Alexandra Derian, MA

What’s the work that you do?

I am a PhD student studying arctic fox diet and ecology in response to Inuit and Paleo-Inuit hunting practices over the past 2,000 years. I am a zooarchaeologist and stable isotope scientist. I specialize in identifying animal skeletal remains and determining the stable isotopic and elemental composition of their bone collagen.

What keeps you going?

I love my work because I get to uncover what happened in the past. It is an amazing feeling to hold in my hands a bone that is hundreds or thousands of years old, and tell the story of the animal so long after its life.

What’s your message to the world?

Zooarchaeology and stable isotope analysis are powerful tools that can uncover knowledge of the ways in which humans and animals shared space and time in the past. I feel very fortunate to work alongside people who have a shared passion for learning from the past to work toward a more sustainable, equitable future.