Skip to main content Skip to main navigation Skip to page-level navigation Go to the Disability Resource Centre Website Go to the DRC Booking Accommodation Portal Go to the Inclusive Technology Lab Website
The University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia Okanagan campus
UBC Okanagan News
  • Research
  • People
    • Student Profile
    • Faculty Profile
    • Alumni Spotlight
  • Campus Life
    • Campus News
    • Student Life
    • Teaching & Learning
  • Community Engagement
  • About the Collection
    • Stories for Media
  • UBCO Events
  • Search All Stories
Home / 2015 / December / 16 / Anthropology professor Sandra Peacock provides hands-on student learning opportunities in Tanzania
Faculty Profile, People

Anthropology professor Sandra Peacock provides hands-on student learning opportunities in Tanzania

December 16, 2015

About

Name
Sandra Peacock

Role
Associate Professor

Program
Anthropology

Faculty
Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences

Campus
Okanagan (Kelowna, BC)

Education
PhD, Interdisciplinary Studies; Environmental Studies, Geography and Anthropology, University of Victoria, (1998)

MA, Archaeology, University of Calgary (1992)

BA, Honours, Archaeology, University of Calgary (1988)

Hometown
Calgary, Alberta

“The small group size and location of Go Global Tanzania really help the students to connect with me, the material, each other and the community.”

ANTHROPOLOGIST SANDRA PEACOCK believes in being open to opportunities that sometimes can change the course of life or work.

Tanzania was one such opportunity for her.

Peacock has always been fascinated by the story of our human origins, so when she heard of a National Geographic-led trip to Tanzania to study human origins with a world-famous anthropologist, Don Johanson, she jumped at the chance to go. Why Anthropology?

“I never envisioned that Tanzania would be somewhere I would teach and do research,” she says. “But there is so much cultural diversity and human history there. After spending just a couple of days in Tanzania, I knew it would be an amazing place for students to learn.”

Through UBC Okanagan’s Go Global program, Peacock now brings groups of undergraduate students along with her to research and study the East African country’s land and people, and to join in community projects and research, giving students hands-on experience in the field.

S2-Sandra_PeacockLIVING LABS

Peacock loves anthropology because it is so interdisciplinary and lets her explore things she’s passionate about—human cultural and biological diversity, both past and present. She says the strength of UBC Okanagan’s Anthropology program is in the breadth of specializations of the faculty members, who cover anthropological archaeology, biological, cultural, and linguistic anthropology.

As an anthropological archaeologist, Peacock uses anthropological insights to interpret the remains of past human activities and specializes in ethnobotany (the relationship between people and plants) and paleoethnobotany (the recovery, identification and interpretation of ancient plants).

Using the Okanagan Valley and parts of Alberta as a living lab, Peacock studies the ancient use of roots as a food source by indigenous peoples, and examines the role wild plant foods played in past cultures.

Many people mentored Peacock throughout her studies, but Piikáni Nation Elder Margaret Plain Eagle stands out.

“For my master’s degree,” Peacock says, “I worked with the Piikáni Peoples in Southern Alberta and Montana to record their traditional plant knowledge. Margaret took me under her wing, introduced me to her family and other elders, and was incredibly generous in sharing her time and knowledge.”

VALUING CONNECTION

Connection is a strong theme for Peacock. She values the connection she makes with the land and peoples she studies; she also points to the connections she’s able to make with her students as one of the things she enjoys most about UBC Okanagan.S1-Sandra_Peacock

“I appreciate so much the research space and opportunities available at UBCO. Working with the Go Global program to move students out of the classroom and into the field is remarkable and rewarding.

“The small group size and location really help the students to connect with me, the material, each other and the community—and it allows me to see their ‘aha’ moments that aren’t always so visible in the classroom.”

—by Deanna Roberts

Content type: Profile
More content from: Community, Culture and Global Studies, Irving K Barber School of Arts and Sciences (prior July 2020)

Trending Stories

  • How one student connects AI innovation to wildfire research
  • Robotics, AI advancing wildfire, agricultural research at UBCO
  • Psychedelic mushroom microdoses can improve mood, mental health
  • UBCO professor researches electric passenger light rail for Okanagan Valley
  • Made in Canada breakthrough is a gamechanger in heart valve technology
All Stories
UBCO Events

About UBC Okanagan

UBC’s Okanagan campus is an innovative hub for research and learning founded in partnership with local Indigenous peoples, the Syilx Okanagan Nation, in whose traditional, ancestral and unceded territory the campus resides. The most established and influential global rankings all consistently place UBC in the top five per cent of universities in the world, and among the top three Canadian universities.

The Okanagan campus combines a globally recognized UBC education with a tight-knit and entrepreneurial community that welcomes students and faculty from around the world in British Columbia’s stunning Okanagan Valley. For more visit ok.ubc.ca.

Discover more about UBC Okanagan

Find a Program Admissions Book a Tour UBCO Facts
UBC Okanagan Campus News, University Relations

Innovation Precinct Annexation 1 (IA1)
3505 Spectrum Court
Kelowna, BC Canada V1V 2Z1

We respectfully acknowledge the Syilx Okanagan Nation and their peoples, in whose traditional, ancestral, unceded territory UBC Okanagan is situated.

 

Search all stories

Subscribe to receive news by email

Visit UBC's Vancouver news room

Global and Admin Messages

News

Okanagan Campus

TikTok icon Linkedin icon

UBC Okanagan News
Okanagan Campus
3333 University Way
Kelowna, BC Canada V1V 1V7
Find us on
  
Back to top
The University of British Columbia
  • Emergency Procedures |
  • Terms of Use |
  • Copyright |
  • Accessibility