Cromwell Harbor Foundation Names Inaugural Chrysalis Prize Winners, Awarding $500K to Early-Career Scholars Expanding Our Understanding of Humanity

New philanthropic approach rewards imaginative, cross-disciplinary research in archaeology and evolutionary biology

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Cromwell Harbor Foundation named two early-career scholars of extraordinary promise as the inaugural recipients of their Chrysalis Prize, awarding each scholar $250,000 in unrestricted support, mentorship, and entry into a growing cohort of multi-disciplinary thinkers. Drs. Natalie G. Mueller and Dakota McCoy were selected from a large, competitive field nominated by 40 senior scholars in archaeology and evolutionary biology.

Dr. Mueller is an assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology at Washington University in St. Louis. She integrates morphometric, molecular, ecological, and experimental data in order to understand the origins of agriculture in North America and eastern Africa. Dr. Mueller also explores the archaeological, technological, and ethical implications of recovering lost crops—those important, once-domesticated plants that no longer play a role in modern agriculture.

Dr. McCoy is an assistant professor of Ecology and Evolution at the University of Chicago who incorporates thought and practice from evolutionary theory, physics, computational biology, and game theory to understand the evolutionary relationship and tradeoffs between cooperation and conflict. Her work explores the theoretical and practical sides of cooperation and conflict in widely divergent ecological contexts, from coral reefs and their algal partners to pregnant human mothers and their developing babies.

“There has perhaps never been a more critical juncture to support talented young scholars,” said Cromwell Harbor Foundation co-founder Will Thorndike. “The Chrysalis Prize looks to inspire that nascent demo to think rangily and to avoid getting arbitrarily pigeon-holed within narrow disciplinary boundaries.”

The Chrysalis Prize identifies exceptional early-career talent like Drs. Mueller and McCoy and seeks to provide them with a combination of resources and long-term mentorship. In its inaugural year, the Prize focused on archaeology and evolutionary biology, two initial and intentionally broad fields, both of which tend to attract syncretic thinkers who bring a great range of approaches to bear on their research. The Chrysalis Prize will expand the scope of disciplines over time (Philosophy is on deck), while maintaining an exceptionally high standard of peer validation and intellectual ambition.

“Archaeology and evolutionary biology help reveal some of the deeper patterns of human emergence and adaptation," said Executive Director Dr. Darron Collins. "The Chrysalis Prize invests in scholars who can illuminate these patterns at a moment when humanity stands at the threshold of its next evolutionary chapter. These winners represent the intellectual courage required to understand, and shape, what comes next.”

The winners were chosen by a distinguished Selection Committee comprised of Thorndike and Collins along with Hopi Hoekstra of Harvard University, Jill Tiefenthaler of the National Geographic Society, David Krakauer of the Santa Fe Institute, Barbara Mills of the University of Arizona, and Chris Thornton of the American Council of Learned Societies. This rigorous selection by senior peers underscores the recipients' exceptional promise and signals genuine excitement about their transformative contributions to fundamental questions of human existence.

The inaugural winners were celebrated March 6, 2026, at the Boston Athenaeum, with a keynote address by Nobel laureate Dr. Esther Duflo.

About the Cromwell Harbor Foundation

The Cromwell Harbor Foundation supports individuals and institutions with the freedom to pursue imaginative ideas and build lasting impact. CHF is a supporting foundation of the Boston Foundation and operates from its homebase in Cromwell Harbor on Mount Desert Island, Maine.

Learn more at cromwellharborfoundation.org