Hi! My name is Mel Walker and I’m originally from Livonia, Michigan, It’s a pretty unsuspecting suburb in metro Detroit. Currently, I’m an undergraduate here at Michigan State. I’ll be going into my third year with a major in Anthropology and a newly added minor in Geography. I signed up for the Cultural Heritage Informatics field school because it sounded like too interesting of an opportunity to pass up. I had originally looked into doing an archaeological field school but was unable to work it in this summer. When I heard about this field school opportunity, I jumped at the chance to take. I still haven’t figured out exactly where I want to focus within Anthropology so I’m trying out new areas to discover what all is out there.

Digital technology is advancing faster than ever these days and is absolutely vital to just about any career out there. This field school seemed like a great opportunity to gain a basic working knowledge of many important concepts and skills. I’ve always been rather bad with technology and despite spending an unnecessarily large amount of time online I had no idea how any in or on my computer worked. This is a chance for me to improve my knowledge and also learn how to apply it to my future academic endeavors.