Expert: Ralph Salier - 8/4/2007

Question
QUESTION: I will be a high school junior and am starting to look at colleges.  I would like to study anthro/archeo/botany with the goal of studying ethnobotany in graduate school.  What schools would you suggest?  So far, I am probably going to visit Beloit, Grinnell, and American.

ANSWER: Hi Sam,

None of the above will meet your needs.  Try Seaton Hall, U of Arizona, Arizona State, U of Chicago, U of Pennsylvania.  All will give you a strong background in the field as well as having strong supporting biological sciences units. Paleo botony is a needed field and there aren't enough to go around but you should always have a back up career base. While working on your BA, take courses so that you can teach biology and then while getting your masters, get you biological or ecological teaching certificate.  This way if for some reason you are unable to find a job in the field, you can still get a job.  ALso remember to take the necessary CRM (cultural resource management) courses so that you can get a job with one of the consulting firms and can cover both archaeology and ecological requirements.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks so much for your response.  I will begin looking into the schools you listed. What was the missing peice from the schools I had in mind?  All appear to have strong anthro. programs; it would help a lot if I know more about what to look for. Again, thanks for your help.

Answer
Hi Sam,  From your opening statement, you indicated ethnobotany which lead me to believe that your interest is more in the archeology field rather then anthro. BUT your second statement makes me ask the question, what is your target area?  Do you want to work for a pharma company looking for new drugs? Are you interested in how modern cultrues use plants? If you could answer these questions then I may change my mind relative to American. Both Beloit and Grinnell have small programs with limited range.  You should be looking at a larger school where you can develop your own program if need be.