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University of Utah Archaeological Center

Department of Anthropology

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UUAC Administration

Director

Brian F. Codding

Professor, Anthropology

brian.codding@anthro.utah.edu

(Ph.D. Stanford U; Professor). Human behavioral ecology, foraging economies, anthropogenic fire, gender division of labor, ethnoarchaeology, ethno-ecology, data analysis, GIS; Australia & North America

Assistant Director

ishmael

Ishmael Medina

Graduate Assistant, Anthropology

ishmael.medina@utah.edu

Dissemination of ancient maize and traditional agricultural practices; Great Basin and Southwest Areas; Archaeology; Ecology.  

 

Core Faculty

Joan Brenner-Coltrain

Adj. Associate Professor
Archaeology

coltrain@anthro.utah.edu

(Ph.D. University of Utah). Archaeological method and theory, stable isotope chemistry, Great Basin, eastern Arctic.

Jack M. Broughton

Professor
Zooarchaeology

jack.broughton@ anthro.utah.edu

(Ph.D. U Washington 1995; Prof). Zooarchaeology, evolutionary ecology, human paleoecology, North American Prehistory (especially California and the Great Basin)

J. Tyler Faith

Paleoanthropology
Associate Professor

jfaith@nhmu.utah.edu

(Ph.D. George Washington U, 2011; Assoc. Prof.). Quaternary paleoecology, vertebrate paleontology, zooarchaeology, paleoanthropology, modern human origins, extinctions, Africa

Alexandra Greenwald

Archaeology
Assistant Professor

agreenwald@ nhmu.utah.edu

(Ph.D. UC Davis, 2017; Assist. Prof.). North American prehistoric archaeology and ethnography, human behavioral ecology, biological anthropology, and bioarchaeology.

Lisbeth Louderback

Lisbeth Ann Louderback

Associate Professor
Archaeology

lisbeth.louderback@ anthro.utah.edu

(Ph.D. University of Washington 2014; Assoc. Prof.) North American pre-history; Arid West; Quaternary paleoecology; Archaeobotany; Palynology, Starch grain analysis

Duncan Metcalfe

Associate Professor Emeritus
Archaeology

metcalfe@nhmu.utah.edu

(Ph.D. U Utah 1987; Assoc. Prof Emeritus). Archaeological method and theory, evolutionary ecology; western North America

James F. O'Connell

Distinguished Professor Emeritus
Archaeology

oconnell@anthro.utah.edu

(Ph.D. UC Berkeley 1971; Dist. Prof Emeritus). Hunter-gatherer ecology, archaeological method and theory; Australia, Africa, North America 

Richard R. Paine

Associate Professor
Archaeology

 r.r.paine@gmail.com

(Ph.D. Pennsylvania State U 1992; Assoc. Prof). Archaeology, prehistoric demography, complex societies, human/land relationships; Mesoamerica, Europe

 

Affiliated Researchers

Adrian Bell

Associate Professor
Cultural Anthropology

adrian.bell@ anthro.utah.edu

(Ph.D. UC Davis, 2011; Assoc. Prof). Human ecology, evolutionary game theory and social evolution, economics of small-scale societies, Oceania

Andrea R. Brunelle

Professor
Geography

andrea.brunelle@ geog.utah.edu

(Ph.D. University of Oregon, 2002). RED Lab Director -- paleoecology, fire history, climate change.

Benjamin Davies

Postdoctoral Researcher

Archaeology

ben.davies@utah.edu

(Ph.D. University of Auckland, 2018). Mobility, population dynamics, and the formation of archaeological landscapes.

Tom Flanigan

Forest Archaeologist / Heritage Program Manager
US Forest Service

thomas.flanigan@anthro.utah.edu

(Ph.D. University of Utah, 2019). Lithic conveyance. Great Basin, Plains, Alaska, Siberia, Mongolia, NE Asia, Egypt, and Sudan.

Shannon Boomgarden

Director, Range Creek Field Station

sboomgarden@nhmu.utah.edu

 

Kristen Hawkes

Evolutionary Ecology
Distinguished Professor

hawkes@anthro.utah.edu

(Ph.D. U Washington 1976; Dist. Prof). Human evolution, behavioral ecology, sociobiology, hunter-gatherers

Kate Magargal

Kate Magargal

Assistant Professor
University of Utah Honors College

kate.magargal@utah.edu

(Ph.D. University of Utah, 2019). Native land tenure, traditional knowledge, archaeology and ethnography of the western US, anthropogenic fire, ecological disturbance regimes, energy transitions, quantitative modelling, experiential learning.

Mitchell J. Power

Associate Professor
Geography

mitchell.power@ geog.utah.edu

(Ph.D. University of Oregon). Curator of the Garrett Herbarium (Utah Museum of Natural History), and Power Paleoecology Lab Director -- vegetation history, historical biogeography, fire, paleoecology and paleoclimatology

Alan R. Rogers

Professor Emeritus
Population Genetics

sregora@gmail.com

(Ph.D. U New Mexico 1982; Prof). Population genetics, evolutionary ecology

Jerry D. Spangler

Executive Director

Colorado Plataeu Archaeological Alliance

Archaeological research and public outreach with the expressed purpose of furthering the protection and preservation of cultural resources of the Colorado Plateau.

D. Craig Young

Far Western Anthropological Research Group Inc., Great Basin Branch.

craig@farwestern.com

Principle, Director of cultural resources consulting and research. Environmental influences and geomorphological processes affecting archaeological site formation and, ultimately, people’s interaction with a changing landscape.

Kurt Wilson

Kurt Wilson

Postdoctoral Researcher
Geography

kurt.wilson@utah.edu

(Ph.D. University of Utah, 2022). 

simon

Simon Brewer

Associate Professor
Geography

simon.brewer@geog.utah.edu

(Ph.D. U d' Aix-Marseille I 2002; Associate Prof). changes in past climate and environments; terrestrial ecosystem response. 

weston

Weston McCool

Postdoctoral Researcher
Archaeology 

weston.mccool@anthro.utah.edu

(Ph.D. U of California  2020; Post-doc). Human ecology; behaiors; dynamic relationships; population growth; inequality; violent conflict. 

Shane Macfarlan

Shane Macfalan

Associate Professor
Cultural Anthropology

shane.macfarlan@ anthro.utah.edu

(Ph.D. Washington State U 2010; Assist. Prof). Evolutionary Anthropology; Social psychology; Political Economy; Political and Behavioral Ecology; Inequality; Ritual Society and Labor Exchange; Ethno-History

Gregory Burns

Adjunct Asst Professor Anthropology

 

Adj. Asst. Prof. (Ph.D. University of California, Davis 2019). California, Great Basin, and Southwest culture areas. Stable isotopes, XRF, and other archaeometric and traditional methods to explore the role of trade as an adaption to environmental and cultural factors. The role of violence and intergroup conflict in ethnogenesis.

Kasey Cole

Kasey Cole

Postdoctoral Fellow with the Science Research Initiative in the College of Science
kasey.cole@utah.edu

(Ph.D. University of Utah, 2023) Zooarchaeology of Western North America. Archaeology, ethnography, paleoclimate. 

 

Graduate Students

 

Undergraduate Students

 
Last Updated: 1/30/24