URIs_MOMENTUM_Research_and_Innovation_Magazine_Spring_2023_M

BY THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX, BUXTON SAYS THEY WERE ABLE TO ACCOMPLISH AN AMBITIOUS MILLION-DOLLAR INTERDISCIPLINARY SCIENTIFIC EXPEDITION FOR LESS THAN $100,000.

BRIDGET BUXTON Professor of History

Professor Bridget Buxton holds the Society of Women Geographers flag.

with Captain Potter’s Dutch wife and first mate Caroline Durville, their son Casper Potter, and American Gary Philbrick, the five sailed out of the Maldives in December 2021 for the research adventure of a lifetime. On board, Buxton carried a special treasure: the flag of the Society of Women Geographers, awarded only to “expeditions of such unusual character that their successful accomplishment… makes a permanent contribution to the world’s store of geographical knowledge.” While using rats as a proxy to study human migration is not new, this kind of archaeological study in the BIOT is unprecedented. The U.K. government strictly controls access to the entire area, which is a critical breeding habitat for seabirds and includes the important U.S. military base of Diego Garcia. Buxton is the first archaeologist to be granted a permit to explore the territory’s uninhabited islands. Buxton’s expeditions normally involve using sophisticated equipment to find and study shipwrecks. On this trip, she set rat traps laden with peanut butter.

“Epic nightly struggles between us and the crabs ensued,” she says, describing how giant coconut crabs would break the traps and eat the rats. The group started with more than 100 working traps and ended with fewer than 30. Still,

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