Affiliation(s):

• Wayne State University Department of Anthropology

My archaeological research combines material culture and documentary sources to understand how people navigated the unprecedented social pressures, systemic inequalities, and environmental changes that accompanied the development of late modern-to-postindustrial North American cities and Caribbean settlements. I apply archaeological findings to address the legacies of social justice issues, contribute to historic preservation efforts, and foster sustainable heritage management. I also enlist my background in materials science and archaeometry, remote sensing, and digital humanities in analyzing my data and disseminating results. Over the past two decades, I have conducted fieldwork on land and underwater in the Midwest, New England, and Caribbean; my current work involves projects on sites in Detroit, Hamtramck, Montserrat, and St. Croix, USVI.

I’ve always been interested in what the historic built environment and the material remains of everyday life can reveal about the unwritten accounts of human behavior in the past, and its legacy in the present. I chose my undergraduate university because it had its own Department of Archaeology. As a student I took advantage of every opportunity to enroll in archaeology, geology, and history classes, participate in excavations, and volunteer in the lab. I had amazing faculty mentors, who directed me to professional opportunities outside of the university. I spent time working in state government for the State Archaeologist of Massachusetts, and then as an archaeologist for the National Park Service before I attended graduate programs in England and Rhode Island. My current research is an outgrowth of the experiences and personal networks in historic preservation, community engagement, and archaeological science that I’ve accumulated over the past 20 years.

There are two areas of current research that I am increasingly active in: 1) Archaeology as a tool for collective action and community engagement. With my community partners in Detroit and in the Caribbean, we are using archaeological findings and techniques to advocate for and call attention to sites whose stories connect with social justice issues and historically underrepresented communities whose contributions to local heritage are underrecognized. 2) Archaeology and environmental justice. I have been working in collaboration with environmental scientists and geologists to examine the circumstances of pollution, soil contamination, and other environmental issues in the past. This data has the potential to inform present and future environmental management issues.

My favorite engineer is, of course, my father. Not because he subjected me to what I felt was excessive and unusual math homework as a kid, but because he has always been a vocal advocate for and mentor to women in science and engineering careers. His quirky hobbies also taught me how science and engineering could be fun (like his scale model amusement park that took up our entire attic space, complete with operating rides, and entirely built of toothpicks). I am also extremely grateful to have had several women as mentors in my field of archaeology, where senior women have traditionally been few and far between. Mary Beaudry, my undergraduate advisor, was a trailblazing historical archaeologist, an ardent feminist, and a fierce advocate for women in our field. She didn’t have an easy time rising through the ranks in our field, but she worked tirelessly to ensure that the next generation of women archaeologists, myself included, would encounter less resistance. Her exceptionally high standards and mentorship set the course for my career and shaped how I work with my own students.