Public Outreach

One of the most important responsibilities of modern archaeologists is to share our work with the public. I strive to regularly engage the public through presentations, lectures, and other events, and am always looking for new ways to make the past accessible and relevant. A few examples of my public engagement projects are listed below. If you are interested in developing a public program with me or having an archaeologist speak to your class, please get in touch here.

Archaeological Gems of Pittsburgh

Archaeological Gems of Pittsburgh is an annual event that brings together local archaeologists and organizations vested in public cultural education through lectures and media. Past speakers have included representatives from the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Christine Davis Consultants, the Kelso Museum of Near Eastern Archaeology, and the University of Pittsburgh, among others. Archaeological Gems of Pittsburgh is now in its second year and has partnered with the Akrhaios Film Festival for a free, two-day celebration of the archaeology of Western Pennsylvania and beyond.

Learn more about it here.

Archaeology in Focus

Adventures in Science Summer Camp, American Museum of Natural History

The Adventures in Science (AiS) camps make science accessible to elementary school students from throughout the New York City metro area, with the aim of helping students develop a habit of questioning and curiosity as they continue their academic journey in whichever direction they choose.

As a visiting scientist to the AiS camp, I spoke with second- and third-graders about the study of archaeology, why we should be interested in the past, and what it is like to be an archaeologist. Campers had a chance to try their own hand at archaeology by reconstructing 'ancient' food and drink practices from a collection of sherds (fragments of ceramic vessels I broke for teaching purposes), as they figured out which features of the sherds were most useful to their analysis and how they might infer behavior from objects.

pXRF in Culture Heritage Short Course

American Center for Mongolian Studies, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

A day-long public workshop geared towards museum professionals that spotlighted applications of portable x-ray florescence spectroscopy for the maintenance, provenance, and study of objects of cultural heritage. The workshop introduced basics of particle physics, operation of a pXRF instrument, and spectral data analysis.