Dr. Martin Polkinghorne, Artists of Angkor Study: Decorative lintel for Lolei temple, late 9th century, Hariharālaya, Rolous

Administered by National Geographic Mission Programs, the NGS/Waitt Grants Program makes grants between $5,000 and $15,000 for exploratory research - below is a list of the most recent awards granted. To date, the program has funded over 100 field projects. For more information on the program, please visit the NGS/Waitt Grants section of our website.

Archaeology

Grantee: Martin Polkinghorne, University of Sydney
Region: Asia / Cambodia
Project: The Artists of Angkor - Production and Distribution of Sculpture from the Royal Palace Workshop
Abstract: Angkor survives as one of the richest material records of a medieval Asian culture. Rather than the centre of a mysterious civilization that produced a collection of ruins, Angkor was a crowded, lived in city of people who created magnificent art. To appraise the significance of Angkor, research has often looked to its art and architecture as markers of its history and religion. Yet little is known about the artists and the methods of their work. A great deal more about Angkorian civilization can be clarified by considering how the sculptures and monuments fit into the rich tapestry of court, religious, economic and everyday life of the medieval Khmer. To recognize the artistic and aesthetic value of Angkor, a cross-disciplinary study will for the first-time research one of the sculpture workshops of its Empire. Located in the walled city of Angkor Thom, just north of the Royal Palace compound, speculation about the area as the site of artistic production was made as early as the 1920s. But not until the recent identification of two additional sculpture workshops at Roluos and Phnom Dei, has the Royal Palace workshop been understood as major production site. As a path into the world of ateliers, integrated methodologies will investigate the operational dynamics of the Royal Palace workshop. Research of a dedicated production site, unique in Southeast Asia, has considerable potential to appraise craft specialization in medieval Asian societies and will connect the sculptures of Angkor to the people who made them.

Biology

Grantee: Maren Huck, University of Pennsylvania
Region: South America / Argentina
Project: Predators of an Owl Monkey Polulation in the Argentinean Chaco
Abstract: It has long been known that predation influences many aspects of the lives of prey animals. Although there is some evidence of predation on New World monkeys, most research has focused on studying the monkeys and not the predators. This project will begin a long-term study of predator-prey relationships in an owl monkey population of the Argentinean Chaco, using three approaches: photo trapping of potential predators, radio-tracking of potential predators, and investigating the perceived predation risk using an experimental set-up. The animals will be offered, in feeding trays, food that requires a certain amount of handling time. The assumption is that animals will spend more time feeding at trays when they feel safer. The study will contribute considerably to the understanding of the effect of predators on trade-off decisions of a small neotropical primate. This project will contribute substantially to the long-term project on the evolution of monogamy and male care in owl monkeys.

Ecology

Grantee: Michael Stambaugh, University of Missouri
Region: North America
Project: Recovering a Buried Climate Treasure - Ancient Forests Beneath the U.S. Agricultural Heartland
Abstract: Recent work recovering ancient trees (up to 22,000 years old) from streams flowing through the central U.S. shows excellent potential for documenting Holocene and late-Pleistocene climate and environmental change. Ancient trees are buried climate “treasures” in that they represent a metric of plant growth during different climate conditions which can shed light on long-term changes in agricultural productivity. The geographic extent, abundance, and ages of these ancient trees are largely unknown; however, based on extensive work throughout Missouri, it is possible that the majority of streams in the central U.S. contain wood > 1000 years in age. The goal of this work is to determine the extent to which these ancient buried trees are distributed throughout the central U.S. region. Results from this work will be used to determine the potential and locations for expanding more detailed paleoclimate studies. Moving toward increasing our understanding of past climate variability in a globally significant agricultural region is perhaps the greatest immediate contribution of this work.

Marine Biology

Grantee: Adrian Flynn, University of Queensland
Region: Oceania
Project: Deployment of Benthic and Midwater Autonomous Camera Systems in Deep-sea Environments of the Coral Sea
Abstract: The University of Queensland’s Deep Ocean Australia Project owns two Medusa deep-sea camera systems. Designed and built by Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute (HBOI), the camera systems will be deployed in water depths of up to 2,000 m in never-before sampled deep-sea habitats of the Coral Sea. The Coral Sea has been identified as a globally significant region for biodiversity values, and has been identified as a conservation ‘Hope Spot’ (http://www.mission-blue.org/node/11171). The camera systems can be deployed for long-term continuous or time-lapsed recording and comprise low-light cameras, far-red lighting systems that are ‘invisible’ to deep-sea organisms, water quality sensors, light meters and acoustic release/ranging instrumentation. The camera systems are autonomous and can be deployed in two modes; benthic-lander mode and mid-water mode. In benthic-lander mode, the instrument is deployed completely untethered, sinking to the seabed. Upon recovery, an acoustic signal is sent to the instrument that jettisons a ballast weight and the camera system floats to the surface for recovery. In mid-water mode, the system is deployed in the same way, but with a tether between the ballast weight and the camera unit. The cameras can be baited to attract animals into the field of view. The deployment of these systems will represent an Australian first, adding tremendously to the very small amount of deep-sea observational research carried out to date, and thus results will be inherently publishable. Footage from similar camera systems around the world have resulted in the recording of new species and given remarkable new insights into the behavior and biodiversity of organisms of the deep-sea. In this establishment phase of conservation and protected area management planning for the Coral Sea, accurate information is crucial to ensure correct planning is implemented. Creatures of the deep Coral Sea include Nautilus, brachiopods, stalked crinoids and glass sponges; some of the few true living fossils surviving past global warming and mass extinctions, as well as rare shark and fish species and unique geological formations. This information comes from a small ‘snapshot’ and given the rarity of deep-sea camera work in the entire southern hemisphere, the discovery of new and exciting species and habitats is likely.

Oceanography

Grantee: Erica Goetze, University of Hawatt at Monoa
Region: Atlantic Ocean
Project: Global Plankton Genetics Project - Sampling a Longitudinal Transect Across the Atlantic Ocean
Abstract: Marine zooplankton are important mediators of the flux of energy and matter through pelagic ecosystems. They are also particularly responsive to our changing climate, and the distributions of these open ocean species are rapidly moving poleward in response to a warming ocean. Understanding the dispersal capacity of these species is therefore important to predicting their longer-term response to changing ocean conditions. This research will use a genetic approach to estimate migration rates and dispersal distances of zooplankton in the open sea. These samples will be used, in combination with existing material from the Pacific and Indian Ocean, to characterize global patterns of plankton dispersal among distinct open ocean regions. The eight planktonic copepod species targeted in this research are important players in global carbon cycles, and results will provide critical information on the location of genetically-distinct populations in these keystone species, and on their capacity to disperse in the open sea.

Paleontology

Grantee: Sarah Lacy, Washington University St. Louis
Region: Africa
Project: Transitional Homo Project - Loiyangalani Summer 2010
Abstract: This project aims to further research on the recently rediscovered Homo fossil specimen referred to as Loiyangalani. The project will consist of three parts: 1) museum research at National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi on the original specimen consisting of the mandible/maxilla of one individual, 2) field exploration at the approximate location of the discovery of the fossil, and 3) attempt at obtaining a date for the specimen. The Loiyangalani 1 fossil contains a complex mosaic of diagnostic traits for both archaic and modern Homo, and therefore seriously questions the appropriateness of these binary categories. Loiyangalani 1 is a surface find discovered by a tourist in 1976, and therefore we have lost its exact provenance. Using the tourist’s thorough description of where he found the fossil and our collaborators’ knowledge of the region, we plan to do a field exploration of the vicinity of the discovery. Fossil bearing layers may reveal more pieces of the individual and allow sediment dating for the specimen. Residual sediment on the specimen or U-series direct dating may also allow us to obtain a date in the absence of knowledge of the exact provenance of the specimen. Independent of the field work, thorough measurements and photographic and radiographic examination of the fossil in the museum will prepare for a publication on Loiyangalani 1, a fossil whose importance to our understanding of the evolution of modernity in Homo necessitates our dissemination of detailed data and further research.

August Awards by Discipline

Archaeology - 1
Biology - 1
Cultural Anthropology - 0
Geography - 0
Geology - 0
Nautical Archaeology, Underwater - 0
Oceanography, Biological- 2
Oceanography, Physical - 0
Paleontology - 2

August Awards by Region

Africa / Madagascar - 1
Asia - 1
Atlantic Ocean - 1
Central America / Caribbean - 0
Europe - 0
North America - 1
Oceania - 1
South America - 1