Former Students

Advisor: Dr. Nicole Peterson Education: Sharon earned her MA/MPH in March 2025 with a project entitled, “Mental Health Stigma Disparities: Cultural Identities and Cultural Values with Black Women,” working with the Madie M. Smith Women’s Health Equity Institute (WHEI) as a community partner. Sharon is currently a PhD student in the program of Law and Policy at Northeastern […]

Bio: Ethan Gulledge (they/them) is an adjunct instructor in the Anthropology department since 2023. Previously, they were enrolled in the early entry graduate program at UNC Charlotte. Their M.A. research focused on the foraging behaviors of semi-free ranging ring-tailed lemurs at the Lemur Conservation Foundation in Myakka City, Florida.  Education: M.A. Anthropology, UNC Charlotte B.A. […]

Name: Autumn Hudock Advisor: Dr. Jonathan Marks Education: M.A. Graduate with a focus on human evolution and osteology. Current doctoral student at the University of California at San Diego. Research Interests: Ancient DNA, human biology, molecular anthropology, paleopathology, paleoanthropology, bioarchaeology, osteology, and primate evolution Current Research: Her current dissertation research is focused on modeling the […]

Name: Elizabeth Johnson Advisor: Dr. Sara Juengst Education: B.A. Anthropology and Psychology, North Carolina State University, 2015 Research Interests: Skeletal biology as an indicator of health; Trauma analysis; Human-environment interactions; Sociocultural responses to marginal environments; stable isotope analysis; climate change Current Position: I am currently a Youth Specialist with the NCWorks NextGen Youth Program at […]

Advisor: Dr. Sara Juengst Education: B.A. Applied Anthropology and Criminal Justice, The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 2021 Research Interests: Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Current Research: My thesis research focuses on the skeletal pathology and trends that are common amongst domestic violence and sexual assault victims. I focus heavily on violence against women in […]

Name: Sydney Mattison Advisor: Dr. Andrea Freidus Education: BA Anthropology with a minor in Public Health, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte Research Interests: Maternal health disparities, minority populations, health policy Current Research: Black birthing, resistance, and the contemporary doula

Name: Ashley McDermott Advisor: Dr. Elise Berman Education: BA Applied Anthropology and Political Science, UNC Charlotte 2015MA Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies, UNC Chapel Hill 2017 Research Interests: Language socialization and language shift, language planning and policy, language and identity, anthropology of childhood Current Research: My current work examines how the use of Russian […]

Name: Julia Mileski Advisor: Dr. Dennis Ogburn Education: BA in Anthropology with a minor in Music, Wake Forest University Research Interests: Museum anthropology, artifact management and curation, place and belonging/ownership, socio-cultural impacts of museums in rural communities Current Research: How museums in small communities connect residents of their community to a collective historic and current […]

Advisor: Dr. Nicole Peterson Education: B.A. Anthropology and Classical Studies, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2020 Research Interests: Applied anthropology, food insecurity, accessibility, political economy Current Research: My thesis research focuses on food insecurity at UNC Charlotte.

Name: Ashley Shults Advisor: Dr. Sara Juengst Education: A.A. The Arts and Sciences Division, Gaston College, 2016 B.A. Anthropology, University of North Carolina, Charlotte, 2017 Research Interests: Bioarchaeology, the Andes, migration, mobility, human environment interaction, paleopathology Current Research: My current research utilizes isotopic and bioarchaeological lines of evidence to investigate migration and mobility during the […]