People Profiles

Russell Adams

Project Director and PI/ Field School Coordinator (University of Waterloo/ McMaster University)

Russell Adams is an anthropological archaeologist with primary research interests in the emergence of complex societies and early states and the interface between the development of social complexity and the adoption and development of industrial processes and technology during prehistory

Alexis Dolphin

Co-investigator and Bioarchaeologist (University of Waterloo)

Alexis Dolphin is an assistant professor, anthropology, specializing in dental anthropology, human osteology, bioarchaeology, paleonutrition, and paleopollution with a particular emphasis on reconstructing early environments to understand infant and child experiences.  From a methodological perspective, Professor Dolphin focuses on histological and microspatial chemical analyses (LA-ICP=MS, synchrotron) of ancient teeth and bones.

Chris Yakymchuk

Co-investigator and Environmental Geochemistry analyst (University of Waterloo, Canada)

Chris Yakymchuk studies how mountain chains form through the process of plate tectonics. 

His research features thermodynamic modelling that highlights processes operating at the micro-scale, such as melting. These processes can have a major impact on large-scale tectonics in the continental crust.

For more information please visit Professor Chris Yakymchuk’s profile at the University of Waterloo. 

Hannah Freidman

Archaeologist, Survey and GIS specialist (Texas Tech University, USA)

Hannah Friedman is an Assistant Professor of Classics at TTU in the department of Classical & Modern Languages & Literature. She is also a co-director of the Libarna Urban Landscape Project which focuses on colonialism and culture change in a Roman colony in Northern Italy

David Gilbertson

David Gilbertson is an Emeritus Professor of Geoarchaeology at the University of Plymouth. He is an accredited researcher and has contributed to numerous projects including work in Southern Levant. 

For more information please visit the following address

John Grattan

Environmental pollution analyst (University of Wales, Aberystwyth, UK)

Professor Grattan has an extensive academic background in Environmental and Archaeological Science and has developed a real passion for science communication. He began his career obtaining a Ph.D. from The University of Sheffield and his research has since been highlighted in many different media outlets such as The Economist, The Guardian, The Times and International Television and Radio.

Keith Haylock

Environmental pollution analyst (University of Wales, Aberystwyth, UK)

Keith has a BSc and PhD in physical geography/environmental earth science research into pollution pathways and an archaeological context. 

Chris Hunt

Geomorphologist and Palaeoecology Analyst (Liverpool John Moores University, UK)

Chris is an Earth Scientist with broad interests in Quaternary science, archaeological science, palynology, sedimentology, molluscs, palaeoecology and palaeoenvironments. He uses palynology to help in forensic cases. Chris also has interests in Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous stratigraphy and palaeoenvironments and is a member of the international group working on the Jurassic-Cretaceous Boundary. He has done research in many countries including the UK, Ireland, Malta, Libya, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Jordan, Iraq, Vietnam, Borneo, Norway, and Canada.

Amanda Keen-Zebert

Geochronologist and OSL specialist (Desert Research Institute, USA)

Amanda is an Associate Research Professor of Geology at the Desert Research Institute. She has expertise in a variety of anthropological areas including Geochronology, Luminescence Dating Techniques, and Fluvial Geomorphology. Amanda is a well-published researcher of over ten accredited papers. 

For more information please visit her associated page at the Desert Research Institute

Paula Reimer

Radiocarbon Specialist (Queen’s University Belfast, UK)

Paula’s research interests are primarily focused on carbon, in both modern and past environments, as a tracer of geochemical processes, as a key component in climate variability and as a chronological tool. Much of her work focuses on extending and refining the internationally ratified radiocarbon calibration curves which are used by geoscientists and archaeologists to correct radiocarbon ages for the variability of atmospheric or marine 14C in the past.

Aaron Shugar

Archaeometallurgist and P-XRF Specialist (Buffalo State University, USA)

Aaron worked at the Smithsonian Museum Conservation Institute, where he was a visiting scientist. He also served as Co-Director of the Archaeometallurgical Laboratory at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA. With a Ph.D. in archaeometallurgy from University College London, Aaron’s work in the analysis of archaeological metals and glass has taken him around the globe, from the Middle East to Europe to Central America.

Sam Smith

Prehistorian and Lithic Specialist (Oxford Brookes University, UK)

Sam is an archaeologist who specializes in the study of the Terminal Pleistocene and Early Holocene archaeology of South West Asia, with a focus on the origin and development of sedentary, food-producing societies in the region. Sam is an expert in the study of chipped stone tools and his work includes typological, technological and use-wear analysis of stone tool assemblages from many regions and periods. Sam also works closely with geographers, hydrologists and meteorologists to develop multi-disciplinary approaches to the study of human-climate interactions in semi-arid regions.

JEFF COFFIN

Lab Manager (University of Waterloo, Canada)

Jeff is a recent Master of Arts graduate from the University of Waterloo’s Public Issues in Anthropology program, where his research focused on reconstructing the mobility of individuals buried in France during the Neolithic (approximately 3200 BC) using isotopic analysis of their teeth. He is currently the manager of the Ancient and Contemporary Environmental Bioindicators Laboratory (ACEBioLab) at the University of Waterloo, which prepares and studies bone and teeth from a large collection of ancient and contemporary samples stored in-house, including the remains recovered from Wadi Faynan

Rula Shafiq-Baysan

Bioarchaeologist (Yeditepe University, Istanbul)

Rula Shafiq-Baysan is an Assistant Professor at the Anthropology Department, specializing in bioarchaeology, paleopathology, dental paleopathology, and funerary archaeology.  The primary research interest is the interaction between of the sociocultural factors and diet and health of past populations. 

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