Projects:
A small sampling of my most interesting projects: past, present, and still to come!
Completed Projects -My Archaeological Sciences MPhil dissertation (Cambridge) drew upon my undergraduate research experience and is focused on the Exploration of late Neolithic lithic provenance by micromorphology.
During September and October 2020 I volunteered as a Trench and Finds Supervisor for the Hahndorf Academy Archaeology Project, where I helped supervise and connect with archaeologists, board members, and community members to conduct a historical archaeology excavation on the grounds of the Hahndorf Academy.
My project 'Outdated or Indispensable?' tackled the use of historical maps in current archaeological landscape analysis within the Indus Valley and their integration with modern remote sensing techniques and satellite imagery. I focused on the use of QGIS, RStudio, and various satellite databases in order to do so. Learn more about my techniques and findings (and see some really awesome images) below.
I completed sediment micromorphology on thin sections and small bulk analysis of a soil monolith from Roman Aldborough to determine the contexts of the samples and compare these to the observations taken on site during excavation; the information from which was used to help develop a field report for further field and micromorphological analysis. The page below details some of the specifics of my involvement in the project.
My participation in PSU's 2018 Geosciences Field Camp took me across the western United States and increased my understanding of and ability to apply hands on approaches to geological mapping, recording sedimentary records, and integrating software such as ArcGIS and hill shade maps into geological study. Learn more below.
The research completed during my undergraduate study focused on developing geologically based methodologies to provenance jaspers from Central Pennsylvania. I utilized SEM, EDS, XRD, and petrological thin section techniques, and a paper about my findings is currently in preparation.
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Current -Having shipped myself off on another adventure, I am currently working towards my PhD in the Geoarchaeology of the Damya Formation.
Communicating our science is a critical part of our responsibilities as scientists. Unfortunately, many of us aren't trained in communication outside of our disciplines. That's why I'm working on a variety of initiatives in science communication to expand our scientists toolkit and work towards communicating our work to a wider audience: because if no one knows about our research, it can't be used for good.
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In Development -Drawing upon my knowledge of the weird, wonderful, and just plain confusing events throughout history, I am the host of the WTF Moments in history podcast which brings together top researchers, fellow historical aficionados, and interested individuals to celebrate and puzzle over the many moments we learn about that make you ask "WTF!?". We can also found @wtf_momentsinhistory on instagram.
Learning about history is important, but often unfortunately boring. That's why under the heading of Conversations from Before I'm working on creating a set of historically-based poetry that gives a hilarious voice to the past. Come join me in figuring out if I'm as funny as I think I am. ;P
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