Bio
I am a biological anthropologist and archaeologist. I received a PhD in anthropology from the University of California, San Diego, and spent a year as a UCMEXUS postdoctoral research fellow at the National Autonomous University of Mexico in Mexico City. Currently, I am an Assistant Professor of Anthropology in the Department of World Languages and Cultures at Iowa State University where I direct the Paleoecology Laboratory and serve as coordinator of the Forensic Science Certificate Program.
My research focuses on pre-Hispanic societies Mexico and explores long term patterns of social change in relation to the constraints and opportunities provided by environmental and climatic conditions. My studies employ multiple methods including stable isotope analysis and archaeological field excavations. Ongoing projects include a study of the origins of agriculture in the Tehuacan Valley of Puebla, Mexico and the “collapse” of the ancient city of Teotihuacan in central Mexico.
I am currently looking for motivated M.A. students for projects on Mesoamerican archaeology, bioarchaeology, stable isotope research, paleoenvironment, and paleodiet.
Area of expertise
Bioarchaeology, environmental archaeology, human osteology, Mesoamerican archaeology, stable isotope analysis
Topics of interest
Anthropology of food and foodways, complex societies, origins of agriculture, origins of social inequality, resilience and sustainability