She earned a PhD in anthropology at the University of Pittsburgh, conducting her undergraduate studies at the Department of Anthropology/Archaeology at the Universidad Mayor de San Andres in La Paz-Bolivia. Originally from Bolivia, Alconini has more than two decades of research in the Southern Andes, where she studies the ancient Inka imperial frontiers by using archaeological and ethnohistoric data. Specifically, she explores the distinct forms of interaction established between the Inka and the myriad of polities from the eastern tropics. The author of numerous articles and books, this year she was awarded the President’s Distinguished Achievement Award in Advancing Globalization Efforts at her research institution.