Seth Price
Seth Price is a doctoral candidate in the interdisciplinary Environmental Dynamics Program, recipient of a Distinguished Doctoral Fellowship and a teaching assistantship in sustainability. He recently returned from Peru, where his dissertation research was funded by a grant from a Sturgis International FellowshipAnd a Lewis and Clark Fund for Exploration and Field Research.
The ENDY Lecture Series will host Seth Price at 3:30 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 1, in Gearhart Hall 017. His lecture is entitled Echoes of the Past or Symptoms Of Now: Raised Field Culture in North Coastal Peru. This lecture will combine virtual and face-to-face options. Click here to join our meeting.
This research examines the relationship between sustainable agriculture intensification, settlement dynamics, and anthropogenic landscapes within the Casma valley of north coast Peru. The primary goal of this research is to determine how the Casma valley’s Late Chimu (AC 1300-1470), societies converted 700 hectares into raised agricultural fields, to understand the cultural processes that underpinned field operation, and to help modern sustainable development. Diverse, but thorough data on soil composition are used to distinguish soil conditions that reflect ancient human activity from those that have been affected by modern processes. This allows us to identify soil properties that have likely persisted since ancient times. This past-to-present spectrum is explored to explore modern anthropogenic soils, and the long-term consequences of raised field cultivating. This integration of multi-sensor geophysical techniques has the potential for advancements in remote sensing approaches. A new method for low-cost thermal photography is used to assess soil moisture and to operate field drainage systems. This section also includes a discussion on the Sturgis International Fellowship.
His master’s degree in anthropology was earned at the University of Alberta, and his B.A. Grand Valley State University conferred him with a degree in anthropology.
Find out more about the Environmental Dynamics Program, Sustainability AcademicsThe U of A Graduate School.