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CSUSM Anthropology News
Youth Lego Challenge Puts Archaeology Professor in Demand
December 9, 2025
By Brian Hiro / Communications Specialist
Archaeology professor Jon Spenard met last month with a team of students competing in the FIRST Lego League Challenge.
Support the Anthropology Department on CSUSM's Giving Day!
Tuesday, December 3rd, 2024
Donate to the Ethnobotany Garden
Support the CSUSM Community Ethnobotany Garden on CSUSM's 10th Giving Day! This living outdoor laboratory brings students and diverse communities together to explore the scientific and cultural value of plants. Your donation helps preserve ethnobotanical and medicinal knowledge, celebrates local plant knowledge bearers, and provides students with hands-on-research opportunities. Your contribution funds essential equipment and infrastructure, ensuring the garden remains a place of discovery, education, and connection to the environment.
Make a Donation - Ethnobotany Garden
Donate to the Anthropology Student Travel Scholarship Fund
Your donation, no matter the size, creates a ripple effect, driving student success. Contributions to the Anthropology Student Travel Scholarship helps full-time undergraduate majors cover travel costs for field research or academic conferences. These opportunities provide invaluable skills and life-changing experiences that many students couldn't otherwise afford.
Anthropology Student Travel Scholarship Fund Donation
Native American technology and cures: gifts of the land and its plants
Read Full Native American Technology and Cures Article
Milpa Breaks New Ground for Mesoamerican Culture and Research at CSU San Marcos
By The Cougar Chronicle
The CSUSM milpa, launched last May under Dr. Erika Diaz Almeyda and Dr. Garzo-Montalvo, is more than a garden. Rooted in the Indigenous Mesoamerican practice of planting corn, beans, and squash, it serves as a space for research, cultural connection, and community-building.
For students like Alexis Rios, the milpa is both therapeutic and a link to ancestral traditions. The project has already gained attention for its cultural and environmental impact, with hopes for further growth as a symbol of sustainability and resistance on campus.
Research Center Receives Grant to Boost Latino Health
October 2023
By Eric Breier, Public Affairs Specialist.
Dr. Konane Martinez, director of the NLRC and an anthropology professor at CSUSM, speaks at a press conference Friday about a new federal grant to help improve the health of Latino communities. Among those behind Martinez are U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra (second from left) and U.S. Rep. Mike Levin (third from left).
Cave Man: Anthropology Professor Explores the Unknown in Belize
September 2023
By Brian Hiro for STEPS Magazine