Dr. Emily Beahm, the station archeologist at the Arkansas Archeological Survey’s Winthrop Rockefeller Institute Research Station, will present on a garden initiative the WRI is currently undertaking at a presentation at 7 p.m. April 20 as part of the monthly Ark-Homa chapter meeting held at the University of Arkansas - Fort Smith.

 

The event will be held at the Echols Conference Center on UAFS campus, located at 504 N. Waldron Road, and it is free and open to the public.

 

The presentation, titled “Learning about the History of Plant Use in Arkansas Through Time: The WRI Gardens,” will discuss the WRI’s new initiative to create a set of gardens that highlight the change in food gathering from plants. The institute seeks to provide hands-on experiences for visitors to learn more about how plants have been acquired and processed over time, and the talk will address the process, challenges and successes of establishing the gardens, as well as future plans.

 

Beahm holds an undergraduate degree from Middle Tennessee State University and her doctorate from the University of Georgia. Her dissertation focused on the Mississippian period occupation along the Cumberland River in Tennessee.  Before moving to Arkansas, Beahm spent seven years studying the Castilian Springs Mound site in north-central Tennessee. Her research interests include Mississippian iconography, coalescent communities and political organization.

For more information about the event, contact Tim Mulvihill, UAFS research station archeologist, at 479-788-7812 or tim.mulvihill@uafs.edu.

 

About the University of Arkansas - Fort Smith

The University of Arkansas – Fort Smith is the premiere regional institution of Western Arkansas, connecting education with careers and serving as a driver of economic development and quality of place in the greater Fort Smith region. Through a small campus, dedicated professors, and the university’s unique bond with its community, students at UAFS are able to do more in the areas they are passionate about, both on- and off-campus, in a way that prepares them for post-graduate success. To find out how you can do more at UAFS, visit www.uafs.edu.