My academic training is in archaeological science. I’m interested in the application of cross-disciplinary methods—particularly ancient DNA—to archaeological and palaeontological datasets. My doctoral research utilized ancient environmental DNA to better understand ecological change associated with the Pleistocene-Holocene transition in Yukon, Canada. Currently, I’m working on environmental DNA projects in the circumarctic and across North America to evaluate human ecodynamics and ecosystem evolution through time. My other main project is exploring the late survival of horses in North America using ancient environmental DNA. I’m also working on methods projects for improving ancient DNA extraction and exploring pathogenic organisms from archaeological sites globally.

Previous research projects of mine include: 1) re-evaluating Late Period projectile point typologies on the Northern Plains by statistically analyzing morphometric data obtained using digital scanning; 2) investigating the antiquity of inter-regional contact between the Northwestern Subarctic and Northwest Coast using ancient DNA from alpine wooden biofacts; 3) evaluating the contamination potential of crossover immunoelectrophoresis for protein identification from lithic tools; and 4) using phylogenetic variability in domestic dogs from Late Period sites on the Northern Plains to distinguish cultural-historic entities, and evaluate hypothesized migration routes. My current interests lie in the Late Quaternary Extinctions, the Peopling of the Americas, and hunter-gatherer lifeways in the circumpolar north.