My name is Alec Apodaca and I am currently a PhD Candidate at UC Berkeley, but I received my bachelor’s degree from UC Santa Cruz in 2017. My unique blend of experiences gathered through the labs and fieldwork at UCSC, specifically through Professor Schneider’s lab, put me in a position to be a top candidate for jobs and for grad school.
In his lab, I carried out research on Indigenous clam bed management practices during the colonial period in California. Collaborating with indigenous California tribes, learning GIS applications in archaeology, and having the space and guidance to carry out a senior thesis have all been formative in building my career. Today, I continue this research on indigenous natural resource stewardship in an expanded way, but my ideas, methods, and theory were initiated at UCSC working closely with my undergraduate advisors. UCSC has a strong network of environmental and historical anthropological research, so I feel like I really lucked out.