I received my Ph.D. from the Department of Anthropology at the University of Missouri. My dissertation involved morphological and phylogenetic analyses of Paleoindian projectile points from eastern North America. I am interested in multidisciplinary approaches to anthropology and archaeology. My research combines aspects of evolutionary theory, physical geography, landscape ecology, middle-range research, and geoscience into studying human behavior. My Master’s thesis focused on the effects of rapid social change among a Native American community living on the peripheries of the three colonial powers in the New World in the mid 1600s.

I was a Senior Research Specialist in the Archaeometry Laboratory at the University of Missouri Research Reactor during graduate school.  While there, I conducted research involving the elemental compositions of archaeological material, produced technical reports for clients, and I worked to preserve archaeological data generated at now-closed laboratories such as Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of Manchester.  I maintain a research affiliation with the laboratory, and continue to build on many of the projects I initiated while there.

On a personal note, I have a very well-behaved Keeshond named Circe.  When I'm not writing, reading, or doing research, I keep myself busy riding my motorcycle, building insanely complex things, and playing hockey...but not at the same time.