I am an anthropological archaeologist (and zooarchaeologist) who studies human-animal relationships throughout the Americas, with a specific focus in the North American Southwest. My research has spanned the last 4,000 years of the human past, ranging geographically from New Mexico, Arizona, California, Guatemala, and Mexico. The majority of my research has focused on the non-"economic" relationships between people and animals, the active role that living animals and animal products played in maintaining or negotiating social organization and status, and the importance of birds in past societies.

My current research examines the value of birds in the Pueblo region of the Southwest, specifically in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico between 800 and 1150 CE. I approach my research from a zoontological perspective, acknowledging the mutually-influential nature of human-animal interactions in the past. Consequently, I have also explored the ways in which animal agency constrained and affected human-bird interactions.

I work extensively with museum collections, archival documents, and legacy data. My research has been supported by grants from the National Science Foundation and the National Geographic Society.

I am fortunate to be involved in many collaborative projects, on such topics as agricultural strategies, soil salinity, and water control in Chaco Canyon; the value of historic legacy collections and archival data in archaeological research; the pan-Southwest significance of macaws; and the Agricultural Demographic Transition in the New World.

I supervise the Zooarchaeology Laboratory, which provides opportunities and space for undergraduate and graduate research.