About Me

I am a bioarchaeologist, anthropological archaeologist, and Egyptologist. Broadly, my research interests center on bioarchaeology and Egyptian archaeology, and understanding the lived experiences of people in the past. My primary research projects are concerned with evidence for violence and trauma in human remains, and understanding how human societies define, use, and sanction violence as a tool of power. I also research the history and evolution of cancer in ancient human remains. 

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I earned a Ph.D. in Archaeology from the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at the University of California, Los Angeles.  I earned a B.A. and and M.A. in anthropological archaeology and forensic anthropology at the University of Montana, as well as a certificate in Egyptology from the University of Manchester.

I have conducted archaeological fieldwork in Egypt, Jordan, Peru, Ethiopia, Spain, and the western United States. My broad archaeological training has allowed me to work at Peruvian cemeteries and settlements, historic mining towns in the American West, Native American reservations, Ethiopian towns, Roman settlements and Neolithic cave burials in Spain. In Egypt, I have worked at a wide variety of sites, from the Valley of the Kings to the Greco-Roman town of Karanis, the town of Edfu to the Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el Bahri, the tombs of Asasif to the town of Tell Timai. I am currently the Head Osteologist for the Polish-Egyptian Mission at the Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari and the Asasif Project, where I analyze human remains from the temples as well as from the nearby rock-cut tombs. In 2022, I also joined the Khirbet al-Mukhayyat Project in Jordan, where I analyze human remains from cave burials.

My current research examines violence and trauma through an anthropological and bioarchaeological lens, focusing particularly on the evidence for human sacrifice in ancient Egypt, and explores how ancient cultures define, understand, and enact violence within specific cultural and ideological parameters.