Advanced Imaging Service for Objects and Spaces (AISOS)
The Advanced Imaging Service for Objects and Spaces (AISOS), led by Dr. Samantha Porter, provides expertise in and access to a wide array of digital imaging and 3D scanning related technologies to the University of Minnesota community and beyond. AISOS has collaborated on projects that range from programming virtual reality visits to archaeological sites, to the ultra high resolution documentation of tree rings to study climate change, to the creation of larger than life sculptures of real objects using 3D scanning and 3D printing. AISOS is a part of the Research branch of Liberal Arts Technologies and Innovation Services (LATIS) within the College of Liberal Arts.
The African Paleosciences Laboratory
The African Paleosciences Laboratory at New York University, run by Dr. Justin Pargeter, provides a home for several research projects focused on the analysis of prehistoric African stone tool collections and the experimental study of connections between human social learning, kinematics, and stone tool technologies. The African Paleosciences Laboratory also acts as a hub for interdisciplinary fieldwork in South Africa. The African Paleosciences laboratory supports a diverse and active student research community comprising 11 undergraduate and 4 graduate students who share his first-generation college experience. Several are from under-represented minority groups. The lab provides hands-on research experience and the opportunity for students to co-author research manuscripts. Dr. Pargeter currently mentors a STEM Opportunity Programs student through the Collegiate Research Initiative, providing minority students interested in STEM fields access to research training and experience. They recently submitted a collaboration NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates grant with colleagues at Denver University, Yale University, and the University of Texas, Arlington to provide prehistoric archaeology fieldwork opportunities for underrepresented students from NYU and the Borough of Manhattan Community College. The lab currently focuses on three major research lines: (1) The origins of human social learning and skill acquisition, (2) Biomechanics, energetics, and human technological skill acquisition, and (3) Human-environment interactions in later Pleistocene and Holocene sub-Saharan Africa.