Mellon Humanities Pathways Program Fellow, 2021-2022
Education
Currently pursuing a B.A. in Anthropology with a double minor in Biology and Classics at UTSA.
Biography
Kristen Ka’ulawena Alipio is a Junior majoring in anthropology with minors in biology and classics. In addition to being a Mellon Fellow, Kristen is also a USAA First-Gen STEM scholar and was a 2021 Smithsonian NHRE intern, where she conducted a study with the Repatriation Osteology Lab to help develop new methods for scoring dental wear in bioarchaeology. As a Native Hawaiian born and raised in Pearl City, Hawaii, Kristen is dedicated to helping indigenous communities preserve sacred spaces and traditional ecological knowledge. Her research interests include indigenous land rights, repatriation, ritual use of sacred spaces, environmental protection, disease ecology and public health. Kristen’s passion for research and writing brought her back to college after a decade of working as a professional artist. She hopes to blend her unique background with her love of history and science to bring new insights to academia as she pursues her graduate studies in Anthropology after graduating from UTSA in the spring of 2023.
Research Interests
How does tourism and gentrification in the Hawaiian Islands affect biodiversity and does it reinforce structural violence against the people?
