Blog #3.3 Meet Melissa Eustache
Bio: Melissa is a graduate student in Applied Anthropology at the University of South Florida pursuing a Master’s degree in Applied Medical Anthropology. Her Master’s research is focused on the experiences of foreign-born Afro-diasporic people with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease in the United States. She is interested in how culturally contingent perspectives of health and aging influence how Black people recognize and experience psychiatric conditions like dementia. Her professional experiences have been in clinical research within projects that investigated different elements of dementia and other related conditions. With her training in anthropological theory and methods, she hopes to contribute to work that addresses the disparities in recognition, care, and treatment of dementia and its related conditions amongst Black populations.
Research team in 2024: Ethnographic team lead
Pre-departure thoughts: As the weeks leading up to our trip to Morocco fly by, my anticipation of the trip and all of the new experiences I will have there is dizzying. Feelings of nervousness, excitement, and uncertainty are bubbling up in my mind, competing for space with the long checklist of to-dos for our trip. Between trying to make sure I account for everything I’ll need, and making sure I have enough room in my luggage to bring back a piece of Morocco for each of my loved ones, I’ve found myself as the opponent against my bags in a game of packing tetris. I’m mostly excited though, as this research trip comes with a lot of firsts for me. This will be my first time in Africa, my first project experience using methods in anthropology as I am part of the ethnographic thrust of the project, and my first time out of the United States for this long since immigrating to the States 21 summers ago from Haiti.
This research topic or sustainable argan oil production in Morocco, while unrelated to the research interests I am pursuing in my graduate training, provides an enriching side quest where I am contributing to a multi-disciplinary research team that is merging science, engineering, and ethnography in ways that provide such rich and contextual insights to a complex topic. As an aspiring mixed methodologist, I’m looking forward to reflecting on how to weave methods borrowed from across disciplines in tackling important research questions with attention to nuance and evidence. While in Morocco, I look forward to the cultural immersion experience, soaking in the sights, sounds, and foods (!!) of Moroccan culture in the regions where the research will be taking us. I’m looking forward to using all of my conversational French and newly acquired Darija to connect with the people we meet. I’m excited about getting to learn about argan oil production, I’ve used argan oil in my hair for years, through the different arcs I’ve had experimenting and caring for my hair. I can’t wait to see first-hand the relationship that argan has in its endemic region to the people in Morocco.”
