Cayla Colclasure Photo: First Name: Cayla Last Name: Colclasure Read more about Cayla Colclasure I am a post-contact archaeologist doing community-engaged research in Appalachia and the American South. My work explores how labor exploitation, class struggle, and the politics of identity have shaped people’s lives, past and present. I defended my dissertation and graduated with my PhD in Anthropology from the University of North Carolina in May 2026. My dissertation research focused on the incarcerated laborers who built the Western North Carolina Railroad (WNCRR) from 1875-1891.
Michelle M. Pigott Photo: First Name: Michelle Last Name: Pigott Read more about Michelle M. Pigott Michelle Pigott holds a PhD in Anthropology (2024) from Tulane University, an MA in Anthropology (2020) from Tulane University, a MA in Historical Archaeology (2015) from the University of West Florida, and a BA in Anthropology (2010) from the University of Central Florida. Her primary research focuses on how Native America structured the early contact and colonial era of the American Southeast through a combination of radiocarbon, ethnohistoric, and material analyses.
C. Cameron Walker Photo: First Name: C. Cameron Last Name: Walker Read more about C. Cameron Walker I study the role of animals in the foodways and economic systems of the Southeastern United States, particularly by analyzing faunal remains to center human and nonhuman agency in the development of this region’s various cultural and economic systems. My approach to the past highlights the interconnection, or entanglement, of relationships across time and space.
David Okanlawon Photo: First Name: David Last Name: Okanlawon Read more about David Okanlawon David is one of the new Postdoctoral Research Associates at the Laboratory of Archaeology. He has worked extensively in West Africa and has a doctorate from Syracuse University. He is interested in Black Atlantic archaeology, historical archaeology, foodways, and cultural entanglements. Fun fact: David loves Afrobeats and believes he makes the best Nigerian jollof.
Jackson DeWitt Photo: First Name: Jackson Last Name: DeWitt Read more about Jackson DeWitt I am a PhD student in the Anthropology program. I graduated from Wake Forest University in 2024 with a B.A. in anthropology with an archaeology concentration, before interning with the National Park Service at both the Vicksburg National Military Park and the Natchez Trace Parkway in Mississippi.
Annabelle Hartley Photo: First Name: Annabelle Last Name: Hartley Read more about Annabelle Hartley Annabelle graduated with a B.A. in Anthropology with minors in Biological and Medical Anthropology and Biology as part of the University of Georgia Class of 2026. She is working to complete her M.A. in Anthropology, with a focus on zooarchaeology and bioarcheology research.
Hannah Combs Photo: First Name: Hannah Last Name: Combs Read more about Hannah Combs As a Double Dawg at the University of Georgia, I completed my undergraduate studies in Anthropology and International Affairs, where I developed a passion for legal anthropology and interdisciplinary approaches to understanding social and environmental issues. My research centers on legal anthropology, examining how law, culture, and governance shape social relationships and institutions across diverse communities.
Lulu Castro Photo: First Name: Lulu Last Name: Castro Read more about Lulu Castro I am a first-year PhD student in Anthropology, working alongside Dr. Don Nelson on an NSF-funded project in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The project focuses on developing impact-based flood forecasts for the San Juan Estuary by incorporating local experiences and future-visioning to inform these forecasts.
Abigail Higgins Photo: First Name: Abigail Last Name: Higgins Phone Number: 706-542-3922 Read more about Abigail Higgins My main interests are bioarchaeology and skeletal ethics. My undergraduate thesis focused on the ethical stewardship of human remains in university teaching collections. I have also worked on archaeological projects in Transylvania, Romania, studying juvenile osteology, and in North Carolina with the Lumbee Tribe. Outside of academics I enjoy crafting, hiking, and and waching F1 and hockey.
