AGES Students Named Provost Scholars
The Department of Anthropology, Geospatial and Earth Sciences congratulates our students named as IUP Provost Scholars.
Student Achievements
December
November
IUP Student Wins Pennsylvania Historical Association Prize
Applied Archaeology graduate student, Emma Lashley won the 2025 Pennsylvania Historical Association Magruder-Newman Prize for Best Student Paper Presentation
Research
Student Achievements
IUP Archaeology Goes North and South
Students and faculty from the Department of Anthropology, Geospatial and Earth Sciences participated in the annual meeting of the Southeastern Archaeological Conference in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and the Council for Northeast Historical Archaeology annual meeting in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania.
Faculty Achievements
Research
Student Achievements
Recent and Upcoming Presentations on Johnstown Area Archaeology
Brown's Farm was a racially integrated settlement near Johnstown that was inhabited from the early nineteenth through mid-twentieth centuries. Abdul Jones is presenting a series of talks on his thesis research at the site.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Student Achievements
Research
October
Warnock Publishes on Antarctic Circumpolar Current
Jonathan Warnock, Department of Anthropology, Geospatial and Earth Sciences, published with co-authors on the Antarctic Circumpolar Current during the last interglacial.
Research
Faculty Achievements
IUP Co-Sponsors Historic Preservation Workforce Summit
The IUP Anthropology, Geospatial and Earth Science, Department of History, Philosophy, Political Science, and Religious Studies, and the Office of Carer and Professional Development partnered with the State Historic Preservation Office and Shippensburg University to host a day-long summit in Harrisburg.
Academic Programs
Alumni
September
AGES Faculty Publish on Workforce Readiness
Applied Archaeology faculty in the Anthropology, Geospatial and Earth Sciences Department joined colleagues from across the nation in an article on archaeology workforce readiness.
Academic Programs
Faculty Achievements
John Taylor Contributes to New Study on the Northern Cordillera
Professor Emeritus John Taylor, along with colleagues, published a new study that provides insights into the geologic evolution of central Yukon, Canada, over 500 million years ago.
Faculty Achievements
Research
Poole Publishes on Migration Deterrence and Refugee Decision-Making
Dr. Amanda Poole, Professor of Anthropology, co-authored a peer-reviewed article titled “Smugglers vs. Students: Migration Deterrence and Understandings of Risk Among Eritrean Refugees in Ethiopia.”
Faculty Achievements
Free Planetarium Show "A New Eye: The Rubin Telescope"
Ken Coles will present “A New Eye: The Rubin Telescope!”, a planetarium show about the newly opened Vera C. Rubin Observatory.
Events
Community
Poole Publishes on Migration, Human Rights, and Global Refugee Policy
Amanda Poole, Professor of Anthropology, published a feature article in The Migration Information Source titled “Severe Repression in Eritrea Has Prompted Decades of Exodus.”
Faculty Achievements
Ford Appointed to Maryland Historical Trust Board of Trustees
Ben Ford, faculty in the Department of Anthropology, Geospatial and Earth Sciences, was recently sworn in as a member of the Maryland Historical Trust Board of Trustees. He is filling the submerged archaeology position on the board.
Faculty Achievements
Cejka Planetarium Announces Fall 2025 Schedule
IUP’s Cejka Planetarium has announced the fall 2025 schedule.
Community
For Employees
For Students and Advisors
Events
June
AGES Students Named to Spring 2025 Dean’s List
The Anthropology, Geospatial and Earth Sciences Department congratulates our students for being named to the Dean’s List for spring 2025. Students receive this recognition for each semester in which they earn a GPA of 3.25 or higher while taking a minimum of 12 credits.
Student Achievements
May
AGES Faculty and Students Represent IUP at Society for American Archaeology Annual Meeting
Faculty and students from the Anthropology, Geospatial and Earth Sciences Department traveled to Denver to participate in the Society for American Archaeology annual meeting. They chaired sessions, presented on their ongoing work, participated in the SAA Ethics Bowl, and represented IUP and the Applied Archaeology program at the Cultural Resource Management Expo.
Student Achievements
Faculty Achievements
April
AGES Faculty Recognized for Outstanding Scholarly Activities
During the thirty-first annual Research Awards Reception at IUP, three Anthropology, Geospatial and Earth Sciences faculty members were recognized for outstanding scholarly activities.
Research
Faculty Achievements
Geography and Planning Faculty Member and Alumni Receive Governor’s Awards
The Pennsylvania Governor’s Awards for Local Government Excellence honored public officials at an April 2025 ceremony at the Pennsylvania State Museum in Harrisburg, which included multiple authorities with graduates from the IUP Planning program in leadership positions.
Faculty Achievements
Alumni
Free Planetarium Show Celebrating Centennial of the Planetarium, May 7
Ken Coles will present “The Centennial of the Planetarium!”, a planetarium show celebrating 100 years since the first planetarium opened to the public in Germany. The show will review a few of the things a planetarium can show, along with recent discoveries from the Webb Space Telescope and the Bennu asteroid sample return.
Events
Archaeology Graduate Students Win Awards at Society for Pennsylvania Archaeology
Five IUP archaeology graduate students from the Department of Anthropology, Geospatial and Earth Sciences received awards and scholarships at the ninety-fourth annual meeting of the Society for Pennsylvania Archaeology.
Student Achievements
Geographers Participate in Association of American Geographers Conference
Kevin Patrick and John Benhart, of the Anthropology, Geospatial and Earth Sciences Department, attended the National Association of American Geographers conference in March 2025.
Faculty Achievements
AGES Students Participate and Win Awards at IUP Scholars Forum
The Anthropology, Geospatial and Earth Sciences Department had 56 students who presented at the twentieth annual IUP Scholars Forum on April 9, 2025. They gave both oral and poster presentations, and two applied archaeology graduate students participated in the Three-Minute Thesis Competition.
Student Achievements
Archaeology Graduate Students Present Research at Society for Pennsylvania Archaeology
IUP archaeology graduate students from the Department of Anthropology, Geospatial and Earth Sciences traveled to Dubois, Pennsylvania, to present their work at the ninety-fourth annual meeting of the Society for Pennsylvania Archaeology.
Staff Achievements
Faculty and Students Present at Society for Applied Anthropology Meeting
IUP Anthropology faculty Amanda Poole and Abigail Adams, along with four IUP undergraduate students, participated in an academic panel at the eighty-fifth annual Society for Applied Anthropology Meetings held March 25–29 in Portland, Oregon.
Faculty Achievements
Student Achievements
AGES Faculty and Students Present Research at Geological Society of America Meeting
Faculty and students of the IUP Anthropology, Geospatial and Earth Sciences Department traveled to Erie, PA to present at the Northeast-North Central Regional Geological Society of America Meeting. Their talks highlighted their ongoing research and demonstrated the diversity and synergy within the department.
Student Achievements
Faculty Achievements
Research
Palmiotto and Students Conduct Archaeological Investigations at South Carolina Indigenous Sites
IUP students, including advanced undergraduate and graduate students, joined Dr. Palmiotto in the field with their archaeological colleagues from the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) Heritage Trust Program. There the team conducted investigations of sites within Botany Bay Plantation Heritage Preserve in Charleston County, visited the iconic Fig Island Shell Ring complex, and met with representatives of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation (MCN).
Student Achievements
Research
Academic Programs
March
Telescope Display and Full Moon Star Party
The IUP Cejka Planetarium will host a chance to view and learn about our telescopes, and if it is a clear night, we’ll also observe the Moon and sky.
Community
IUP Now
Events
Taylor Publishes on Nature of Faunal Turnover, Change in Ocean Chemistry Associated with Latest Cambrian Mass Extinction
Professor Emeritus John Taylor and colleagues published a new study based on faunal collections from a 50-meter interval of the Jones Ridge Limestone in easternmost Alaska. The study provided new, detailed faunal range data across the base of the North American Ibexian Series and geochemical data that confirm an associated shift in ocean chemistry.
Alumni
Faculty Achievements
Research
Professor Emeritus Taylor Publishes New Insights Into Fossil Record from Northern Laurentia
Professor Emeritus John Taylor published a new study on the taxonomy and stratigraphic distribution of Lotagnostus (Agnostida: Agnostidae) and associated trilobites and conodonts with IUP alumni James D. Loch ’83 and John E. Repetski ’69.
Faculty Achievements
Alumni
Research
Flores Honored as National Hispanic Institute’s College Student of the Year
The National Hispanic Institute has recognized IUP student Marisol Gonzalez Flores as one of its College Students of the Year 2024.
Student Achievements
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
AGES Seminar: Antarctic Paleoclimate
Molly Patterson, Binghamton University, will present a seminar on the “Catchment Sensitivities of the West and East Antarctic Ice Sheets to Orbital Forcing During the Mid- to Late Pliocene” at the Anthropology, Geospatial and Earth Sciences Seminar on Friday, March 28, in Kopchick 102 from 11:15 to 12:15.
Events
February
Free “Back to Venus” Planetarium Show, March 6
Ken Coles will present “Back to Venus” at the Cejka Planetarium. Come explore Venus!
Events
Community
University Updates
Cejka Planetarium Announces Spring 2025 Schedule
IUP's Cejka Planetarium has announced the Spring 2025 schedule.
Events
Coles Presents AGES Seminar: “A Paleozoic Jackpot in Nevada”
Ken Coles will present a seminar, “A Paleozoic Jackpot in Nevada: Starved Deposition Can Feed Us a Lot of Information,” at the Anthropology, Geospatial and Earth Sciences Department Seminar Series on Friday, February 14, in Kopchick 102 from 11:15 to 12:15.
Events
AGES Students Named Provost Scholars
The Department of Anthropology, Geospatial and Earth Sciences congratulates our students named as Provost Scholars. To be named a Provost Scholar, students must have earned a minimum of 45 semester hours at IUP with a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or higher. Provost Scholar recognition is given only once during a student’s time of study at IUP.
Student Achievements
January
AGES Students Named to Fall 2024 Dean’s List
The Department of Anthropology, Geospatial and Earth Sciences congratulates our students for being named to the Dean’s List for fall 2024. Students receive this recognition for each semester in which they earn a GPA of 3.25 or higher while taking a minimum of 12 credits.
Student Achievements
IUP Students Present at the Appalachian Collegiate Research Initiative Conference in Washington, D.C.
A team of IUP students presented their research at the Appalachian Collegiate Research Initiative (ACRI), a grant-funded program of the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC). The 2024 ACRI conference, held December 6–7 in Washington, D.C., featured projects from students representing 15 colleges and universities. These projects addressed a range of pressing regional issues, from economic revitalization to environmental sustainability, showcasing innovative, community-centered solutions.
Student Achievements
Poole Presents at African Studies Association Annual Meeting
Dr. Amanda Poole, Professor of Anthropology, Department of Anthropology, Geospatial and Earth Sciences, recently participated in the 66th African Studies Association (ASA) Annual Meeting, held in Chicago, Illinois, from December 12–14, 2024. The ASA Annual Meeting, the largest gathering of Africanist scholars in the world, is the flagship event of the association and brought together over 2,000 scholars and professionals under the theme Global Africa.
Faculty Achievements