About Me
I am currently an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Northern Illinois University (NIU). I began this position upon completion of a two-year postdoctoral appointment in the Cornell Institute for Archaeology and Material Sciences, after receiving my Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) in 2017.
With a primary method focus in archaeobotany, my research interests broadly revolve around the interaction between people and their environments through the lens of food-related activities. I incorporate theory from a variety of disciplines, including political ecology and practice-oriented perspectives, along with robust quantitative measures such as exploratory data analysis, to explore agricultural intensification and land-use practices, with my most recent work centered on well-being and sustainability. I employ a comparative, cross-cultural approach and have conducted field and laboratory research in multiple regions, including the North American Midcontinent, Peru, Mexico, and the Caribbean.
I also conduct reflexive work on discipline sociopolitics and gender equity issues. I am actively engaged in work with the SAA and the Institute of Andean Studies (IAS) on sexual violence prevention, and I recently co-designed a campus-wide COVID impacts study on faculty, staff, and students at NIU as part of my role on the research subcommittee of the Presidential Commission on the Status of Women. I am also regularly involved in the Society for American Archaeology Ethics Bowl as a faculty mentor, case writer, judge.
My goal as an educator is to create a supportive, stimulating, challenging environment that helps students gain hands-on field and lab experience, navigate graduate school, and prepare them for the careers of their choice.
If you are a student interested in fieldwork or labwork opportunities or the M.A. program in Anthropology at NIU, please contact me!
Interests
- New World Archaeology
- Culture Contact and Colonialism
- Foodways
- Political Ecology
- Paleoethnobotany
- Gender Equity
Education
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Ph.D., Anthropology, 2017
University of California, Santa Barbara
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M.A., Anthropology, 2010
University of California, Santa Barbara
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B.A. with High Honors, Anthropology, 2007
University of California, Berkeley