MRI-R2 Consortium: Acquisition of Multi-Scalar Spatial Data Collection, Analysis, and Visualization Instruments

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This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).With support from a National Science Foundation Major Research Instrumentation grant, Utah State University (USU) will purchase an integrated system of instruments that facilitates collection, analysis, interpretation and presentation of anthropological spatial data at a variety of scales. For the collection of field data, the research team will acquire ground-penetrating radar, resistivity, and magnetometry systems for collecting sub-surface spatial data; GPS units with sub-meter accuracy, a robotic total station, and a balloon aerial photography system for efficiently compiling spatial data from landscapes; x-ray, video microscope, and 3-D scanning devices to extract precise spatial data from artifacts and ecofacts; and GIS-equipped, networked computers to process and disseminate these data. The NSF-MRI award represents a collaborative application by a consortium of entities including the USU Anthropology Program, the USU Museum of Anthropology, USU's Regional Campuses and Distance Education (RCDE), and the newly launched small, private business USU Archaeological Services, Inc. Eight individuals will serve as major users of the equipment: six archaeologists, one biological anthropologist, and one cultural anthropologist. Despite users' varied backgrounds and research foci, the NSF-MRI grant will provide the resources necessary for each researcher to increase the efficiency of data collection, interpretation, and publication. The award will also enhance users' research opportunities and open up new avenues for collaboration within and outside the consortium.The broader impacts of the NSF-MRI grant reside primarily in the dramatic changes it will bring to education in anthropology at USU's main campus and USU's Regional Campuses and Distance Education (RCDE). In fall 2009, USU's first cohort of M.S. students began a graduate program designed to prepare them for jobs in the private and government sectors of archaeology, which host 90% of jobs in the field. These sectors are often better funded than academic programs and routinely use the array of instruments the NSF award will fund. In addition to using the instruments to facilitate their own research, USU faculty members will also use them to prepare Utah State students to serve as the next generation of highly sought-after, technologically skilled anthropologists.Utah State University anthropologists are particularly excited about RCDE's involvement in the NSF-MRI consortium. RCDE will outfit the Logan-based instrument laboratory with broadcast capability. This will permit anthropology faculty members to reach students at regional centers across the state of Utah and as far away as East Asia, enabling and enlisting them to participate in original scientific research. Many of USU's Distance students are of Navajo, Northern Ute, Shoshone, and Latino descent. By incorporating them into the Anthropology Program's diverse research as USU's archaeological and museum internships for Native American and Latino high school students have done for years, the NSF-MRI grant will help increase the diversity of future professionals in the field of anthropology. Finally, the USU Museum of Anthropology will provide a vehicle for disseminating to a large, public audience the results of cutting-edge research generated by USU and USUAS scientists and the importance of science generally and anthropology specifically in the world today.