Molly Boeka Cannon
Biographic Data
| ID | 4054783 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Molly Boeka Cannon |
| GIVEN NAMES | Molly Boeka |
| FAMILY NAME | Cannon |
| SIGNATURE | CANNON M B |
| AFFILIATIONS | Utah State University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-8650-8520 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 10 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 20 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 10 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2012 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
“You can take a guy’s wife, but don’t take his water”
As hydroclimatic stress intensifies across the western United States, conflicts over water use increasingly reflect deep moral and social divisions rather than purely technical constraints. In Utah, severe drought, rapid population growth, and the desiccation of the Great Salt Lake have exposed competing ethical frameworks governing water access, responsibility, and value. While public debate has emphasized ecological decline and political contro…
How a Traveling Exhibition on Wasps Altered Public Perceptions
Media portrays a caricature of the “evil” wasp (a flying insect), perpetuating fears developed at a young age or from individual negative experiences. Because wasps are critically important to nature and our agriculture, it is important to provide some form of education to lessen this fear. A traveling exhibit titled “Wasps of Utah” was created to test whether a small, passive exhibition with art, information, and specimens could positively alter…
A Water Heritage Framework
Water shapes institutions, communities, and cultural heritage through physical waterways and social relationships with water. Study of this water-community entanglement shows that human activity and climate processes are transforming “water heritage,” including canals, irrigation systems, ponds, and cultural knowledge. On the Colorado Plateau, waterscapes have long supported Indigenous and settler agricultural and water-harvesting practices. A hi…
Challenges of Documenting Historic Water Systems
Geospatial research in archaeology often relies on datasets previously collected by other archaeologists or third-party groups, such as state or federal government entities. This article discusses our work with geospatial datasets for identifying, documenting, and evaluating prehistoric and historic water features in the western United States. As part of a project on water heritage and long-term views on water management, our research has involve…
Connecting Native Students to STEM Research Using Virtual Archaeology
Universities struggle to provide meaningful education and mentorship to Native American students, especially in STEM fields such as archaeology and geography. The Native American Summer Mentorship Program (NASMP) at Utah State University is designed to address Native student retention and representation, and it fosters collaboration between mentors and mentees. In spring 2020, as university instruction went online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, NA…
An archaeologist’s view
Prehistoric Irrigation in Central Utah
In 1928, Noel Morss was shown 'irrigation ditches' along Pleasant Creek on the Dixie National Forest near Capitol Reef National Park, Utah, by a local guide who contended they were ancient. We relocated the site and mapped the route of an unusual mountain irrigation canal. We conducted excavations and employed OSL and AMS14C showing historic irrigation, and an earlier event between AD 1460 and 1636. Geomorphic evidence indicates that the canal ex…
Archaeological Fingerprinting and Fremont Figurines
After the anonymous 2011 return of a long-missing Pilling Fremont figurine, a multi-disciplinary research team conducted “fingerprint” analyses in an effort to match it to 10 mates with intact provenance. The Pilling figurines, crafted 1,000 years ago and cached in a remote sandstone niche in eastern Utah, are the most significant find of Fremont portable art ever documented because they occurred in situ and are unparalleled in detail and complet…
Statistical means for identifying hunter–gatherer residential features in a lithic landscape
LA-ICP-MS analysis of quartzite from the Upper Gunnison Basin, Colorado
LA-ICP-MS analysis of quartzite from the Upper Gunnison Basin, Colorado
Connecting Native Students to STEM Research Using Virtual Archaeology
Universities struggle to provide meaningful education and mentorship to Native American students, especially in STEM fields such as archaeology and geography. The Native American Summer Mentorship Program (NASMP) at Utah State University is designed to address Native student retention and representation, and it fosters collaboration between mentors and mentees. In spring 2020, as university instruction went online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, NA…
Prehistoric Irrigation in Central Utah
In 1928, Noel Morss was shown 'irrigation ditches' along Pleasant Creek on the Dixie National Forest near Capitol Reef National Park, Utah, by a local guide who contended they were ancient. We relocated the site and mapped the route of an unusual mountain irrigation canal. We conducted excavations and employed OSL and AMS14C showing historic irrigation, and an earlier event between AD 1460 and 1636. Geomorphic evidence indicates that the canal ex…
Statistical means for identifying hunter–gatherer residential features in a lithic landscape
Challenges of Documenting Historic Water Systems
Geospatial research in archaeology often relies on datasets previously collected by other archaeologists or third-party groups, such as state or federal government entities. This article discusses our work with geospatial datasets for identifying, documenting, and evaluating prehistoric and historic water features in the western United States. As part of a project on water heritage and long-term views on water management, our research has involve…
Archaeological Fingerprinting and Fremont Figurines
After the anonymous 2011 return of a long-missing Pilling Fremont figurine, a multi-disciplinary research team conducted “fingerprint” analyses in an effort to match it to 10 mates with intact provenance. The Pilling figurines, crafted 1,000 years ago and cached in a remote sandstone niche in eastern Utah, are the most significant find of Fremont portable art ever documented because they occurred in situ and are unparalleled in detail and complet…
LA-ICP-MS analysis of quartzite from the Upper Gunnison Basin, Colorado
Archaeological Fingerprinting and Fremont Figurines
After the anonymous 2011 return of a long-missing Pilling Fremont figurine, a multi-disciplinary research team conducted “fingerprint” analyses in an effort to match it to 10 mates with intact provenance. The Pilling figurines, crafted 1,000 years ago and cached in a remote sandstone niche in eastern Utah, are the most significant find of Fremont portable art ever documented because they occurred in situ and are unparalleled in detail and complet…
Statistical means for identifying hunter–gatherer residential features in a lithic landscape
An archaeologist’s view
Prehistoric Irrigation in Central Utah
In 1928, Noel Morss was shown 'irrigation ditches' along Pleasant Creek on the Dixie National Forest near Capitol Reef National Park, Utah, by a local guide who contended they were ancient. We relocated the site and mapped the route of an unusual mountain irrigation canal. We conducted excavations and employed OSL and AMS14C showing historic irrigation, and an earlier event between AD 1460 and 1636. Geomorphic evidence indicates that the canal ex…
Connecting Native Students to STEM Research Using Virtual Archaeology
Universities struggle to provide meaningful education and mentorship to Native American students, especially in STEM fields such as archaeology and geography. The Native American Summer Mentorship Program (NASMP) at Utah State University is designed to address Native student retention and representation, and it fosters collaboration between mentors and mentees. In spring 2020, as university instruction went online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, NA…
Challenges of Documenting Historic Water Systems
Geospatial research in archaeology often relies on datasets previously collected by other archaeologists or third-party groups, such as state or federal government entities. This article discusses our work with geospatial datasets for identifying, documenting, and evaluating prehistoric and historic water features in the western United States. As part of a project on water heritage and long-term views on water management, our research has involve…
“You can take a guy’s wife, but don’t take his water”
As hydroclimatic stress intensifies across the western United States, conflicts over water use increasingly reflect deep moral and social divisions rather than purely technical constraints. In Utah, severe drought, rapid population growth, and the desiccation of the Great Salt Lake have exposed competing ethical frameworks governing water access, responsibility, and value. While public debate has emphasized ecological decline and political contro…
How a Traveling Exhibition on Wasps Altered Public Perceptions
Media portrays a caricature of the “evil” wasp (a flying insect), perpetuating fears developed at a young age or from individual negative experiences. Because wasps are critically important to nature and our agriculture, it is important to provide some form of education to lessen this fear. A traveling exhibit titled “Wasps of Utah” was created to test whether a small, passive exhibition with art, information, and specimens could positively alter…
A Water Heritage Framework
Water shapes institutions, communities, and cultural heritage through physical waterways and social relationships with water. Study of this water-community entanglement shows that human activity and climate processes are transforming “water heritage,” including canals, irrigation systems, ponds, and cultural knowledge. On the Colorado Plateau, waterscapes have long supported Indigenous and settler agricultural and water-harvesting practices. A hi…
Archaeology (7 works) · Geography (6 works) · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies (5 works) · Geology (5 works) · Paleontology (4 works) · Archaeology and Natural History (3 works) · Prehistory (3 works) · American Environmental and Regional History (2 works) · Art (2 works) · Assemblage (archaeology (2 works)