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Our guest today is Kelly Knudson. This episode is an edited version of an episode released during Season One of the podcast. 

Kelly is a professor of Anthropology in the School of Human Evolution and Social Change at Arizona State University, and director of the Center for Bioarchaeological Research and the Archaeological Chemistry Laboratory.

In this MINI episode, Kelly talks to us about how archaeologists use strontium isotopes to determine where things found at an archaeological site are from, and draws on the concept of periodic trends, specifically atomic radius, to talk about how strontium isotopes can substitute for calcium in bone. 

Tune in on Thursday for the full-length interview!

Highlights of the episode:

*Susan introduces Kelly and today’s topic [0:56];

*Susan gives a quick overview of isotopes [2:20];

*Kelly talks about how strontium isotopes help archaeologists determine where things at an archaeological site are from [4:00]; 

*Susan asks about the Arizona state high school chemistry standard that asks students to explain how the structure of atoms relates to patterns and properties seen in the periodic table [9:22];

*Kelly explains that since strontium has a similar atomic radius as calcium because they are both in the same column of the periodic table — periodic trends! — strontium can substitute for calcium in bones [9:50]

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