ABOUT
I am an archaeologist and biological anthropologist who specializes in early human paleoecology. I am currently a Lecturer in the Department of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, School of Health & Behavioral Sciences, Bryant University and a Research Affiliate in the isoTROPIC Research Group at the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology.
My research lies at the intersection of paleoanthropology, paleoecology, and geochemistry and combines traditional archaeological field methods with lipidomics and isotope studies to cast new, detailed light on relationships between environmental processes, cultural change, and human evolution. I have an extensive research portfolio and network which geographically spans eastern, southern, and western Africa, the Middle East, east and southeast Asia, and western Europe, and temporally covers the past two million years.
Much of my work investigates the role climatic and environmental variability had in shaping human origins and diversification. To do so, I use a suite of archaeological biomarkers to reconstruct past plant ecology and water availability (plant waxes), anthropogenic fire history (aromatic hydrocarbons), and population dynamics (faecal stanols and sterols). I am also an expert in multiple gas chromatography and mass spectrometry analytical techniques, including compound specific stable isotope ratio mass spectrometry.
Beyond my research interests, I try and invest in capacity building through cross-disciplinary training and educational outreach. Much of this work has included strengthening existing collaborative networks with the University of Dar es Salaam and the Arusha Natural History Museum to promote sustainable paleoanthropological research in Tanzania. I am also building new research programs and advising undergraduate environmental science students in the Department of Biological and Biomedical Sciences at Bryant University.
At the Miocene Clarkia, Idaho fossil lagerstätte site, 2023.
My current research falls into three overarching themes:
Reconstruction of Pleistocene-Holocene climates and environments to look at the ways in which hominins responded physically, technologically, and culturally to differing ecological settings throughout Africa, Asia, and Europe.
Application of innovative field and laboratory methods to address how Homo sapiens adaptations to climatic shifts and environmental reorganizations differed from that of other hominins.
Production of higher temporal and spatial resolution paleoecological datasets within multidimensional archaeological and paleoanthropological projects to understand biome- and intrabiome-scale ecological change and the influence on human origins.
Key Research Highlights
Launched the Usambara Mountains Archaeology and Palaeoecology Project (UMAPP) in 2022, a collaboration between Bryant University, the isoTROPIC research group and the University of Dar es Salaam.
Co-leading paleoenvironmental reconstructions for the Singida Heritage & Archaeology Research Project (SHARP) led by Dr. Makarius Itambu, University of Dar es Salaam.
NASA funded investigations into the preservation of biosignatures in lacustrine deposits with the dual purpose for understanding Earth climate and searching for life on Mars.
Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania
EDUCATION
I received a Bachelors of Science in Business Administration from Bryant University and a Masters of Science in Environmental Science, with a focus on Environmental Geology, from the University of New Haven. After my masters, I started working as a laboratory technician and research assistant in the Laboratory of Terrestrial Environments in the Department of Science and Technology at Bryant University. It was in this role that I first started using plant wax biomarkers for paleo-reconstructions, specifically in archaeological contexts. I then went on to complete a PhD in Archaeology with a specialization in Biological Anthropology in the Department of Anthropology and Archaeology at the University of Calgary. For my dissertation, I studied the environmental context of the earliest Acheulean (~1.7 million years ago) at Oldupai Gorge, Tanzania using the stable hydrogen and carbon isotopes of normal (n-) alkanes and n-alkanoic acids collected directly on-site from stone tool-bearing sediments and geological outcrops. I feel that my trajectory in higher education that began with a concentration in business administration, then a transition to environmental science, and finally a move to paleoanthropology and archaeology has truly provided me with diverse perspectives and experiences, and has shaped me into a multidimensional and transdisciplinary scholar with extensive field and laboratory training in the archaeological and biogeochemical sciences.
