Hi! I’m Morasha Rabinowitz, an undergrad summer researcher! I’ve been working with Melissa Ritchey on her research on early Central Asian pastoralists, as well as starting a project analyzing samples from Classical Greece and Cyprus. I’m part of a program through the Center for the Environment at Washington University, which brought together many students working in fields related to environmentalism. Here in the LAEF lab, we’re using isotope analysis to learn how crops were treated by ancient societies—specifically, how did they water and manure their crops, and how do these practices differ across time and space?
I came in with very little knowledge about isotope analysis and archaeobotany in general, and it has been a wonderful learning experience for me! I’ve learned all the lab techniques, and I am hoping to continue in the lab this upcoming semester!