Lehman anthropologist and associate professor Cameron McNeil will spend the 2025-2026 academic year at one of the premiere research institutes for Pre-Columbian, Byzantine, and landscape studies.

McNeil will be one of just seven fellows in the field of Pre-Columbian studies at Dumbarton Oaks who will work with the institute’s extensive library holdings.

“As a Mesoamerican archaeologist and an archaeobotanist, there could not be a better place for me to spend my sabbatical academic year,” said McNeil. 

She will use the fellowship to complete a book titled Landscapes of Copan, Honduras: 13 Millennia of Human-Environmental Interaction, based on her 26 years of research in and around the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Located in in Washington D.C., Dumbarton Oaks is part of Harvard University, and advances research and learning through fellowships, internships, meetings, and public exhibitions.

“This is one of the most prestigious global awards a scholar can get,” said William Harcourt-Smith, chair of the Department of Anthropology, adding that McNeil’s fellowship is a testament to the excellence of Lehman faculty, who can be competitive at the highest level.