My lab brings together archaeologists working across the Pacific, with shared interests in geospatial methods, human–environment interaction, and political economy.
Postdoctoral scholar
Sayali Sangamnerkar
DPAA Research Partner Fellow and Postdoctoral Scholar
Sayali Sangamnerkar is a forensic scientist and Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) Research Partner Fellow, funded by the DPAA Hub and Spoke Partner Program at Florida State University. She holds a PhD in Forensic Chemistry from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, where she developed a method for the direct detection of stimulants in biofluids using ATR-FTIR spectroscopy and chemometrics, an MSc in Forensic Archaeology and Anthropology from Cranfield University, and undergraduate degrees from the University of Auckland. Her research and teaching combine archaeology with her chemistry background. She has conducted fieldwork in New Zealand, the UK, and the Pacific on both traditional and forensic archaeology projects, and helped lead DPAA fieldwork in the Republic of Palau in 2023. She is lead archaeologist on the Palau recovery project (PI: Mark D. McCoy).
PhD students
Adam Johnson
Adam Johnson is an archaeologist working in the Hawaiian Islands. He uses geospatial and remote-sensing technologies to investigate social organization, human–environment interaction, settlement patterns, and subsistence practices, and is especially interested in the adaptive strategies people used to buffer against environmental risk in different landscapes.
Samantha Lagos
Samantha Lagos is an archaeologist who explores human–environment interaction using geospatial analysis, proxy-based climate modelling, and political-economic frameworks. She is passionate about applying insights from multivariate datasets to real-world challenges, and has brought these skills to field projects in Egypt, Australia, New Zealand, Palau, and New Mexico.
Spencer Lambert
Spencer Lambert is an archaeologist studying the ancient Hawaiian Islands. His dissertation examines how evidence for religious restrictions on eating changed over time. His main focus is zooarchaeology and Pacific archaeology, with further interests in Southwest and Great Basin archaeology, museum studies, archaeological theory, and political economy.
Joining the lab
I welcome inquiries from prospective PhD and Masters students interested in Pacific archaeology, geospatial methods, or the archaeology of inequality and conflict. Applicants with a master’s degree, field experience, or a background in GIS, remote sensing, or quantitative methods are especially well placed, but none of these is required. Before applying to the FSU Anthropology graduate program, send me a short email describing your interests and the kind of project you imagine working on, along with a CV.