On this page you will find basic information about my research, teaching, and background.

I'm currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado. In the past I have held research and teaching positions at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Arizona State University, and Kent State University.

I received a B.A. in Anthropology from Michigan State University in 1992, an M.A. in Anthropology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1994 and a Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2000.

What do I teach

I teach a variety of courses at the undergraduate and graduate level including Introduction to Prehistory, Geoarchaeology, Mesoamerican Prehistory, Human Impacts on Ancient Environments, and Landscape Archaeology. For more information click here.

My research is focused on unraveling the complex relationship that links humans to their past and present environments. This focus of anthropological archaeology is often called landscape archaeology or human ecodynamics.

A landscape is ‘a unit of human occupation’, something akin to the Dutch progenitor of the term landschap. Landscape in this sense is a broad, inclusive, holistic concept created to intentionally include humans, their anthropogenic ecosystem, and the manner in which these landscapes are conceptualized, experienced, and symbolized

In my fieldwork I employ a variety of archaeological and earth science techniques to map the distribution of ancient settlements, document past and present soil erosion, investigate ancient agricultural features, and excavate archaeological sites.

For more information click here.

I have been working in Mesoamerica since 1990 and have conducted fieldwork in the Mexican states of Michoacán, Oaxaca, and Zacatecas. Recent research in Mexico has traced patterns of ancient, human-caused, environmental change in the Lake Pátzcuaro Basin, Michoacán,Mexico and in the Malpaso Valley, Zacatecas, Mexico.

During the summer of 2007 I conducted research in Portugal and Albania exploring issues that are strikingly similar to my earlier work in Latin America.