My dissertation research compared economic agency of non-elites and elites using lithic craft production, import, and use at the site of Holtun located in the Petén district of Guatemala. It was successfully defended in March of 2022 and my degree was conferred in May of 2022. A copy of my dissertation can be accessed here: Economic Agency and Risk Mitigation Among the Classic Period Maya at Holtun, Guatemala. As a member of the Proyecto Arqueologico Holtun, I focus on household archaeology, specifically on lithic and ceramic production and consumption. Proyecto Holtun is a collaborative program between multiple universities in the United States and Guatemala. I joined Proyecto Holtun in 2011.
In 2015, I received a National Geographic Young Explorer Grant and a Sigma Xi Grants-in-Aid award for my research. In 2017, I received a Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant (Award #1743532) from the National Science Foundation, titled “Resilience Theory as a Context For Understanding Long Term Social Change” for my research on economic household resilience at Holtun. In 2018, I was also awarded an NSF subsidy from the Archaeometry lab of the Missouri University Research Reactor to complete ceramics analysis.
I have also worked on side projects regarding jade working and production techniques and obsidian sourcing in collaboration with Dr. Brigitte Kovacevich of the University of Central Florida (publications in preparation) and the Dallas Museum of Art. A book chapter along with an associated journal article are currently in press and preparation, respectively.
In addition to household production and consumption patterns, my research interests include social organization, gender, class, trade, political economy, lithics and ceramics, collapse and resilience.
