What Does Dr. Pierce Offer?
At Vantage Academics, Dr. Todd Pierce PhD, Director of The Isla Mujeres Ethnographic Field School, utilizes 30 years of professional consulting, teaching, and fieldwork experience in conjunction with his FieldCraft Online Teaching Model to personalize professional academic mentorship for high school and university students.
His custom-tailored online tutoring program prepares clients for everything from rigorous college application processes, to unique undergraduate, graduate, and postdoc university experiences and challenges.
Dr. Pierce's professional tutoring and mentorship services encompass a broad range of subjects, including Anthropology, Research Methods, Field Research, CV (Curriculum Vitae) Creation, and Professional Published Paper Guidance, all tailored to meet the unique learning needs of the individual student client.
University Level Research Training: A Cutting Edge Experience
Dr. Pierce offers high school students rare bespoke hands-on training in ethnographic research at a level rarely offered, even in top university programs.
Students take full responsibility for designing their own research project and are guided through every step of the process, including developing a research proposal, applying ethics in human-subjects research, conducting interviews and observations, analyzing qualitative data, integrating AI and digital methods, and crafting written representations of their findings.
These interdisciplinary skills
are foundational across anthropology, sociology, psychology, public health, law, medicine, international relations, and STEM...preparing students to think critically, communicate insightfully, and lead in a world that demands human understanding.
Capstone Project & Professional Conference Presentation
Vantage students complete an independent research project following the same process used by professional scholars. Research proposals are modeled after real-life grant applications, and final papers follow the formatting guidelines of a peer reviewed journal selected by the student, with the intent of future publication.
The program concludes with a formal student research conference, where each participant delivers a 15-minute oral presentation following the American Anthropological Association’s guidelines.
This capstone experience prepares
students to excel in academic environments where clarity, rigor, and confidence set them apart.
A Human Lens for Every Future:
STEM Focus and Beyond
Vantage Academics trains students to see the world as ethnographers do - by understanding the lived experiences, cultural patterns, and social systems that shape people’s lives.
This training is critical not only in the social sciences, but also to future careers in medicine, technology, policy, and business.
STEM students gain a competitive edge by learning how human factors shape scientific,
technological, and organizational outcomes. Alternatively humanities students improve in areas of structure, methodology, and clarity.
No matter the field, students leave with the ability to ask deeper questions and in turn produce insight and results that matter.
A Legacy of Excellence in
Qualitative Research
Built on the foundation developed through decades of teaching, and specifically The Isla Mujeres Ethnographic Field School, Dr. Pierce continues to train serious, field-ready researchers. The field school has successfully mentored nearly 100 ethnographers - from high achieving undergraduates to post doctoral scholars - many of whom have gone on to publish in peer reviewed journals, present at professional conferences, and pursue research careers.
At Vantage, students benefit from one-on-one mentorship with Dr. Pierce, a practicing anthropologist, and are invited
into a continuing legacy of intellectual depth, critical thinking, and real-world research experience that few students encounter prior to collegiate level study.
Student Testimonials
Dr. Pierce has mentored nearly 100 student-led research projects, many of which have been presented at professional conferences and published in peer reviewed academic journals.