Professor and Chair · Department of Anthropology
Archaeology is precious but it is not rare, it is everywhere.
I study how societies took shape on Hawaiʻi, Aotearoa New Zealand, Rapa Nui (Easter Island), and Micronesia, using GIS, laser scanning, and remote sensing to read the landscapes people built and left behind.
Author of Maps for Time Travelers · Society for American Archaeology Book Award, 2021
Current research
All researchRapa Nui · NSF 2023–2026
Why the moai fell
When and how Rapa Nui’s statues were toppled, combining stone weathering, archaeoseismology, and community outreach.
Palau · DPAA
Recovering the missing in Palau
Archaeological search and recovery at a WWII aircraft crash site, funded by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency.
Global · PNAS 2025
Inequality across 10,000 years
Tens of thousands of ancient house floorplans, compared to ask when, and why, wealth became unequal.
In the news
All news and profiles- 11 Sep 2025Palau Discovery May Hold Key to Missing U.S. Marine Pilot from World War IIIsland Times
- 8 Aug 2025Ancient stone carvings uncovered on Hawaiian beachThe Art Newspaper
- 10 Jul 2025Faculty Spotlight: Mark D. McCoyFSU College of Arts and Sciences