Current Graduate Students

Portia Attivor (MA Student)

Portia is a graduate student examining how Ghanaian immigrant mothers navigate mental wellbeing within Canadian contexts. Her ethnographic research explores the social, cultural, and structural dimensions of mental health, investigating how immigration experiences, family responsibilities, community networks, and systemic barriers shape maternal mental health and coping strategies among Ghanaian women.

Eric Awuah (PhD Student)

Kristal Barrywood (PhD Student)

Kristal is a PhD student specializing in Sociocultural Anthropology. Her research in Paganism began at the University of Chicago where she became an expert on environmentalism within pagan rituals through her Master's thesis. At the University of Alberta, her dissertation research focuses on the emergence of Western Paganism in Japan. Kristal is one of only a handful of academics in North America studying Paganism. 

Nataliya Bezborodova (PhD Candidate)

Dietlind Bork (PhD Candidate)

Kyla Cangiano (MA Student)

Helen Kwan Yee Cheung (PhD Student)

Helen has a diverse professional background in social services, personnel, and inter-governmental relations having worked in various provincial and federal government departments. She has served as a community volunteer for close to three decades in various leadership capacities. She is a recipient of the University of Alberta Alumni Centenary Award in 2015. Believing in lifelong learning, Helen continued to pursue further education after retirement and currently a PhD candidate in the Department of Anthropology.

Darush Farrokh (PhD Student)

Janine Funk (MA Student)

Hajar Ghorbani (PhD Candidate):

Hajar is aPh.D. candidate in sociocultural anthropology at the University of Alberta, honored as a Killam Scholar. Her focus is on death studies in Iran, exploring themes like space, art, rituals, and material culture. For six years, she conducted fieldwork in Iran, studying the modernization and politicization of death. She co-edited "Social Studies of Death in Iran," a groundbreaking volume involving experts from various fields. As Iran's ambassador to the Association for the Study of Death and Society, she tries to globalize discussions on death in Iranian contexts. She has presented keynote speeches, including at the University of Bath, UK. Beyond academia, she is skilled in wood carving, pastel painting, and graphic design. She has also created art pieces honoring influential Iranian women, exhibited at the Isfahan University of Art. Currently, she's researching the agency of dead bodies, challenging traditional views by emphasizing their inherent power and voice. This perspective sheds light on Iran's societal dynamics, contributing fresh insights to anthropology and the issue of unmarked graves in Canada. 

Vivian Giang (PhD Candidate)

Hande Gür (PhD Candidate):

Hande (she/her) is a PhD candidate at the Department of Anthropology with a specialization in the anthropology of religion, spirituality, gender, and religious and social movements. Her doctoral research is an ethnographic study of the rise of Sufi—or mystical Islamic— practices among mainly young, middle-class women of Turkish origin living both in Türkiye and in the West. Gür brings to this research a solid record of academic research and publishing. She published her first solo article on this research in the Journal of Empirical Theology in 2020 and co-wrote a Turkish book based on a nation wide research, entitled  “Spiritual Seeking in Türkiye” (Türkiye’de Spiritüel Arayışlar) in 2021. 

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Hande-Guer-3

https://ualberta.academia.edu/Handeg%C3%BCr 

Uthman Khan (PhD Candidate):

Uthman is a PhD student at the University of Alberta, specializing in Sociocultural Anthropology. 

Serafina King (MA Student):

Serafina is a second-year master's student in religious anthropology working under the supervision of Dr. Joseph Hill. 

Oleksandra Kushnir (MA Student)

 Oleksandra is a Master's student in Sociocultural Anthropology working under the supervision of Marko Zivkovic. She completed her BA in International Relations and European Studies at Coventry (UK) and Lazarski (Poland) Universities with honours. She obtained her MA degree with distinction in Culture, Media and Society from the Polish Academy of Science and Lancaster University (joint degree). Her academic interest resides in exploring political, historical and social processes in Central and Eastern Europe, specifically in Russia and Ukraine. Currently, in her MA research, she applies the lens of sociocultural anthropology and cultural psychology to examine historical “Great Patriotic War” narratives in the Kremlin-originated propaganda, providing it with a broader cultural and social context. 

Ridwan Mustapha (PhD Student)

Ridwan holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Islamic Studies from the University of Ibadan and is currently a doctoral student at the University of Alberta under the supervision of Joseph Hill. His research explores Islamic exorcism (ruqyah), spirituality, ethics, and mental health, examining how Islamic healing engages with contemporary therapeutic practices. 

Cynthia Olufade (PhD Student) 

Zhiyan Ren (MA Student):

She is working on the family food practices in present China, especially those conducted by women and influenced by social media.

Samira Torabi (PhD Candidate)

Stenette van den Berg (PhD Student)

Devyn Caldwell (PhD Candidate)

Zhouran Dai (PhD Student)

Zhuoran (she/her), is a PhD student in biological anthropology under the supervision of Dr. Sandra Garvie-Lok. She obtained her Bachelor's degree in anthropology at Sun Yat-sen University (China) and her MSc degree at the University of Oxford (UK). Her research focuses on past living experiences reflected in human skeletal remains in ancient China. Her research interests include paleopathology, dental anthropology, stress, dietary analysis, children, and childhood.

Christine Hymanyk (MA Student)

Christine (she/her) is a Masters student in Biological Anthropology with an interest in bioarchaeology. Her current research focuses on the health of individuals, particularly children, during the British Industrial Revolution. She is also an enthusiastic reader of fantasy novels and consumer of sugary caffeinated drinks. 

Jennifer Laughton (PhD Candidate):

Jennifer (she/elle/она) is a PhD candidate specializing in biological anthropology. She is a member of the Baikal Archaeology Project (BAP) and is supervised by Dr. A. Weber. Her research focuses on the dental anthropology and odontometrics of Neolithic and Early Bronze Age hunter-gatherers of the Cis-Baikal region of Siberia, Russia. 

Женя - аспирант в Университете Алберты. Она по специалностью биологической антропологой, и является участником Байкальского Археологического Проекта (БАП) под руководством А. Вебера. Её исследование - сосредоточено на одонтологии и одонтометрии охотников-собирателей Предбайкалья. 

Sara Lefurgey (MA Student)

Xingyu Man (PhD Candidate) 

Elizabeth McKay (MA Student)

Etner Matibha (PhD Student)

Etner is a graduate student in biological anthropology. Her research focuses on human osteology and bioarchaeology, exploring how skeletal evidence reveals insights into health, diet, and identity in past populations. She is passionate about forensic anthropology and the ethical study of human remains. 

Tristan Mula (MA Student)

Tristan an MA student in Biological Anthropology, focusing on how burning affects kerf mark integrity and forensic interpretation. She earned a BSc in Biological Sciences with an anthropology minor and are dedicated to advancing methodological standards in forensic and biological anthropology.

Timothy Allen (PhD Student)

Megan Bieraugle (PhD Candidate)

Megan is a PhD candidate in the department of Anthropology at the University of Alberta, exploring the relationship between Indigenous People and dogs on the Canadian Plains during the mid to late Holocene. Megan specializes in zooarchaeological assemblage analysis and biometry, having completed her MSc in Environmental Archaeology and Palaeoeconomy at the University of Sheffield. Beyond school, Megan enjoys teaching, coaching volleyball, and spending time with a good book. 

Elizabeth Goldberg (PhD Student)

Stephanie Halmhofer (PhD Candidate)

Cody Hemmingsen (MA student)

Cody is a second-year master’s student working under the guidance of Dr. Kisha Supernant. His research examines lithic tools from historic Métis hivernant settlements in Alberta and Saskatchewan, exploring how stone tool production and use reflect relational practices, including economics, mobility, and lifeways during the nineteenth century. 

Jesse Heintz (MA Student)

Ben Kucher (MA Student)

Katherine Latham (PhD Candidate)

Solène Mallet Gauthier (PhD Candidate):

Solène studies overwintering Métis identity using plant and insect remains found at Chimney Coulee, located in SW Saskatchewan. Her research interests include foodways, identity, colonial contexts, historical archaeology, and environmental archaeology. 

Séamus Rudden (MA Student)

Séamus is a first year graduate student, pursuing his Master’s in Anthropology. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Honors) in Anthropology from the University of Alberta in 2025. His work explores how oral history and narrative storytelling can be used to document aspects of tangible and intangible heritage to better understand the histories and the care items received as part of the Bryan/Gruhn Archaeology and Ethnographic Collections cared for by the Department of Anthropology.

Blanka Stepankova (MA Student)

Blanka is a current Master's student focusing on Canadian fur trade zooarchaeology for her thesis within a parklands context. Her other interests when time allows includes Czech archaeology and forensic anthropology. 

Dawn Wambold (PhD Student):

Born and raised between the Bow and Clearwater Rivers, and within sight of the Rocky Mountains, Dawn continues to live in the same lands that her Métis and Cree family were connected to. As a scholar at the Institute of Prairie and Indigenous Archaeology, she aims to tell the stories of her ancestors’ connections to Southern Alberta using archaeology. She is married to Robert and together they have a daughter named Cassidy who is an undergraduate student in the anthropology department. 

Kaitlyn Young (PhD Candidate)

Sarah Mann (MA Student):

Sarah (she/her/elle) is a Francophone second year graduate student at the University of Alberta. She completed her Bachelors in Anthropology from the University of Alberta in 2023. Her research interests include Michif, language inclusion in archaeology, and Métis history. Sarah is a southern Michif, French Michif, and Muskogee learner. 

MA

Faith Boser (2025), Maggie DeCoste (2025), Allyson Lynch (2025), Emmy Marks (2025), Maria Nelson (2025), Viktoriya Popovych (2025), Saba Nuzhat (2025), Sadie Trambley (2025), Brianne Bertram (2024), Maegan Huber (2024), Lyndsay Dagg (2024), Ben Louter (2024), Emily Haines (2024), Nazia Mahmoud (2023), Selina Ertman (2023), Josie Baker (2023), Ella Forgie (2021)

PhD

Rachel Simpson (2025), Rebecca Bourgeois (2025), Brenda Guernsey (2025), JunHong Ma (2025), Morgan Moffit (2025), Liam Wadsworth (2025), Jennifer Nelson (2024), Philbert Katto (2024), Katherine Gadd (2021), Katherine Bishop (2021)

*Lists are not exhaustive