Mirtha Gomez-Saavedra

Professional Bio

Mirtha Gomez-Saavedra is a graduate student in Anthropology at Penn State University and a member of the Environmental Archaeology lab under Dr. Jose Capriles. Her research focuses on human–environment interactions, paleoclimates, and human ecology in high-altitude regions. Her Master’s research examined socio-ecological systems and pastoralism on the Andean Altiplano. Mirtha is currently involved in field projects in the Sajama area of Bolivia as well as other regions of Chile and Bolivia. Her professional goal is to continue working in the Andean plateau, conducting systematic surveys to locate new sites and applying innovative technologies to study early human activity and its relationship with environmental change during the Holocene, with particular attention to the development of herding practices and long-term strategies of resilience and adaptation.