About
I am a geoarchaeologist and eclectic generalist geoscientist interested in all aspects of how the past creates the physical and cultural world we live in today. I am most deeply interested in human-nature interactions. I have over a decade of experience in geoarchaeology, geoscience, and archaeology, as well as nearly a decade in ABIDE work and science communication. I also write, and am interested in non-scientific ways of processing and expressing observations and other information.
Research Interests
My professional interests all cluster in the overlap of people and geology. My technical research interests include late Quaternary landscape evolution and implications for regional archaeological records, peopling of the Americas, coastal and fluvial geomorphology, Caribbean and public archaeology. My non-technical work is as important as my technical scientific work. My non-technical research interests include geoscience education and how we incorporate ABIDE principles into teaching geoscience, context for geoscientific field study (historical and social information), and how we further diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice in STEM. I am passionate about sharing scientific information with non-scientists, and increasing scientific literacy across a variety of communities but particularly communities whose members are underrepresented (historically excluded) from geoscience and the sciences more generally.
Current Work
I am currently designing a contextual co-curriculum for Penn State’s geology field camp. The goals of the co-curriculum are to move toward decolonizing geology field camp by bringing in the social and historical context of geology exploration of the American West as well as encouraging connection to the places we study. This work includes spending 4 weeks in the field with field camp students to study potential avenues for increased access and belonging in residential geology field courses.
Education
PhD, Geology
University of Kansas, 2022
Dissertation: Geoarchaeology of the Big Blue River valley, northeastern Kansas, and Implications for Paleoindian Archaeology
MS, Geology
University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez, 2014
Thesis: Rising Rivers and Shifting Shorelines: Constraining Holocene Sea Level Through Onshore and Archaeological Data in Santa Isabel, Puerto Rico.
BA, cum laude, Anthropology
Binghamton University, 2007
Honors Thesis: Disturbed! The Value of Artifacts Recovered from a Disturbed Midden Layer
Leila M. Joyce Seals, MS, PhD 