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Undergraduate Spotlight: Madelyn Green

March 22, 2016

Undergraduate Spotlight: Madelyn Green

Undergraduate student Madelyn Green using the 3D scanner
Madelyn Green is a senior Anthropology Major who has worked in the Bioarchaeology Laboratory under Dr. Hubbe's direction for several years now.  We asked her to tell us about her experience in the Lab and she wrote the following:
 
The start of my research with Dr. Hubbe began in the Bioarcheology Laboratory with the 3D scanner in the dental cast room. That room with its 3500 dental casts would be my second home for the next year.  The goal of the project that I was put on was to take the physical casts that were housed in the Bioarcheology Laboratory and translate them into 3D representations within the computer.  
 
This deceivingly simple goal was complicated by many hurdles. While I was briefly trained in the operations of the very finicky 3D machine, much of my knowledge of its functions, applications, and failures came through trial and error when running the 3D program. This machine and I have come to know each other very well – I can immediately tell when a scan begins to go downhill, the scanner knows exactly how to frustrate me beyond reason, and we both have worked together to make beautifully detailed 3D renderings of the dental casts. 
 
3D Scan of Skull
 

At present, I am no longer solely dedicated to the dental cast project. With Dr. Hubbe as my mentor and guide, I am endeavoring to conduct my own research project. I have become increasingly interested in bioarchaeology, and health specifically, which matches well with Dr. Hubbe’s research interests. Using data that he gathered in his dissertation, I have been reevaluating the applicability of the Health Index statistic to cranial and post-cranial remains recovered from South Coast Brazilian shellmounds, or sambaquis. I will be presenting my research in the coming weeks at OSU’s Denman Forum and at the American Association of Physical Anthropology meetings. As I strive to continue to be a researcher and to follow a career in academia, I find my experience with the dental casts and the Health Index to be invaluable. 

 

 

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