Profile

Elizabeth’s academic interests include the relationship between textile traditions, ethnobotanical practices and cultural identity in western North America. Recent research includes analysis of prehistoric textile technology in the Northern Great Basin. For her master’s thesis, Elizabeth examined environmental activism of California’s native basketweavers and their feminist political-ecological approach to natural and cultural resource management. This research in heritage management advocates for the use of museum anthropology collections by descendant communities for education, research, and as a vehicle for engaging communities. Her doctoral research focuses on ethnobotany and weaving traditions of indigenous peoples as expressed through the ancient art of basket weaving during the 19^th and 20^th century in the Pacific Northwest and Western Interiors.  Elizabeth works in the museum field and as an archaeologist, and currently serves as the Anthropological Collections Manager at the UO Museum of Natural and Cultural History.