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When Acadia University says it offers its students an experiential education, that sometimes includes participating in a once-in-a-lifetime event that gets the attention of national reporters.

Acadia archeology professor, Dr. Aaron Taylor, and his student crew were recently profiled in an impressive The Globe & Mail feature piece by Irene Galea. Dr. Taylor led his students in an adventure where science meets history: an excavation site in Austria where they could help to recover the remains of Second World War service members whose bomber plane was believed to have crashed more than 80 years ago.

Dr. Taylor and his team of ten undergrads, two grad students, and several volunteers, were completing the work at the request of the U.S. Defense Department. The six-week project was fully funded by the U.S. on account of its commitment to repatriate the remains of American soldiers. The students involved only needed to pay their Acadia course fee to take part. This project follows the one lead by Dr. Taylor in France last year - in fact,  Acadia undergrad Cameron Barnard shared her experiences of working the France dig through this student POV piece.

The Globe & Mail article, complete with a series of photos, details the work by the Acadia team. It also explores the issue of Canada’s engagement – or lack thereof – in repatriating its fallen soldiers. It’s an endeavor Dr. Taylor hopes to push along through a soon-to-be-launched initiative, the Acadia University Recovery Project.

Read all the details in the full article: No man left behind: The archeologist pushing Canada to find soldiers’ remains – before it’s too late

Want to get the Acadia experience with Dr. Aaron Taylor?

Dr. Taylor teaches classes in our Earth & Environmental Science and History & Classics departments, as well as through “field schools” he organizes in Cuba and Europe. This year, he’ll be teaching WW1, Glacial Geology, and Forensic Archaeology in the fall semester and WW2 and Conflict Archaeology in the winter semester. In the spring he will be leading another group of students on a recovery mission to Europe (location is yet to be determined).