Bryce C. Brown Research Fellowship
Dedicated to advancing scholarly exploration, the Mayborn Museum proudly offers two of the Bryce C. Brown fellowships annually: one tailored for those interested in our extensive natural history collection and another crafted for researchers interested in our cultural history collection. Selected fellows will embark on an exciting research journey spanning four to six weeks during the summer months. Immerse yourself in our unparalleled archives, engaging with artifacts and specimens that illuminate the diverse landscapes of our past and present. Fellowship recipients receive a stipend of $2,000. This support is designed to empower your exploration, enabling a deeper understanding and analysis of the resources housed within our museum. Apply to Sabrina_Thomas@Baylor.edu by March 15th.
Applicants must submit a proposal, a curriculum vitae, and two letters of recommendations. The proposal (please limit to two pages) should include: name, contact information, description of proposed research, expected work to be completed during the summer, anticipated contribution to the Mayborn Museum, and estimated dates to be in residence.
The Mayborn Museum will provide Fellows with access to:
- Collection objects and data associated with the Fellow’s research
- Collection Staff expertise
Fellows are expected to make a tangible contribution to the Mayborn Museum during the period of their stay. Examples of contribution may include: Fellows presenting work-in-progress or research outcomes to the public through programs offered at the Museum, contributing to object records, or writing articles for publications. Publications and presentations that result from a Fellow's research will acknowledge the Bryce C. Brown Research Fellowship Program at the Mayborn Museum for its support.
The scope of the Mayborn Museum’s collections includes objects from the fields of history, ethnography, archaeology, zoology, botany, geology, paleontology, and archives, with an emphasis on objects from central Texas. The Museum also has many objects worldwide in scope associated with the early years of the Museum’s collecting history, which goes back to a teaching collection started in the mid-1850s that was developed into the Baylor University Museum in 1893.
Past award recipients and their projects have included:
2024
- Dava Butler, a PhD candidate in the Department of Geosciences, is undertaking a project to survey the Waco Mammoth National Monument collection for infant mammoth material. Her work involves reconstructing the fragments to determine the number of very young individuals present in the collection. Since infant Columbian mammoth fossils are rare and have only recently been discovered at the site, this research will offer valuable insights into these young mammoths and the herd found at WMNM.
- Ashley Gonzalez, a Masters student in the Department of Geosciences, is focusing on the geochemical characterization of sediment samples collected near mammoth remains from the Waco Mammoth National Monument collection. Her in-depth analysis aims to shed light on the local environmental factors that contributed to the demise of several species at WMNM. This research will enhance our understanding of the conditions that affected these ancient creatures.
2023
- Maree Yard, a Master’s graduate student in the Department of Geosciences at Baylor University, is dedicated to repairing, cleaning, and consolidating mammoth long bones excavated from the Waco Mammoth National Monument. Her goal is to compile data to construct age and mortality profiles of the mammoths.
- Dava Butler, a PhD candidate in the Department of Geosciences, is undertaking a project to survey the Waco Mammoth National Monument collection for infant mammoth material. Her work involves reconstructing the fragments to determine the number of very young individuals present in the collection. Since infant Columbian mammoth fossils are rare and have only recently been discovered at the site, this research will offer valuable insights into these young mammoths and the herd found at WMNM.
2022
- Sarah Tharp, PhD Student, Department of English: project designing lesson plans than connect objects from the museum's collection of scientific artifacts with literary texts.
2021
- Sarah Kienle, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Biology: research project examining convergence in mammalian skull morphology across ecological, life history, and evolutionary gradients.
- David Criscione, PhD Student, Department of History: research project on the cultural context of the museum’s ethnological and natural history collections brought to Texas by Baptist missionaries.
2019
- Kaz Hayashi, PhD Student, Department of Religion: research project and presentation on the museum’s archaeological collection from the ancient Near East.
- Farzaneh Mansouri, PhD Student, Environmental Science Department: project on the reconstruction of carbon and nitrogen stable isotope cycle in baleen plate as an indicator of seasonal movement and feeding.
2018
- Chase Smith, PhD Student, Department of Biology: research and organization of the Freshwater mussel collection
- Nicholas Werse, PhD, Temporary Full-Time Lecturer, Department of Religion: research and book project on Central Texas history and culture, with emphasis on rural Texas
2017
- Guilherme Almeida, Lecturer in Musical Theater and Collaborative Pianist, Department of Theatre Arts: research project on Brazilian collection.
- Bracy V. Hill II, PhD, Senior Lecturer, Department of History: book project “Scattering the Morning Dew: An Exploration of Hunting in the Lone Star State”
- Daniel Peppe, PhD, Associate Professor & Graduate Program Director, Department of Geosciences: resource project on TEKS-based curriculum materials for Earth and Space Sciences along with a teacher training workshop