Heather manages PAL’s laboratory including cultural material processing, cataloging, curation and collections management, cultural historical research, and museum studies.

She is also responsible for  coordinating PAL’s public education efforts. She has more than 25 years of experience in archaeology and cultural resource management with a focus on post-contact archaeology and material culture analysis in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and Southeast. She also conducts and presents research on the material culture and history of Snowtown, a working-class neighborhood of Providence that was home to 19th-century industrial businesses, the original Rhode State Prison, and multi-family residences.

Prior to joining PAL in 2011, Heather was a senior archaeologist for an engineering consulting firm, where she managed the archaeology laboratory and directed archaeological survey, site testing, and data recovery investigations. She served as the archaeology laboratory supervisor for Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest, a historic house museum in Virginia, where her work also included conducting public tours, creating museum displays, and teaching university field schools. 

Heather earned her BA in Anthropology from the University of Connecticut and her MA in Anthropology from Louisiana State University. She is a Registered Professional Archaeologist and is a member of the American Cultural Resources Association, the Society for Historical Archaeology, and the Council for Northeast Historical Archaeology.