I joined the faculty of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in the fall of 2015. I am an archaeologist specializing in the material culture of Latin America, specifically the Valdivia tradition of coastal Ecuador. My research focuses on questions of social organization and identity in the context of incipient social inequality. In my archaeological practice I focus on ceramic analysis, community collaboration in archaeology, and digital methods for conducting archaeological analysis and communicating research results.

I received my PhD from the University of Illinois in 2014. Prior to joining UTRGV I served as Program Director of InHerit, a cultural heritage research initiative based at the University of North Carolina