Biography
After receiving my M.S. in Anthropology from FSU in 1989, I was involved in CRM in Florida and surrounding states for several years. I eventually returned to graduate school and earned a Ph.D. from another Florida school in 2003. For the past 12 years I have been affiliated with the University of North Florida (UNF), although I did spend three years at Savannah College of Art and Design (2004-2007).
At UNF we are currently researching the Mocama-speaking Timucua of northeastern Florida, who were among the first natives of mainland North America encountered by Europeans. Our goal is to reconstruct the 16th century social landscape of northeastern Florida and track changes in Mocama social and material culture as a result of European contact, colonization, and missionization. I am also actively exploring the involvement of St. Johns River fisher-hunter-gathers in the broader world of Mississippian farmers (A.D. 900-1250). The latter project focuses on the Mill Cove Complex, a St. Johns II mound and village center in Jacksonville, Florida. I credit my years at FSU for sparking my passion for Florida archaeology.