This summer, 13 Stamps Scholars and alumni from nine institutions traveled to one of the world’s most remote inhabited islands for an extraordinary exploration of history, archaeology, culture, and community.
Graciela Best (Illinois ’27), Kate Bossler (Georgia Tech ’27), Griffin Bryan (Boston College ’29), Mars Carstens (Mercer ’29), Jordan Cheney (Georgia Tech ’23), Rohan Datta (Georgia Tech ’26), George Frees (Mizzou ’25), Ella Jones (Wake Forest ’28), Melanie Kreutz (Purdue ’27), Marisa Maisano (Pitt ’29), Brandon Staats (Queens’ College, Cambridge), Brendan White (Pitt ’27), and Paige Woodham (Georgia Tech ’26) met in Santiago, Chile, on July 22 before traveling together to Rapa Nui for an immersive 11-day expedition.
Dr. Terry Hunt, one of the world’s leading experts on Rapa Nui, guided participants as they explored archaeological, geological, and cultural sites, hiked and rode horseback across the island, and learned from the people who call it home.
The expedition also offered something distinctive of the Stamps Scholars Program: the chance to form meaningful relationships with Scholars and alumni from other institutions. Participants represented different disciplines, ages, and stages of their educational and professional lives. As they explored the island, shared meals, and exchanged ideas, unfamiliar faces quickly became friends.
“It was incredible to travel and learn with scholars and alumni from other Stamps partner institutions!” shared Graciela Best, a fourth-year at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. “It was also great to get to talk with people who are at different stages of their educational journeys and learn about other people’s passions. Everyone in the group had their own insights, and the trip was filled with great conversations.”
Griffin Bryan, a second-year at Boston College, initially felt nervous about joining a group of people she did not know. The cohort ultimately became one of the best parts of the experience.
“From walking around town together to long conversations over dinner, I was constantly amazed by the other Scholars on the trip and our ability as a group to bind so quickly,” he said. “It was so hard to say goodbye at the end of the trip, but I knew it wasn’t a forever goodbye.”
Much of the expedition centered on the moai, the monumental figures carved by the people of Rapa Nui. The group visited sites throughout the island and traveled to Rano Raraku, the quarry where most of the moai originated. Hunt presented lectures on the settlement of Rapa Nui and the remarkable process through which islanders transported the moai from the quarry to locations miles away.
Learning how the moai moved transformed the way Best experienced the archaeological sites that followed. 
“Learning how the moai were moved made visiting the different archaeological sites around the island even more impactful, especially as we visited sites that were far away from the quarry where the majority of the moai were carved,” she shared. “I was very interested by the process through which Professor Hunt made this discovery, especially how he described the oral traditions related to the moai, how people previously thought they were moved, the science behind archaeology, and how he and his colleagues came to their conclusions.”
Hunt gave participants rare access not only to his conclusions, but also to the evidence, questions, experimentation, and collaboration behind his research. Fourth-year Purdue Scholar Melanie Kreutz, an aspiring archaeologist who previously attended an archaeological field school in Spain and studied abroad in Greece, considered that access the defining feature of the expedition.
“You can read hundreds of research papers about Rapa Nui, and you can visit the island and see the statues for yourself, but what you cannot replicate is Terry’s vast knowledge of the island’s archaeological and ethnographic history,” she said. “No matter what question you ask, he seems to have an answer, and being able to learn directly from someone with that depth of expertise was an experience that a classroom, book, or typical vacation simply could not provide.”
Gina Pakarati, the group’s local guide, complemented Hunt’s archaeological expertise with stories and perspectives rooted in life on Rapa Nui.
“The most incredible part was experiencing Rapa Nui with Professor Terry Hunt and Gina Pakarati, our local guide,” shared Jordan Cheney, a Georgia Tech alumna. “Professor Hunt is truly an expert in the archaeology and history of Rapa Nui and provided more depth to the experience than any other person would have been able to give. Tangentially, Gina understands Rapa Nui in ways no tourist could and added color and local stories that brought Rapa Nui and its energy to life, making me feel like I actually experienced a piece of the culture and tradition.”
Throughout the expedition, participants encountered the island’s history in places both monumental and hidden. One of their most demanding days included a 10-mile hike through largely uninhabited areas along the north coast. After hours of hiking, the group reached what has been called the “Make-Make Cave,” a lava-formed cave containing petroglyphs honoring Make-Make, the Rapa Nui god of creation.
“Stepping inside felt like stepping into the traditions of the original people and left me feeling more connected to the island than any other experience,” Cheney said.
At Rano Raraku, the group climbed to an overlook that made the island’s isolation in the Pacific vividly apparent.
“Realizing in that moment how geographically isolated we were invites a unique sense of vulnerability that is place-specific to Rapa Nui,” shared Ella Jones, a third-year Wake Forest Scholar. “The ability to have conversations with a group of individuals as brilliant as what Stamps put together for our cohort in the middle of the Pacific Ocean makes ubiquitous the growth that is so important to higher education by-and-large.”
The trip also encouraged participants to see Rapa Nui not simply as an archaeological destination, but as a living community. Kreutz found the enduring relationship among the island’s people, culture, and archaeological sites especially moving.
“In other places I have visited, such as Greece and Italy, modern populations can feel somewhat removed from their ancient archaeological heritage,” she shared. “That is most certainly not the case on Rapa Nui. Seeing the continuing connection between the people, their culture, and the archaeological sites made what I had learned in the classroom feel much more tangible and meaningful.”
Bryan came away equally affected by the welcome the group received.
“Getting to experience their culture, not just see it, was truly life changing,” she said. “There was not a single experience of or interaction with their community that did not leave me in awe or feeling incredibly welcomed by the Rapa Nui people. While the Island is unbelievably beautiful, the people truly complete the island.”
Participants’ varied academic interests added new dimensions to the experience. Kreutz recalled how Mizzou alum George Frees connected his knowledge of the island’s plants with the story of rapamycin – a drug first isolated from bacteria found in a Rapa Nui soil sample and now used as an immunosuppressant – bringing traditional and modern medicine into dialogue with the island’s history. Jones experienced a similar exchange when she visited the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Santiago with Rohan Datta, a Georgia Tech alum who studied chemical and biomolecular engineering and is now pursuing a graduate degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
“The ability to merge brilliance on a trip where it permeated incessantly made experiences, and in this particular case pieces of art, mean so much more than they would have had I been on a trip with people whose lived experience in education mirrored my own,” Jones reflected.
The learning continued between formal activities, often alongside shared meals, laughter, inside jokes, and karaoke. One karaoke night coincided with Hunt’s birthday, prompting the group to celebrate him with a rendition of “Happy Birthday.”
“I have found this to be a Stamps unique trait – the ability to have fun at entirely unrequited karaoke with a charismatic group after having just had an incredibly high caliber conversation overlooking the Pacific at sunset with someone who may just be the smartest person you’ve ever met on the topic you’re discussing, is something you don’t get with any other group,” Jones shared.
The expedition also influenced what some participants chose to pursue after returning home. Mars Carstens, a second-year Mercer Scholar studying history, Southern studies, environmental studies, and Africana studies, had long considered trying field research but had never taken the next step.
“This trip inspired me to actually go out and try field work research which has interested me for a while, but I have never pushed myself to experience,” Carstens shared. “Getting to hear stories from other Scholars about their experiences was really supportive and led me to apply for a field lab this semester.”
While the trip held particular value for participants interested in history or archaeology, the cohort’s varied perspectives demonstrated that curiosity – not a specific academic background – mattered most.
“Truly any scholar who is curious and interested in the topic at hand will benefit from an experience like this,” Cheney said. “I did not study nor do I work in a related field and this was one of the most incredible adventures of my life.”
More than a tour, the inaugural Stamps expedition to Rapa Nui combined expert-led learning, cultural engagement, physical exploration, and the exchange of ideas among Scholars from across the network. Participants returned with a deeper understanding of the island, new possibilities to pursue, and relationships that will extend well beyond the 11 days they shared.
Opportunities Ahead
Following the success of this inaugural expedition, the Stamps Scholars Program anticipates offering another opportunity to explore Rapa Nui with Professor Terry Hunt June 23-July 1, 2027. Interested students and alumni should complete this form. Students can find other cross-institutional opportunities for the 2026-2027 on the Collaborative Events Calendar.
For anyone intrigued by these opportunities but hesitant to travel without knowing the other participants, Kreutz offered emphatic encouragement:
“Do it! I have never traveled with a better group of people or had such an amazing experience as I did on Rapa Nui. Not only do you get to visit an incredible place that might be difficult to reach on your own, but the opportunity to experience it alongside other Stamps Scholars makes the trip even more meaningful. The people you meet and the shared experiences you have are just as valuable as the destination itself.”
About Professor Terry Hunt
Professor Terry Hunt is an internationally recognized archaeologist and one of the world’s leading experts on Rapa Nui. His research has helped reshape contemporary understanding of the island’s settlement, environmental history, and monumental statues, including how the moai moved across the island. Through decades of research and collaboration, he has developed deep knowledge of Rapa Nui’s archaeological record and enduring relationships with members of the island community. Hunt previously served as dean of the Robert D. Clark Honors College at the University of Oregon and the Honors College at the University of Arizona, where he helped establish and administer Stamps Scholars Programs.
