CSU Anthropology and Geography Recognized as a Top Five U.S. Anthropology Program for Research Spending

February 2025

Josh Zaffos

Graphic image with photo in background of researcher using surveyor equipment and text that reads Colorado State University Anthropology and Geography Top 5! U.S. Anthropology Programs for Research Funding and Expenditures
CSU Anthropology and Geography was ranked a top five U.S. Anthropology program for research funding, according to the 2023 National Science Foundation HERD survey.

The National Science Foundation’s latest, annual Higher Education Research and Development (HERD) Survey lists CSU Anthropology and Geography as #5 for Anthropology research dollars, among all programs in the United States. The top-five ranking, based on 2023 data, places the department among the country’s most prestigious and best known anthropology programs, including Harvard University, Arizona State University, City University of New York, and University of Michigan.

Speaking to the Rocky Mountain Collegian, Chair and Professor Michael Pante said what sets CSU’s program apart from others is the combination of anthropology and geography and the diversity that accompanies being part of the College of Liberal Arts.

“It allows us to access a greater diversity of funding,” Pante said. “We are unique in the College of Liberal Arts, having both biological and physical sciences, social sciences and others that work in the humanities, so it’s a diversity grant that we can apply for, and we’re usually one of the top two departments in the college for securing sponsored research funds.”

 

Elevating Research Success

In the last five years, Anthropology and Geography faculty and graduate students have won grants and awards from a variety of private foundations, nonprofit and professional associations, government agencies, and academic and university groups.

Man holding a drone remote control standing in gorge in Tanzania
Doctoral student Alex Pelissero operating a drone at Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania. (Image courtesy Pelissero)

Research funds allow anthropologists and geographers to pursue multi-year or complex study topics as well as projects that require travel or expensive technology or equipment.

Ph.D. candidate Alex Pelissero has received funding from the National Science Foundation and Leakey Foundation to conduct research at Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania across multiple summers. Pelissero’s project is mapping and surveying sites with a 2 million-year-old record of human evolution at greater detail than ever before – thanks to grants and awards.

“I’m very lucky that our department is very serious about its research, and I’ve been lucky enough — not only through the department but elsewhere — to get research funding and have that support from within and outside of the department,” Pelissero said, also speaking to the Collegian.

Pelissero also credits his success to Anthropology and Geography’s dedicated professional and career support. “Part of that is being in the department that I’m in and getting that support from the department … in terms of the funding we have available to us,” he said, “but also the professional development support.”

 

Funds with Benefits

Research dollars also create learning experiences for students. Professors frequently provide opportunities for undergraduates and graduate students to participate and collaborate on funded research projects.

Professor Jason LaBelle (left), with Sebastian Schipman, Kelsey Kreikemeier, Leah Burke, and Aleah Kuhr, working on funded research in Rocky Mountain National Park, Summer 2023. The field crew was a mix of undergraduates, graduate students and alumni.

In the last three years alone, Anthropology and Geography students have participated in faculty-led research programs across Colorado and the U.S., Latin America, Asia, and Africa – a reflection of the global scholarship department professors are leading, too.

For some students, a project may be their first time living and working in the field or outdoors for an extended period, traveling outside Colorado or the U.S., and engaging with people and communities from different backgrounds and cultures. For many, it’s also a first experience conducting research whether that means using ground-penetrating radar to map buried cities, interviewing tourists to identify recreational preferences and conservation behaviors, or analyzing cut marks on fossil and contemporary animal bones to interpret how peoples and primates have interacted with each other across millions of years.