What's Happening

A quick note from the chair:

Welcome to the Anthropology Department!
Here, we’ll both share stories from our amazing alumni AND highlight what’s happening in our department. We’ll be updating this page regularly about every two weeks, so be sure to check back and see what’s new!

Heather Roth

Heather Roth, who graduated from UNT in December 2016 with an MA in Applied Anthropology focused on Business, Technology, and Design, discovered her passion for anthropology at an early age. At just 11 years old, she attended a summer camp course on “Ancient Lost Cities,” where she learned from archaeologist Dr. Juris Zarins about the discovery of the lost city of Ubar. That experience sparked a lifelong curiosity about culture and human behavior. During her undergraduate studies, she became especially interested in cultural and linguistic anthropology and later combined that passion with an interest in technology. After encountering too many frustrating user experiences with websites and software, she was motivated to help design better, more user-friendly systems. Her graduate studies at UNT allowed her to focus on usability and apply mixed methods research to better understand how people interact with technology.

Today, Heather works as a Lead UX Researcher at Genesys, where she leads strategic research projects that help improve contact center software used by companies around the world. Her work focuses on understanding the experiences of people who use these systems, including agents, supervisors, and administrators. She also contributes to developing analytics and measurement programs and is currently exploring how to design for and with artificial intelligence. Outside of her professional work, Heather is active in a community orchestra and enjoys spending time with her family.

Heather credits her anthropology degree as a key factor in launching her career. Her background in ethnographic research, along with skills in organization, research design, and thematic analysis, has helped her stand out in the field of user experience research. Anthropology also provided her with a diverse set of research methods and the ability to conduct thorough literature reviews, both of which continue to be valuable in her work.

Beyond her career, Heather uses anthropology in her everyday life. She emphasizes the importance of asking human-centered questions, understanding different perspectives, and recognizing personal bias. These skills have helped her connect with people from diverse backgrounds and approach conversations with curiosity and empathy. She has also applied her skills in volunteer work, including conducting research for a community orchestra to better understand its members and support meaningful improvements.

For students interested in applying anthropology in their careers, Heather encourages flexibility and adaptability, especially in corporate environments. She suggests combining anthropological methods with design thinking to create stronger insights and solutions, while always maintaining a strong commitment to ethics. She also reminds students not to underestimate the importance of organization and note-taking, as these foundational skills are critical in any professional setting. Above all, her journey highlights how anthropology can open doors to impactful careers while helping people better understand and connect with the world around them.

 

Chanel Wilson

We are so proud of Chanel Wilson, Master Candidate in Applied Anthropology at the University of North Texas, for winning one of the Society for Applied Anthropology's Student Poster Awards.

 

 

 

Tim Henderson

 

  We are proud to recognize Anthropology grad student Tim Henderson, who has been selected as the recipient of a new                  award presented annually by the Society for Applied Anthropology. His paper, “The Times that Bind: Factors That Anchor Rural Nurses in Place,” was chosen from a large pool of submissions from both graduate and undergraduate students in the United States and abroad. The competition was juried by a panel of senior social scientists. As part of the award, Tim will receive a cash prize and travel support to attend the upcoming Society for Applied Anthropology Annual Meeting, where he will present his research.

Tims' Linkedin

Professor Melissa Nelson

CONGRATULATIONS go to our own Professor Melissa Nelson for being awarded the “James H. McDonald Leadership Fellowship” through the Society for Applied Anthropology.

From the SfAA website: "This Leadership Development Program aims to strengthen anthropology’s position in higher education by enhancing the institutional knowledge and leadership skills of anthropology faculty. With a deeper understanding of the language, culture, and structures of university administration and governance, anthropology faculty will be better positioned to articulate the impact and communicate the value of anthropology to their universities, students, and the public." 

 

Erica Hawvermale

Erica Hawvermale earned her Master of Science in Applied Anthropology in 2020. Since then, she has worked in research and program evaluation.

In February 2022, Erica joined the D’Aniello Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF) at Syracuse University as an Evaluation Associate. She now serves as a Senior Evaluation Associate, collaborating with several military-serving nonprofits on evaluation and capacity-building projects.

Outside her work at IVMF, Erica also leads evaluation efforts for Our Military Kids. While continuing in these roles, she is pursuing her Ph.D. in Evaluation, Measurement, and Research at Western Michigan University, beginning this fall.

Erica is also active in professional service. She serves as the Professional Development and Programming Committee Co-chair for the National Association for the Practice of Anthropology (NAPA). 

Erica's LinkedIn Erica's Website

Lisa Quirk

In December 2014, one of our UNT Anthropology alumni completed her MS in Applied Medical Anthropology along with an MPH—a combination that would shape a meaningful and impactful career. Drawn to anthropology by a lifelong curiosity about people, culture, and the deeper “why” behind human behavior, she followed a path guided by the idea that if she could do anything in the world, she would want to understand how people live, think, and evolve.

Today, she serves as a Clinical Research Manager at UT Southwestern, where she oversees more than 40 studies, including large multi-million-dollar projects across multiple research sites. She credits her anthropology background for helping her get there—both through the strong network she built during graduate school and through the analytical, communication, and learning skills she developed along the way. Anthropology taught her how to speak the language of academia, navigate complex systems, and approach problems with curiosity and adaptability.

The value of anthropology shows up in her daily life, too. Whether she’s observing how different clinical teams approach challenges, navigating the micro-cultures within a large medical environment, or encouraging her diverse staff to adapt to new changes, she finds herself constantly drawing on anthropological perspectives. It even helps her reflect on her own positionality and assumptions.

For current and future anthropology students, she offers honest and encouraging advice: be flexible, adaptable, and realistic about the roles you step into. Experience matters, and so does understanding the expectations and constraints of funded work. While not every career mirrors the romanticized fieldwork of early anthropologists, applied work can have tremendous impact. In her own career, she has helped cure thousands of people of Hepatitis C at no cost to them and contributed to shaping national cancer screening recommendations—work she describes as pretty incredible.

Her journey is a powerful reminder of what applied anthropology can do and the real-world change it can create. If you ever wondered where an anthropology degree can take you, her story is an inspiring example.

Micah J. Fleck

Micah J. Fleck earned his MS in Applied Anthropology from UNT in 2024. Before joining the program, he completed a BA in Anthropology at Columbia University and an Ed.M in Human Development at Harvard University. Micah is also an accomplished author and scholar, having published multiple books—including Anthropology for Beginners, an illustrated introduction to the field, and Privileged Populists: Populism in the Conservative and Libertarian Working Class—as well as several journal articles. In 2025, he began pursuing his Ph.D. in Anthropology at the London School of Economics and Political Science, continuing his work in research, writing, and expanding public understanding of anthropology.

 

 

 

Joshua Liggett

Joshua Liggett earned his MA in Applied Anthropology from UNT in 2014, with a focus on the Anthropology of Education, evaluation work, and an applied research project examining the role of nerd and geek identities in STEM degree completion. His interest in anthropology was sparked early on through his love of Star Trek: The Next Generation, where Captain Picard’s dual identity as a scientist and anthropologist helped shape his academic path after an initial attempt at physics. After graduating, Joshua worked in several evaluative and applied roles within behavioral health and public service agencies and now serves as a Quality Specialist at UC San Diego Health’s Center for Transplantation. In this role, he uses anthropological approaches to support process improvement initiatives and analyze patient events. Joshua emphasizes that anthropology training provides critical skills in evaluation, facilitation, and systems analysis that translate directly into applied settings. He continues to draw on theoretical frameworks that explore how knowledge, structures, and decision-making intersect in everyday work, and he encourages students to identify meaningful industries, learn their professional language, align their education and internships accordingly, and seek out mentors—such as those available through the National Association for the Practice of Anthropology.