Archaeologist, historian, museum professional, & general nuisance. Passionate about repatriation, Indigenous sovereignty, queer history, cultural heritage law, & an improbable number of things. Pronouns: they/them; honorifics: Rev. or Mx.
I’m a longtime resident of Cupheag (Stratford), a settlement on Paugussett land in coastal Connecticut. I’ve been studying archaeology since 2009, when I took an archaeology class at Norwalk Community College. A scholarship created for community college students allowed me to transfer to the University of Saint Joseph, where I studied history & art history, interned at the USJ Art Museum, and graduated with honors in 2014. Soon after, I moved to England for graduate school, and received my M.A. in Archaeology from University College London in 2016. I then returned stateside to serve two terms as an AmeriCorps member (first at Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, then at the Yale Peabody Museum).
Since 2018, I’ve worked as an Interpretive Guide at Putnam Memorial State Park. As of February 2022, I’m the official Park Historian as well as President of the Friends & Neighbors of Putnam Memorial State Park. Starting in November 2022, I’ve also been working at the Institute for American Indian Studies in the off-season when Putnam Park is closed.
In 2020, I was ordained by the Universal Life Church, and was honored to officiate the wedding of close friends. My personal faith could be described as heathen/pagan/Nordic animist, and within my religious communities I emphasize the importance of honoring Indigenous land relations in our work with the land spirits.
In my free time, I enjoy fiber arts (primarily spinning, weaving, and knitting), blacksmithing, walking my cat, devising the worst possible jokes, and playing Crypt of the Necrodancer.