Jack Gary
Director of Archaeology and Landscapes
jack@poplarforest.org

Jack Gary joined Poplar Forest in 2006, thrilled to take the reins of a department with such an important archaeological legacy. He received his undergraduate training in anthropology and history at the College of William and Mary and a Masters degree in Historical Archaeology from the University of Massachusetts Boston. He has conducted research in Virginia, New York, and Massachusetts with specific research interests in plantation landscapes, the material culture of marginalized communities, environmental investigations of historic landscapes, and applications of GIS to historical archaeology. Jack feels that interdisciplinary collaborative efforts with educational and research oriented institutions, both locally and nationally, have the potential to explode our understanding of Poplar Forest as a plantation and private retreat.

Eric Proebsting
Associate Archaeologist
eric@poplarforest.org

Eric Proebsting is a recent arrival and excited about the opportunity to be part of the ongoing work at Poplar Forest. He received his B.S. in history from Truman State University, his M. A. in Historical Archaeology from the University of Massachusetts Boston, and is completing his PhD in environmental dynamics through the University of Arkansas. Past research includes site formation processes, landscape archaeology, historical ecology, and the social and environmental history of 19th-century farming communities. Eric is actively involved in all aspects of Poplar Forest’s archaeology program, and is currently focused on the ongoing field investigations of Site B; the social and environmental history of the 18th and 19th-century farming community that surrounded Poplar Forest; and the creation of a new ArcGIS geodatabase to serve as a living document for the department’s spatial data from past, present, and future research.

Lori Lee
Archaeology Lab Supervisor
lori@poplarforest.org

Lori Lee has been conducting ongoing research at Poplar Forest over the last several years. She received her B.A. and M.A. in anthropology from the University of Texas at Arlington and is completing her Ph.D. in anthropology through Syracuse University. Her research interests include the intersection of race, consumerism, and social practice; antebellum slavery; structural violence; historical memory; gender; and migration. Lori is the archaeology lab supervisor at Poplar Forest and is involved in artifact processing, material cultural analysis and interpretation, curation, and exhibits. Her dissertation focuses on the social relations and materiality of slavery at Poplar Forest during the antebellum period. Lori feels privileged to have the opportunity to study antebellum slavery at Poplar Forest because the ongoing archaeological excavations at Poplar Forest over the past 19 years have produced a rich and unique set of data with great research potential.

Liz Paull
Staff Archaeologist
liz@poplarforest.org

Liz Paull received her B.S. in History and Social Studies from Radford College. She earned an M.A. in History from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and a C.A.S. in Humanities and Social Sciences from Hollins College. Liz has worked as a laboratory assistant at Poplar Forest since 1999. Her responsibilities include artifact processing, material culture research, exhibit preparation, collections management, working with volunteers, and cataloguing. Liz’ invaluable institutional memory has enhanced our understanding of connections between various sub-sites at Poplar Forest and has contributed to continuity with ongoing research projects, particularly cross-mending and minimum vessel counts.

Consultants and Ongoing Collaborations

Barbara Heath (University of Tennessee)
2008 Wingos Quarter Field School

Walter Klippel (University of Tennessee)
Zooarchaeology

Randy Lichtenberger (University of Virginia / Virginia Department of Transportation)
Friends of New London Archaeology Project

Sarah Sherwood and Jason Windingstad (University of Tennessee)
Geoarchaeology

Heather Trigg and Susan Jacobucci (UMASS Boston)
Archaeobotanicals

Lisa Young (Alexandria Conservation Services)
Artifact Conservation