Dr. Emily Beahm Archeology Lecture: The WRI Teaching Gardens

UAM Forest Resources Complex
Room A102

The WRI Teaching Gardens at the UA- WRI Research Station were established in 2016 and include a Wild Gathering Walkway, Eastern Agricultural Complex Garden and Mississippian Period Garden. The gardens are used in public outreach and education in a variety of ways including home school education series, undergraduate education, and master gardener and naturalist organizations. The original gardens are linked to the Arkansas Archeological Survey’s Gathering, Gardening and Agriculture website that includes information about these economically significant plants. The WRI Teaching Gardens have been improved and expanded over the years to include an Historic Herb Garden, a Rainbow Heirloom Garden, and an African Heritage Garden. Future plans for the gardens include renovation of the adjacent Lord and Burnham greenhouse using funds from an ANCRC grant which will allow for year-round educational plant displays, and expanding the website’s coverage to include the more recent gardens.

Emily L. Beahm (PhD University of Georgia) is the University of Arkansas-Arkansas Archeological Survey Station Archeologist at the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute. She has been at this station since 2014. Her research focuses on Indigenous plant use and foodways, gender, rock art and 3D modeling. She has created print and web-based educational material focusing on these topics. Though her participation in the NSF funded research project “Evidence-based Transformation of Undergraduate Field Schools to Promote Safety and Inclusivity among Southeastern Archaeology” and other activities, she works to identify and implement ways to make the discipline of archaeology representative, safe, and accessible for all students.

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