Student Stories
Norberto Baldi Salas
Heredia, Costa Rica
Doctoral student in anthropology
“Studying at KU isn’t about just going through the process of getting my Ph.D. It’s also about making contacts, creating a network of people and other researchers who will want to participate in research in Costa Rica or in other places in Central America and South America.”
Last summer, Norberto Baldi Salas traveled by boat to Rama Cay — a tiny, undeveloped island in a Nicaraguan bay. He and his KU research partner, Phillip Melton, went to study the genetic history of the island’s indigenous inhabitants. They took cheek swabs from 75 of some 900 people on the island.
Back at the University of Costa Rica, they extracted DNA from the swabs. And in a genetic anthropology lab at KU, they analyzed the DNA.
“We know that people came to the Americas from Asia originally,” Baldi Salas said. “With the DNA, we’re trying to reconstruct what happened. Central America is unique in that it’s the narrowest point through which any migration into South America would have moved. This allows us to use molecular genetics, or DNA, to reconstruct the history of the indigenous population of Central America.”
This research partnership came about through KU’s Costa Rica Exchange Program, established in 1958 between KU and the University of Costa Rica. The exchange program emphasizes collaborative research between the two universities, as well as study abroad for undergraduates from KU. It receives support through the Greater KU Fund and individual scholarship funds for study abroad at KU Endowment.
After Baldi Salas completes his doctorate at KU, he’ll return to Costa Rica as a faculty member and develop a degree program in biological anthropology. He also plans to continue his working relationships with KU researchers and faculty members.