PhD Candidate Margaret Furtner receives NSF Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant in Biological Anthropology

Margaret Furtner, a fourth year PhD Candidate in the department advised by Dr. Juliet Brophy, has received a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant from the National Science Foundation Biological Anthropology program for her research on fossil site prediction in southern Africa. Her dissertation explores using machine learning models on remotely sensed imagery of the Cradle of Humankind to identify complex patterns between characteristics of cave sites in the region and locate areas with a similar suite of features for fossil prospecting. A full abstract can be viewed on the NSF Awards website.