We are so proud of the fourteen undergraduate researchers and seven mentors who participated in the UWM Undergraduate Research Symposium on Friday, April 24th 2026. Students presented research in two different formats, posters and short films and were judged by faculty and staff on three criteria: Content and Clarity of Information, Student Presentation, and Interpretation of Project. This year, we were very fortunate to have supported two winning projects.
Emerson Neczek won the Panther Edge Award for her film project, “Archaeological Research in Our Community”. Emerson’s project, supervised by Professor Jennifer Haas, focused on the community outreach efforts at Maryland Avenue Montessori when human remains were inadvertently disturbed during construction. The Panther Edge Award is given to projects that excel in collaboration, professionalism, career readiness, and tech saviness. You can view her award-winning film on our department YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@uwmanthro.
Mya Weidman Walters, Megan Goulart, Seidl Herbes won awards for their poster presentation highlighting their work with mentor, Professor Jean Hudson. Their project titled, “Improving Maceration Efficiency of Vertebrate Osteology Reference Specimens Utilizing Heat and Natural Enzymes”, which aimed to to speed up the process of maceration in a way that is safe and practical to execute in an educational setting. The results of their study suggest some methods may be more effective than others, particularly when dealing with delicate specimens.
You can view all of the student’s posters and presentation abstracts on the UGR Symposium website: https://sites.uwm.edu/ug-research-symposium-26/category/school-college/college-of-letters-science/anthropology/
Participants
Kaelee Kosmosky
Emerson Neczek
Justin West
Mason Hansen
Sasha Henderson
Emma Mccutchin
Mya Weidman Walters, Megan Goulart, Seidl Herbes
Dakota Galkowski
Joanna Burn
Kate Fredrick and Melissa Middleton
Holly Pirk
Rose Lemerande
Avantika Tandon
Jadon Thornton
Mentors
Bill Balco
Rick Edwards
Peter Geraci
Jennifer Haas
Jean Hudson
Ashley Lemke
Emily Middleton
