Project People

Emily Eklund: I am currently an archaeology PhD student at the University of Pittsburgh, after obtaining my MA from the University at Buffalo, SUNY and my BA from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. My current research is focused on the Bronze Age mobile pastoralists of Central and Inner Asia. I am interested in understanding the relationships and networks created by mobile peoples, especially those between their communities and the landscaping surrounding them through the use of social network analysis, monumentality, and landscape archaeology. I have had the opportunity to not only work on several projects in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Mongolia but I have also worked professionally as an archaeologist in cultural resource management for over five years throughout the Midwest and Northeast United States. I am very excited that I am able to join the OHAHP team this summer and am looking forward to gaining new experiences and working closely with such a great community-based project.

Robby Grillo: Robby received BA and MA degrees from Florida Atlantic University studying prehistoric organic technology (tools made from bone, shell, teeth, antler and ivory). Robby is currently a PhD student at University of Alaska Fairbanks, participating on an NSF project to study long term dynamics of mercury in the Aleutian Islands.

Miranda LaZar: I am a graduate student from the University of Arizona, where I recently received my MA and am moving on to work on my Ph.D. I am interested in using zooarchaeology and stable isotope analysis to understand human-animal interactions in the past. For my MA, I analyzed bird bones from the Nunamiut site Palangana in Anaktuvuk Pass in northern Alaska. I will continue to study the relationship between humans and birds for my Ph.D., working with an avifaunal assemblage from Sanak Island, AK. I have previously done fieldwork in the interior of Alaska, northern California, and New Mexico. I am excited to work on this project and get experience in coastal/island archaeology in Alaska.

Dr. Stephanie Selover: I am an Assistant Professor at UW, in the Near Eastern Languages and Civilization department, and an Adjunct Assistant Professor in Anthropology. I work as an archaeologist in the Middle East, working primarily in Turkey and Jordan at prehistoric settlement sites. Due to COVID, I am unable to work at my usual projects, and I am thrilled to be a part of this project instead. My research interests include the effects of modern politics on archaeology of the Middle East, the prehistoric cultures of the Near East, evidence of violence on ancient human remains and the origins of violence and warfare in the ancient world.

Jennifer Alexanderoff: I am 23 years old and took this internship because I want to experience and explore the places where my ancestors lived. I am really interested in learning about their stories and how they survived. I am a stay at home mom, so I also really wanted to go out and visit the sites!

Angel Christiansen: My name is Angel and I am 15 years old, going into 10th grade. I have lived in Old Harbor for about 8 years and I wanted to join the project because I am interested in learning what life was like in the area over the past several hundred years. I also wanted to learn more about my culture’s history and to see what old houses and artifacts look like.

Larissa Fitzhugh: I am 13 years old and going into 8th grade. My dad, Ben Fitzhugh, has been coming up to Old Harbor for years, but this is my first time in Alaska. The last time I was in the field with him was in the Kuril Islands, Russia, when I was 3, so this is my first time helping out on a dig. I’m excited to get to learn more about archaeology and what my dad does when he’s in the field.

Hope Loiselle: I recently graduated from the University of Maryland where I received a BS in Anthropology. During my time there, I was involved in multiple archaeological projects. I worked on a faunal assemblage from a site in Iceland, participated in a field school on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, and interned at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. I am beginning a PhD in Anthropology at the University of Washington where I hope to combine archaeology, historical ecology, and ancient DNA to study past human interaction with marine environments. I’m particularly interested in the Pacific Northwest and Gulf of Alaska region, so I’m very excited to be working with Hollis on the Old Harbor Archaeological History Project. I also really love whales and hope to spot some while here!