About

I am a researcher interested in mobility, population dynamics, and human adaptations to climate change. I draw on computational techniques in my work, and I am interested in how digital technology is used to learn about and interact with the past, present, and future. I am a lecturer in the Environmental Studies program at Tufts University, and previously held postodctoral positions in the Yale Paleoarchaeology Lab and the University of Utah Anthropology Department.

I can be reached by email at davies.archaeology AT gmail.com

Education

2016 Ph.D. University of Auckland, Anthropology Dissertation

2009 M.A. (Hons) University of Auckland, Anthropology Thesis

2005 B.A. University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, Anthropology

Projects

Drivers and proxies of behavioral diversity in Late Pleistocene and Holocene hunter-gatherers

A three-year study aimed at understanding drivers in the emergence of biological and cultural regionalism in Northern and Central Malawi during the late Pleistocene and early Holocene.

Documenting the Last Lithic Technologists: A Study of Stone Tool Usage Among Daasanach Pastoralists of East Turkana, Kenya

A two-year project documenting lithic technology use among mobile pastoralists in northern Kenya.

Long Term Perspectives on Water Security, Food Security, and Land Management Among Pastoralists Experiencing Change

A four-year project based in northern Kenya studying the current intersection of development, land management, and changing environmental circumstances in the context of long-term trends in land use among mobile pastoralists communities.

Exploring the history of coupled climatic and human influences on ecosystem changes during the last one million years

A three-year study based in the Western Cape region of South Africa aimed at using geological and archaeological archives to examine the interactions of climate, human activities, and natural ecosystems over very long timespans.

Using Serious Games to Address Air Quality as an Environmental Health Problem

This project will develop a research-informed serious game to support collective learning in diverse communities regarding issues relating air quality in Utah. Instead of focusing strictly on technological solutions, this game will emphasize social challenges to achieving clean air goals, especially those tied to community values.

Examining Pyrotechnology and Ecosystem Change in the Archaeological Record

This study will investigate the use of fire by early hominins, and the extent to which early hominins modified their environments through the application of fire. Multiproxy analyses, combined with modeling of paleofire scenarios, will be used to assess archaeological signatures of pyrotechnology in the vicinity of Koobi Fora, Kenya.

Western New South Wales Archaeology

A long-term, multidisciplinary study investigating the formation of surface archaeology in arid and semiarid rangelands of southeastern Australia and implications for human population dynamics and mobility during the late Holocene. Project outcomes are being compiled here.

Geography of Interaction in East Polynesia

A project examining how climate, technology, and human decision-making influence the maintenance of interaction networks in East Polynesia.

Adaptive and Interactive Futures

A project using ‘serious games’ as a participatory approach to building community capacity for envisioning the natural and societal impacts of global climate change and the adaptive management of coastal environments.

Kwokkunum Shell Mound Study

A project exploring the human ecology and heritage management of monumental shellmounds in far north Queensland, Australia.