Katelyn Trammell, Class of 2019

Anthropology Collection/NAGRPA Assistant, University of Nebraska State Museum

I am the anthropology collection assistant at the University of Nebraska State Museum in Lincoln, Nebraska. The State Museum is a natural history museum that includes zoology, paleontology, entomology, botany, parasitology, and of course -- my favorite -- anthropology!

Currently, my job mostly consists of assessing the collection's needs. This includes rehousing objects, creating supports for fragile pottery, writing a proposal to replace some of our older cabinets and preparing to move to a new database. The other half of my job is to assist our NAGPRA coordinator in repatriation efforts. The museum has an incredible repatriation record, but there is still more work to be done.

My experience in the Museum Studies Program and my internship at the Spencer Museum of Art prepared me perfectly for my position at the State Museum. At the Spencer, I learned how to work with, care for and interpret cultural objects similar to those in the collection I now manage. My experiences in the exhibits course prepared me to serve on the exhibits committee; I have used my conservation textbook while freezer-treating incoming objects, and I am now running a budget using skills from the museum management class

My advice to future students and graduates is to take a breath and not feel discouraged. The jobs are out there, and museums need people like you. Your classes are preparing you in ways that you could never expect, and you will definitely be able to do the work.