HECLab promotes interdisciplinary research that is engaged, both intellectually and in practice, with environmental change as it relates to humans and society. It supports work that focuses on long-term human and ecological well-being in light of changing social and environmental conditions. Our research encompasses actor and system-based perspectives and institutional and governance analyses to help elucidate relationships of people and their environments – both urban and rural.

David Hurst Thomas has served as curator of anthropology at the American Museum of Natural History in New York since 1972, and, for seven years, served as the chairman of the department of anthropology. Thomas has conducted archaeological research on St. Catherines Island since 1974.

Sponsored by the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences and the department of anthropology.

Associate Professor Bram Tucker has been awarded a National Science Foundation grant for a three year investigation of cultural adaptations to risk in southwestern Madagascar entitled “Testing Multiple Approaches for Understanding Adaptive Functions of Cultural Institutions” (NSF BCS 1733917). When anthropologists encounter cultural beliefs and practices that have persisted for centuries within challenging environments, they often conclude that the culture persists because it helps people to adapt to these environmental challenges.

The certificate program in African Studies is designed for the student who wishes to learn about Africa generally, and to focus on a specific sociocultural aspect of the of the region, for example, language, religion, or literature. In addition to providing regional education, the certificate program offers students an opportunity to complement majors in a wide array of disciplines including anthropology, sociology, geography, business, journalism, and education.

Archaeology, by its very nature, is interdisciplinary, and he development of more and more scientific applications has increased this characteristic. Indeed, today, the archaeological sciences permeate modern archaeological research. It is no longer possible to study archaeology without being familiar with an often bewildering and steadily increasing variety of scientific applications, including GIS, palynology, stable isotope analysis, chemical analysis of glazes, and a variety of dating techniques, such as TMS, TL, OSL, AMS radiocarbon.

Students who earn this certificate will receive interdisciplinary preparation to handle the unique, multi-disciplinary problems associated with working in the area of conservation and sustainable development. Students in the natural sciences will add a social science perspective to their understanding of the ecology of development, and students in the social sciences will learn ecological principles so that their decisions can be grounded in biological fact.

The Environmental Ethics Certificate Program (EECP) is an interdisciplinary program that prepares students to synthesize ideas from a wide variety of perspectives to solve complex environmental problems, both in theory and in practice.

The Geographic Information Science Certificate Program is designed to prepare graduate and undergraduate students with the basic training necessary to enter the rapidly expanding field of geographic information science (GIS). There are three components to the curriculum: a set of prerequisite courses to gain entry to the program, a set of core courses required of all students enrolled in the certificate program, and a set of elective courses that permit exploration of more advanced themes in GIS and/or development of individual research projects or internships in GIS.

The Interdisciplinary Qualitative Graduate Certificate Program is an educational program to advance interdisciplinary inquiry through the pluralistic use of multiple methods. It seeks to generate knowledge for improving professional practice and advancing human understanding.