Current Students

Makenna Lenoir

Makenna is a graduate student currently pursuing her M.A. in the Department of Anthropology at UF. She received her B.A. in Anthropology from the University of North Florida. Makenna’s research interests include zooarchaeology and human-animal relations, particularly through a lens of social zooarchaeology. Her master’s research focuses on Indigenous human-animal relations and environmental contexts at the Southeast Florida site of Jupiter Inlet I. Makenna plans to continue on to her PhD at UF after completing her M.A.

Alisa Luthra

Alisa received her B.S. in Anthropology at the University of Florida, and is now a graduate student in UF’s Department of Anthropology. She is an anthropological archaeologist interested in zooarchaeology, historical ecology, and environmental archaeology. Alisa is currently pursuing her M.A., with her thesis work focused on understanding how local and global environmental shifts during the Woodland period shaped human-animal relationships at the Florida North Gulf Coast site of Spring Warrior. Once her M.A. is completed, Alisa will be pursuing her Ph.D with funding through the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (NSF GRFP).

Cristina Oliviera

Cristina Oliveira is a graduate student pursuing her Ph.D. in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Florida. She holds a B.A. and M.A. in Anthropology from the University of Florida. Cristina’s areas of interest include zooarchaeology, human-animal-environmental relations, traditional ecological knowledge and historical ecology. She has experience in museum curation, R-studio, and ArchGIS. Cristina received her M.A. researching indigenous coastal communities in the Florida Keys during the mid to late Glades period (AD 750- 1513).

Former Students

Cameron Connolly

Cameron is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Florida. She graduated from Wake Forest University with degrees in Environmental Science (B.A.) and Anthropology (B.A.). She also holds an M.A. in Anthropology from the University of Florida. Cameron is an anthropological archaeologist who is interested in zooarchaeology and historical ecology. She is also interested in ecological conservation and public education. Cameron’s master’s thesis investigated harvest patterns of coral reef fishes by past Native Americans living in the Caribbean. Most of her research is focused within the Caribbean Ceramic Age (~500 B.C.- 1500 A.D.).

Jennifer M. Haney

Jennifer holds an M.A. degree from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. She is currently pursuing a doctoral degree specializing in Paleoethnobotany at Penn State. Jennifer’s research interests focus on the maintenance of anthropogenic environments associated with subsistence economies, plant domestication, resource choices, and issues of sustainability. For her dissertation research, she is analyzing charred wood remains collected from the Pineland Site Complex in order to examine choices of fuel-wood use, including changes through time, extraction impacts, and sustainability.

Katie Matthew

Katie holds an B.A. in Anthropology from the University of Montana and is currently pursuing a M.A degree in Museum studies at the University of Florida. Her focus is in collection management specializing in textiles. Most recently, she has been working with the Seminole Doll collection at the Florida Museum of Natural History. Previously Katie worked for the National Park Service and the United States Forest Service.

Brittany Mistretta

Brittany is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Florida, and working towards certificates in Museum Studies and Digital Humanities. Natural history collections are invaluable to her research, which draws on human behavioral ecology, biodiversity studies, zooarchaeological analysis, and anthropological perspectives to examine human-environmental interactions during Pre-columbian periods in the Caribbean. For her dissertation, she is investigating how socio-economic networks are maintained through ceremonial center activities, including animal procurement, consumption, and disposal. Additional projects work toward expanding biodiversity datasets of extinct Caribbean fauna in museum collections. She also integrates 3D printing and digital technologies for science outreach and cultural heritage projects.