Melissa Teja, a junior majoring in anthropology, started her journey at Michigan State University (MSU) seeking a communications degree. But after taking Introduction to Archaeology and participating in a study abroad field school in Belize her freshmen year, something changed her mind.

“I cannot think of a month that went better for me, where I was constantly covered in dirt and bugs,” she said. “I loved it.”

Two years later, the College of Social Science’s Dean’s Student Advisory Council named Teja the recipient of the 2025 Undergraduate Research Award.

“Archaeology and anthropology involve listening to people’s stories through data and ethnography, and sharing those stories with the world,” Teja said. “I love using data to tell people’s stories.”

Recently, Teja was awarded two research scholarships through the College of Social Science: the Dean’s Assistantship and the Andrew Undergraduate Fellowship. The funding will support Teja’s research in creating a geographic information system (GIS) map for an archaeological site in Sarteneja, Belize. GIS is a type of map that enables researchers to visualize, analyze, and interpret spatial data in ways that were once challenging or unattainable.

“It was exciting to share my project and get support from the college,” Teja said.

Teja will share her findings from this project at the Society for American Archaeology’s (SAA) annual meeting next year. At the end of April, Teja will travel to Denver, Colorado for the 2025 SAA meeting to present her current research project, “Estimation of Sex by Discriminant Function Analysis for Maya Skeletal Remains,”which was funded through a 2024-2025 Provost’s Undergraduate Research Initiative (PURI) from the College of Social Science.

“There’s this really cool opportunity to have an open dialogue in research where you learn from other people, and then you can adapt that,” she said.

MSU has provided Teja numerous opportunities to engage with the research community including her new role as an Undergraduate Research Ambassador, which she will start this fall.  Ambassadors work with MSU’s Undergraduate Research Office and assist students in navigating research.

“So many people are involved in amazing projects here on campus and I am excited to help connect students with these opportunities,” Teja said. “I love being a part of a university that values research.”