Bio

I am a Professor of Anthropology specializing in zooarchaeology, the study of hard animal tissues recovered from archaeological sites. My research examines long-term relationships among humans, animals, and the environment, with particular emphasis on the origins of the food we eat and the evolution of urban food provisioning systems. My work integrates zooarchaeological analysis with ancient DNA, stable isotope geochemistry, and cuneiform texts to investigate the emergence of agriculture, animal domestication, and the development of early urban societies in Southwest Asia, particularly ancient Anatolia (present-day Türkiye).

My research has been published in leading journals, including Science, Science Advances, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), eLife, PLOS ONE, Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, and Advances in Archaeological Practice. I have received competitive research funding from the Wenner-Gren Foundation, the National Geographic Society, and the National Science Foundation. As Principal Investigator, I also led a National Science Foundation project supporting students whose educational pathways were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic through multi-year undergraduate research experiences.

In addition to my research, I have held university-wide leadership roles focused on advancing interdisciplinary education, faculty engagement, and student success. From 2024 to 2026, I served as Associate Vice Provost for Interdisciplinary Faculty and Student Engagement at North Carolina State University, where I led strategic initiatives to strengthen interdisciplinary faculty collaboration, expand high-impact educational opportunities, support institutional assessment, and oversee the Chancellor’s Faculty Excellence Program. Throughout my career, I have remained committed to creating educational environments that prepare students to become independent scholars, critical thinkers, and collaborative problem-solvers capable of addressing the complex challenges facing society.

Before joining NC State, I served as Professor of Anthropology, Undergraduate and Graduate Coordinator, and Executive Director of Undergraduate Research at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where I mentored hundreds of undergraduate students and dozens of graduate students. My work reflects a sustained commitment to integrating research, teaching, mentorship, and academic leadership in support of student and faculty success.

Area(s) of Expertise

Interdisciplinary Archaeological Science; Human-Animal Interactions; Animal Domestication; Ancient Food Systems; Evolution of Pastoral Economies; Origins of Inequalities; Higher Education Leadership; High-Impact Practices; Student Success; Faculty Engagement

Publications

• Ancient genomics and the origin, dispersal, and development of domestic sheep , Science (2025)
• Ancient mitogenomes from Pre-Pottery Neolithic Central Anatolia and the effects of a Late Neolithic bottleneck in sheep ( Ovis aries ) , Science Advances (2024)
• The 10,000-year biocultural history of fallow deer and its implications for conservation policy , Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2024)
• A novel lineage of the Capra genus discovered in the Taurus Mountains of Turkey using ancient genomics , eLife (2022)
• Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene Finds from the 2020 Trial Excavation at Girmeler, Southwestern Turkey , HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe) (2021)
• Archaeological Analysis in the Information Age: Guidelines for Maximizing the Reach, Comprehensiveness, and Longevity of Data , Advances in Archaeological Practice (2019)
• Spread of domestic animals across Neolithic western Anatolia: New stable isotope evidence from Uğurlu Höyük, the island of Gökçeada, Turkey , PLoS ONE (2019)
• The relationship between the phosphate and structural carbonate fractionation of fallow deer bioapatite in tooth enamel , Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry (2018)
• Spread of domestic animals across Neolithic western Anatolia: New zooarchaeological evidence from Uğurlu Höyük, the island of Gökçeada, Turkey , PLoS ONE (2017)
• Current Research at Kültepe-Kanesh: An Interdisciplinary and Integrative Approach to Trade Networks, Internationalism, and Identity , Journal of Cuneiform Studies Supplemental Series 4 (2014)