Research Associates
Dedicated. Passionate. Resilient.
Collaboration with external researchers is an essential component for building multivocal, multidisciplinary projects. Many of our research associates have long-standing relationships with Crow Canyon, and provide specific areas of expertise.
Michelle Turner
2020–2021 Postdoctoral Scholar; 2013 Field Intern
Michelle is an archaeologist who studies the relationships between Chaco Canyon and its outliers through architecture, ceramics, and other material culture.
Radek Palonka
Research Institute; 2005 Intern
Radoslaw (Radek) examines settlement structure and the socio-cultural changes around Sand Canyon Pueblo during the 13th Century.
Fumi Arakawa
Research Associate; 1998 Field Intern; Indiana University
Fumi is an archaeologist who studies southwestern archaeology, particularly the Mesa Verde and Mimbres regions.
Deb Martin
Research Associate; University of Nevada
Deb does research that investigates the origins
and evolution of violence in human history.
Jon Driver
Research Associate; Simon Fraser University
Jon has studied animal bones from archaeological sites in the Southwest for thirty years.
Steve Lekson
Research Associate; University of Colorado at Boulder
Steve’s research focuses mainly on Chaco Canyon and Mimbres, and on archaeological method and theory.
Kristin Kuckelman
Research Associate; Independent Researcher
Kristin is an archaeologist whose research has focused on causes and effects of warfare in the U.S. Southwest.
William (Bill) D. Lipe
Board of Trustees; Research Institute Advisor
Bill is Professor Emeritus at Washington State University where he joined the Anthropology faculty in 1976. He is an archaeologist with expertise in the American Southwest, archaeological method and theory, and cultural resource management. Bill joined the Board in 1995 and lives in Moscow, Idaho.
Cynthia Fadem
Research Associate; Earlham College
Cynthia is a geoarchaeologist who studies the interaction between culture and natural materials, primarily soils and lithics.
Steve Wolverton
Research Associate; 1997 Intern; University of North Texas
Steve Wolverton is an ethnobiologist who specializes in environmental archaeology and animal ecology.
Scott Ortman
Research Associate; 1993 Field Intern
Scott works on the initial formation of Ancestral Pueblo society, its transformation into the Rio Grande pueblos, and the practical value of archaeological findings for society today.
Shanna Diederichs
Woods Canyon Archaeological Consultants
Shanna is a Southwestern archaeologist interested in the origins of Pueblo communities.
Timothy (Tim) A. Kohler
Board of Trustees; Research Associate
Tim is a Regents Professor of Archaeology and Evolutionary Anthropology at Washington State University. Tim applies method and theory from the study of complex adaptive systems to the study of prehistoric societies. He lives in Pullman, Washington, and joined the Board in 2019.
Tim Wilcox
Research Associate
Tim Wilcox is a Ph.D. candidate at Stanford University with 30 years of experience in Southwest archaeology.
Rich Wilshusen
Research Associate; Independent Researcher
Rich studies the earliest great house communities, Navajo ethnogenesis, and current issues in public archaeology.
Stefani Crabtree
Research Associate; Utah State University & the Santa Fe Institute
Stefani uses the deep-time of archaeology to understand human resilience and vulnerability.
Karen Adams
Research Associate; Independent Researcher
Karen is a paleoethnobotanist focused on plants important in subsistence and for other daily needs.
Kelsey Reese
Research Associate; 2013 Field Intern
Kelsey is currently a Postdoctoral Teaching Scholar in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Notre Dame and a Research Associate at the Santa Fe Institute.
James (Jim) Potter
Board of Trustees; Research Associate; PaleoWest Archaeology
Jim is an archaeologist interested in communal ritual and the organization of prehistoric communities.
Lisa Nagaoka
Research Associate; University of North Texas
Lisa is a zooarchaeologist interested in archaeological method and theory,
philosophy of science, conservation biology, and biogeography.
Laurie Webster
Independent Researcher
Laurie Webster is an anthropologist and independent scholar who specializes in the perishable material culture of the Southwest.
Robin Lyle
Independent Researcher; Lab Volunteer
Robin is a poultry research scientist interested in ancient agriculture, turkey husbandry, and material cultures of the past.
Sarah Oas
Research Associate; 2010 Intern
Sarah is a paleoethnobotanist interested in the relationships between foodways and processes of social transformation.
Donna Glowacki
Research Associate; 2003 Lister Fellow; 1994 Field Intern
Donna is an anthropological archaeologist studying transformation, disruption, and resiliency in Southwestern societies.
Cailey Mullins
Research Associate; University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Cailey is interested in the social and educational impacts of archaeology on K–12 students and communities.
Jonathan Dombrosky
Environmental Archaeologist; 2021–2023 Postdoctoral Scholar; Research Associate; 2015 Field Intern
Jon is a zooarchaeologist broadly interested in human-environment interactions from the past to the present.
Devin White
Research Associate; Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Devin leverages GIScience, big data, and high performance computing to explore large, complex archaeological questions.
Kari Schleher
Research Associate; 1999 Intern; Maxwell Museum and University of New Mexico
Kari is an anthropological archaeologist interested in material culture as a means of understanding past social relationships.