The MAPC has many benefits:

• The collective brings together the expertise and skills of medical anthropologists in the region,
• Students aligned with the… Read more

Archaeology Imaging Laboratory

Director: Dr. Chris Downum

Location: Rooms 121, 151

Here archaeologists create digital archaeological maps, 3-D color images of archaeological sites and features, and creative renderings of ancient human life.

Consulting archaeologist Dr. Leszek Pawlowicz serves as advisor to the lab and adds drone mapping, extreme oblique flash photography, and Reflectance Transformation Imaging capabilities.

The lab is equipped with the latest archaeological technology and software, including

• RTK GPS base and rover units,
• high-resolution digital SLR cameras,
• Gigapan and panoramic photography equipment, and
• 3-D photogrammetry, GPS, and panorama software.

Social Science Forensic Laboratory

Director: Dr. Sharon Moses

Location: Room 164

The Social Science Forensic Lab houses replica skeletal bones and molds of teeth, joints, and different sections of bone for close up examination and other specific models for examples of homicidal trauma to bones. Students taking the Social Science Forensic minor courses, such as ANT 430 Forensic Archaeology and ANT 444 Forensic Art Methods, use this lab.  Students are able to apply hands-on forensic skills for human versus animal identification and… Read more

Historical Archaeology Laboratory

Director: Dr. Emily Dale

Location: Room 160B

The Historical Archaeology Lab focuses on collaborative research, public archaeology, and student engagement in investigating the 19th- and 20th-century American West and Southwest. For current and past projects, the Lab has partnered with the Kaibab National Forest, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Navajo Nation, the Museum of Northern Arizona, and NAU’s Interns-to-Scholars Programs. Through both collections research and archaeological excavations and surveys, the lab addresses questions of identity, culture contact,… Read more