“People think I dig up dinosaurs or they think I’m Indiana Jones,” she said.

But Meyers will be trying to put those misconceptions to rest Friday as she joins about 190 other graduate and professional students at the GAC with a presentation about burials and cremations in historical cultures, particularly the Roman Empire.

The conference is coordinated by the Council of Graduate Students, or COGS, and this year’s conference marks the first time students from Wayne State University and the University of Michigan also will present their work.

COGS Recording Secretary and GAC chair Mike Zeig said the partnership with U-M and Wayne State will be beneficial for graduate students to build networks not only at various departments at MSU but also across the state.

This year’s conference, in its fourth year, will be held from 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Friday on the first floor of the Communication Arts and Sciences Building.

The GAC was started as a way for MSU graduate and professional students to learn about presentation skills and connect with other students, Zeig said.

Oral and poster presentations will run all day in hourly segments in various rooms. Oral presentations will last about 15 minutes each, while poster presentations will be set up the full hour, he said.

As of Tuesday afternoon, 190 people had registered to present, an increase from 150 last year, Zeig said.

The keynote speech by Joan Rose, MSU’s Homer Nowlin chair in Water Research, titled “Sinking, Swimming, Floating: Lessons from My Life in Water Science,” will be presented at 5:45 p.m. in Room 147.

Rose said in an email that she will discuss lessons she learned in graduate school, including not getting discouraged and cultivating professional friendships.

In addition to Meyers, graduate student Amy Michael also is presenting about archaeology, but through a poster on the history of sustainability since MSU’s beginnings in 1855.

Michael said MSU touts itself on going green now, but her work illustrates how MSU also was going green in the century after it was founded, through more students riding bikes or making their own food.

“Archaeology should be accessible to everyone,” she said. “(This) kind of gives an added dimension to the whole contemporary ‘go green’ initiative.”

Student presenters also have the opportunity to compete for monetary prizes awarded at the end of the day. A total of 23 people will be awarded $500 each toward professional development, Zeig said.