Benjamin Vining

Principal Investigator and Lab Director

I am interested in issues related to global change, how past land use has created anthropogenic environments, and past climate-culture interactions.  My research combines satellite remote sensing and GIS with geological and archaeological data, to reconstruct localized environmental change during archaeological periods and to understand how the environments past societies shaped likely responded to climate variability. I am particularly interested in how long-term land use results in anthropogenic ecological networks, and how it may track with climatic variations. 

The work done through my lab highlights how archaeological societies can help us address contemporary global change.  They provide models for dealing with changing climates.  Further, the anthropogenic environments created by past groups can have persistent effects on ecology and biodiversity.  My research also considers how archaeological heritage intersects with contemporary global change issues, such as water security and natural resource exploitation.

Samuel Martin

Doctoral candidate

Samuel’s research interests include assessments of seasonal water management using geospatial analysis, and examining site-specific, urban administration of hydrological resources in western Amazonia, the Andes, and central Anatolia. His graduate research uses sedimentology, physical modeling, and GIS to understand ties between el Niño floods and archaeological risk mitigation in Peru.  He’s applying his research in his current position as a FEMA disaster response specialist.  

Maria Lopez Rojas

Doctoral Student

Maria is a Costa Rican anthropologist interested in archaeobotany, agroforestry, and biocultural heritage. She is dedicated to strengthening paleoenvironmental studies in Costa Rica and advancing archaeological research on human-environment interactions in the neo-Tropics. Maria works in Costa Rica’s Central Atlantic region, where she uses phytolith analysis to reconstruct  past vegetation diversity around the Nuevo Corinto archaeological site. Disseminating is extremely valuable for Maria. She co-produces the podcast LACAP to share Costa Rica’s pre-Contact cultural heritage and Costa Rican and Latin American archaeologists’ work with a broad audience .

Dan Rosenburg

Doctoral Student

Dan is a PhD student in the Environmental Dynamics program, interested in sensor development to improve the ability to detect heavy metal environmental pollutants in ancient and modern samples.

Chris Bodine

Doctoral Student

Chris is a PhD student in the Anthropology.  His work focuses on using satellite and UAV remote sensing at Mississippian sites, including Cahokia.