Research

Research Team Members

Shelby Anderson, Ph.D.

I am a Professor of Anthropology in the School of Earth, Environment, and Society at Portland State University.  I lead the Collaborative Heritage Stewardship Research (CHSR) group, the cultural resource management certificate (CRM), and our Archaeology and Cultural Resource Management graduate program.   My research interests include past human-environment interactions, historical ecology, CRM, climate resilience, food technologies, STEM equity, and collaborative research with Tribal communities in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest.  My goal is to contribute to contemporary heritage and environmental restoration efforts. 

Reno Nims, Ph.D.

I am Portland State University's NAGPRA Coordinator and I am responsible for repatriating Native American ancestors and cultural items to their descendants and affiliated Native American Tribes (more on NAGPRA at PSU). I also serve as PSU’s liaison to the Governor’s Task Force on Oregon Tribal Cultural Items to provide Tribes more information about cultural items at public institutions. Overall, I work to share best practices for the care and repatriation of human remains and cultural items, and building networks of practice.   

In addition I am a zooarchaeologist with a specialty in the analysis of archaeological fish remains. I have active research interests in the archaeology of fisheries and marine environments in the Pacific Northwest, and in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Kate Monti Barcalow

Kate Monti Barcalow is an applied environmental anthropologist with a focus on including Indigenous perspectives for environmental restoration and management practices. After earning her BA in anthropology from Ohio State University in 2005, she completed her JD from Lewis and Clark’s Northwestern School of Law in 2008. She then worked for the Ohio Attorney General’s Office as an Assistant Attorney General in the Environmental Enforcement Section. In 2015 she completed her MA in anthropology from PSU. Incorporating her legal background into her ethnographic work, Ms. Barcalow evaluated the effectiveness of National Historic Protection Act in facilitating Native American Tribes’ access and management of culturally significant places on federal lands for her MA applied thesis. Ms. Barcalow continues to work with Indigenous communities on the West Coast to ensure Indigenous voices are included in environmental and cultural resource decision-making processes and in developing best practices for state and federal agencies in their Tribal engagement.

Emma Dubois

I am currently pursuing an MS in anthropology at Portland State University (PSU) with a focus on landscape archaeology, collaborative methodologies, and geographic information systems (GIS) applications in archaeology of the Pacific Northwest.  My studies include coursework in the Indigenous Traditional Ecological and Cultural Knowledge (ITECK) program and in the School of Earth Environment and Society (SEES).  Before pursuing an MS, I worked for 5 years as a Cultural Resource Management (CRM) archaeologist in Washington state on survey, monitoring, excavation, faunal identification, and collections-based projects.  Outside of school, I love to go biking, relax outside, and make art. Lately I've enjoyed several opportunities to participate in land tending and habitat restoration efforts around Portland as part of ITECK classes.  Additionally, I like to volunteer at community outreach events, like PSU’s Archaeology Roadshow, and I am a committee member for the Association for Washington Archaeology’s (AWA) Mentorship Program.

Crista Cummings 

I am an incoming graduate student in the Anthropology M.S. program at Portland State University. My research interests include environmental archaeology, ancestral landscapes, Arctic subsistence practices, coastal site preservation, and community-based archaeology.  I have worked several years as a seasonal Archeologist for the NPS in Alaska, Hawaiʻi, and the Western U.S. and hope to continue CRM work in the future. 

Former Research Group Members (graduates!)