Our very own Bear Bones Lab member, Allison has been awarded the McCown Prize during the 2026 departmental commencement ceremony! The McCown Prize is awarded to a graduating senior judged by the Anthropology faculty to be the most outstanding member of their class. It is given to the student who is BOTH a remarkable scholar and one who has been actively engaged in the Anthropology community and ideally the community at large. Her contributions to the Bear Bones team and the community of the Department of Anthropology are outstanding, serving as Co-President of the Department’s Anthropology Undergraduate Association, being instrumental in creating community and connecting her peers to resources and regularly sharing the excitement of anthropological research and discovery with high school students through the Splash program. Moreover, Allison contributed to the closure of community-accountable archaeological praxis with her work for the descendant communities associated with Ghost Ranch in New Mexico and her fieldwork volunteerism for the Tribal Historic Preservation Office at Mooretown Rancheria in California. Allison embodies the values of the Bear Bones Lab and we congratulate her on this tremendous honor.