My research focus is the foundation and maintenance of inequality with a specific concentration on how inequality is manifested through warfare, diet, and gender relations.

Before joining the graduate program at Purdue, I earned my bachelors degree from UCLA where I completed an honors thesis entitled “Nasca Females: A Preliminary Look at Gender in Ceramic Art.”  I also took part in the Santa Rita B archaeological field school on the north coast of Peru during 2005 and worked with Dr. Christina Conlee on excavations at La Tiza, a site in Nasca, Peru, during the 2006 field season.

I am currently working on several projects including the completion of my master’s thesis.  My thesis involves the analysis of faunal remains from five Early Nasca settlements and addresses the question of animal domestication and herd maintenance from a village context.  I am continuing research on animal domestication by conducting isotope analysis on archaeological camelid remains to better understand the transition from mobile foraging to sedentary agriculture in the Southern Nasca Region.