Theresa Nelson
BSc, BA, MA
Department of Archaeology
Research Student
Thesis- Society and Energy: An archaeological approach

- Qualifications
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- 2016- MA in Anthropology (Archaeology) – University of Pittsburgh
- 2014- University of Pittsburgh
- Bachelor of Science in Geology
- Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology (Archaeology)
- Minor in Chemistry
- Research interests
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Thesis- Society and Energy: An archaeological approach
- Supervisors- Dr Alastair Buckley, Professor John Barrett, Dr Jane Rempel
My research interests include-
- Human-Environment relations
- Resource exploitation strategies among mobile pastoralist communities
- Zooarchaeology
- Isotope Geochemistry
- Isotopic Analysis of Faunal Remains
- Human Dietary Variation
- Human-Animal-Environment Relationships
- Environmental Archaeology, Pastoralism
- Eurasian Steppe Prehistory
- Ethnoarchaeology
- Mobile Pastoralism in the Eurasian steppes
- Teaching activities
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During my Master’s studies at the University of Pittsburgh (2014-2016), I was teaching assistant for four semesters and a teaching fellow for one semester.
I was the teaching assistant for two undergraduate archaeology lab courses, including “Archaeology Lab Practicum” and “Advanced Lab Analysis,” taught by Dr. Kathleen Allen.
I was also the teaching assistant for a combined undergraduate and graduate course, “Zooarchaeology,” taught by Dr. Bryan Hanks.
Additionally, I was the head teaching assistant for a 300-person undergraduate archaeology class, “The Archaeologist Looks at Death,” under Dr. Marc Bermann.
Finally, as a teaching fellow, I taught an undergraduate course, “Zooarchaeology.”
- Professional activities
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Awards & Scholarships
- January 2017 – May 2021- Grantham Centre for Sustainable Futures Studentship
- 2015- National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program Honorable Mention
Field experience
Since 2011, I have participated on multiple archaeological research projects around the world, including the Russian Steppe, Northeastern Serbia, the Salmon River of Idaho in the United States, and both central and Western Mongolia.
These research projects focused on different time periods, from the Late Neolithic to the Early Iron Age.
Work included excavations, recording, collecting and organizing artifacts, surveying, geophysical surveying, soil sampling, faunal analysis, ethnoarchaeology, ethnographic interviews, lab work, data entry, and in one case, supervising 12 undergraduate students.