I am a human ecologist and archaeologist interested in how humans adapt to, exploit, and modify their environments. Most of my work concerns the historical ecology of sustainable and unsustainable natural resource use, particularly in eastern North America and the western Balkans (Albania, Kosova, and Montenegro): places where I have conducted research at archaeological sites spanning the last 13,000 years.

 

I am involved in two main ongoing research projects in North America. First, my dissertation research seeks to better understand the ecological consequences of European settler-colonialism in 17th century New England. I am specifically investigating how white-tailed deer and northern quahog clams were impacted by capitalist commodification and changes in anthropogenic ecosystem engineering/niche construction.

Second, I am working with several collaborators to understand the context of initial domestication in Middle and Late Holocene Eastern North America with emphases on modeling human population growth, interpersonal cooperation, inter-group competition, and the energetics of foraging and food production. This project investigates the role of economic intensification and innovation in the origins of farming.

 

In addition to these two main projects of mine, I have also collaborated on a variety of research projects with archaeologists, ethnographers, demographers, and paleontologists.