On this week's episode of The Sci-Files, your hosts Mari and Dimitri interview Aubree Marshall. Aubree is a 5th year PhD candidate in the Department of Anthropology. They work in the MSU Bioarchaeology Lab with Dr. Gabe Wrobel, and their research interests include understanding health, diet, and food access in ancient Maya populations, specifically from Central Belize. To do this, Aubree analyzes the proteins and micro-remains extracted from dental calculus - the same stuff your dental hygienist scrapes off your teeth! Dental calculus, or tartar, fossilizes in life, meaning that the materials found in the matrix would have passed through the individual's mouth before death. This method allows bioarchaeologists to study food specificity and access, something that previous dietary study methods cannot provide. In turn, this allows us to begin to understand the relationship between food access and different aspects of social identity (i.e., osteological sex, age, and socioeconomic status).

If you're interested in discussing your MSU research on the radio or nominating a student, please email Mari and Dimitri at thescifileswdbm@gmail.com. Check The Sci-Files out on Twitter and Instagram!

Mari and Dimitri interview undergraduate student researchers from Michigan State University's Summer Research Opportunities Program (SROP). The second episode of this 2-part series features Chris Lin, Kevin Villatoro, and Darnilla Samuel.

If you’re interested in discussing your MSU research on the radio or nominating a student, please email Mari and Dimitri at thescifileswdbm@gmail.com. Check The Sci-Files out on Twitter or Instagram!

Mari and Dimitri interview undergraduate student researchers from Michigan State University's Summer Research Opportunities Program (SROP). The first episode of this 2-part series features Kandy Pierre, Mohamed Elgallad, and Isteaq Zim.

If you’re interested in discussing your MSU research on the radio or nominating a student, please email Mari and Dimitri at thescifileswdbm@gmail.com. Check The Sci-Files out on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube!