Caitlin Rankin
Caitlin Rankin at Cahokia Mounds
Meet Caitlin Rankin, PhD, RPA! Caitlin is a Research Geoarchaeologist at the University of Illinois Urbana -Champaign and is participating in our virtual panel discussion with women leaders in science on September 13, 2021. The panel discussion connects to our production of Digging Up Dessa, which tells the story of a young scientist struggling to process her grief and anger at the changes in her world and the comfort she discovers in a remarkable new friend, one only she can see and hear—Mary Anning. Mary was a 19th-century paleontologist who discovered a breakthrough dinosaur fossil at the age of 12 and became a pioneer in her field.
We asked Caitlin a few questions about her career and words of advice for young people.
What do you do in your job?
I am an archaeologist, which means that I study past peoples and how they lived. I specialize in determining what the environment looked like in the past while people were living there and how people altered their environment.
What is fun and exciting about your work?
I get to be outside a lot and play in the dirt! I have had opportunities to travel and work in places that I had never heard of before or would never would have consider visiting on my own.
What made you choose your career?
I always had an interest in both history and environmental studies. When I was younger, I did not see myself doing this specific job. I just pursued the things I was interested in, and those experiences eventually led to the career I have now.
What advice would you give your 12-year-old self about your career?
I would say that 12 years old is the time where you are starting to discover new interests and passions. My advice is to do whatever you can to explore those interests further. This can be reading books or watching videos about what you are interested in. You could also try to find hands-on activities and learning programs for students. For Archaeology, Cahokia Mounds State Historic Park (30 minutes from St. Louis) host events in the summer to introduce kids to archaeology. There are also lots of archaeology programs kids and high school students at the Center for American Archaeology in Kampsville, IL (1.5 hours from St. Louis).
Is this what you wanted to be when you were growing up?
What I wanted to be when I grew up changed as I got older and gained more experience. I think there are aspects of careers that you like, but you will not know if the job completely suits you until you gain some experience with that job. For example, when I was a 13, I did the meteorology event for Science Olympiad and wanted to be a climatologist when I grew up. I had an opportunity to attend a weather camp for kids at a local university, and I found out that most meteorologists spend their life looking at computer models, and I wanted to be outside! Understanding climate is still a big part of what I do in my job, but I incorporate it into my career in a way I never could have imagined as a kid.