Research Interests

My research interests primarily focus on human responses to hypervariable conditions. In particular, I'm interested in how societal actions can influence environmental systems, and how people are impacted by unpredictable climatic conditions. I approach my research in an interdisciplinary manner, and as such have a wide array of interests and methodological expertise. I currently have two major research programs, one focused on Madagascar and another in in the Southeastern United States. In both cases, I am focusing on understanding how human behavior (particularly in terms of livelihood strategies) are impacted by different socioenvironmental contexts. I frame my questions theoretically in terms of complex systems and evolutionary frameworks and incorporate geospatial tools to assist in archaeological data collection and analysis.

On Madagascar, where I am currently conducting fieldwork, the island's long history of environmental change, and its peoples' diverse livelihood strategies offer unique perspectives on how people lived in the face of climate instability over long periods of time. As such, it offers an ideal case study to investigate human-environmental interactions in hypervariable climatic conditions that can be applied to contemporary contexts.

My research largely relies upon the use of geophysical instruments (remote sensing) and statistical modeling to record and analyze information about the past in a systematic way. In addition to my methods-focused remote sensing work, I am also actively engaged with understanding how environmental conditions through time influence patterns we see in the archaeological record. As such, I am involved with an international collaboration of paleoclimatologists and archaeologists looking at different proxies for climatological changes (including the use of fossilized coral reefs, speleothems, and lake sediments) to produce high-spatial and temporal resolution information to assess with archaeological data.