Bio: I am an archaeologist who has worked all over the world: Belize, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, North America, and Israel. In these places, I study how our current social and environmental conditions were shaped by the Maya, Inka, Native Americans, the Romans, and colonialism.  My research focuses on those who are typically neglected in historical documents–Indigenous and African individuals, and specifically women. I currently have two active research projects: one in the Andes of South America investigating 16th-century colonialism and how Native peoples rejected forced conversion, and one in Buncombe County, North Carolina, working with descendant communities at a 19th and 20th-century Freedman’s homestead. Archaeology is one of the best ways to study how the resilience of past human societies through environmental and social upheaval can inform the way contemporary society adapts to ongoing social and climatic strife.