AEA ELECTIONS 2012

The AEA Managing Committee elections will be held during the Annual General Meeting on Saturday 10^th November 2012 in Reading. 

We will be asking you to vote for three new Ordinary Committee Members and one new Student Representative to join the managing committee. We can accept nominations for the positions up until the time of the election. Currently we have four candidates standing for the positions, each has supplied a short personal statement, which can be found below. The current committee members can be found on our webpage  http://www.envarch.net/membership/committee.html

How do I vote?

Voting slips will be distributed at all members attending the AGM. If you are not able to attend the AGM in person, you can vote through a proxy (someone who is attending the AGM and is willing to vote on your behalf, in addition to their own vote). To do this, you need to give a signed statement or send an email appointing your proxy to any member of the AEA committee, at any time before the AGM. Don’t forget to tell your proxy who you wish to vote for! Members of the committee can act as your proxy, you’ll find a list of committee members and their contact details on our website http://www.envarch.net/membership/committee.html . If you have any queries about absentee voting, please contact the AEA secretary Fay Worley ([log in to unmask]).

How do I stand for election?

If you wish to stand, but have not yet done so, please contact the AEA secretary Fay Worley ([log in to unmask]), before the AGM begins. You will need to be a paid up member of the AEA, and you will also need two further paid up members to nominate and second you. Please contact Fay for any further queries about the elections. 

THE CANDIDATES

Standing for Ordinary Member (three positions available; four year term)

Dr Alexandra Livarda, Lecturer in Archaeology, University of Nottingham

Proposed by Dr Mike Charles, Seconded by Dr Emily Forster

I have been a Lecturer in the Department of Archaeology of the University of Nottingham since 2011, specialising in archaeobotany. I hold a Ph.D.from the University of Leicester (2008), for which I investigated the introduction and dispersal patterns of various exotic food plants in north-western Europe during the Roman and medieval periods, after completing an M.Sc. in Environmental Archaeology (University of Sheffield) and a B.Sc. Hons. in Environmental Science (Coventry University). Over the course of the past 12 years I have been involved in all facets of environmental archaeology, and archaeobotany in particular. Apart from my current academic post, I worked as a Research Associate on the NERC-funded project ‘Origins of Agriculture, an Ecological Perspective on Crop Domestication’ directed by Prof. G. Jones, Dr M. Charles and Dr C. Osborne (University of Sheffield), and prior to that as a Research Assistant to Dr Amy Bogaard (Oxford University) on the archaeobotany of the Çatalhöyük Research Project, Turkey. I have also worked as an archaeobotanist in the Human Environment Team of the Museum of London Archaeology, and as a free-lance archaeobotanist for several years, during which I worked on a variety of projects mainly in the UK and Greece. This work allowed me to deeply appreciate both the limitations that researchers in the commercial sector frequently face, and their invaluable experience and contribution to the discipline through provision of the raw data upon which much research is based. In terms of my research I am particularly interested in the archaeology of food, the social geographies of plants, the role of exotic plants, and the socio-cultural dimension of human-plant interactions.

I have been a member of the AEA since the beginning of my career as an archaeobotanist in 2000 and I hope that I will be now given the opportunity to become one of its committee members. I believe that with my experience, my understanding of both the academic and commercial sectors, my multidisciplinary educational background and my strong dedication to the discipline, I will be a valuable member of the committee and contribute to the promotion and advancement of Environmental Archaeology.

Mr Don O’Mera, Environmental Officer, Wardell-Armstrong Archaeology

Proposed by Gill Campbell, Seconded by Dr Ruth Pelling

I studied for a BA in Archaeology and History at University College Cork (UCC) where my interest in Environmental Archaeology began through the lectures of the archaeobotanist Mick Monk. After completing my MA under Mick’s supervision (on the topic of the problems integrating earth science information, particularly dendrochronology, into archaeological narratives), I began working for North Pennines Archaeology (now Wardell-Armstrong Archaeology), as an assistant to their archaeobotanist Trish Shaw. I have had a long interest in the work of taphonomic study, particularly the work of Michael Schiffer, and I began a Research MSc in Durham University under the supervision of Mike Church and Peter Rowley-Conwy. Through this study I am investigating the taphonomic effects of the human digestive system as a bias in the archaeobotanical record. I currently work full-time as the Environmental Officer for Wardell-Armstrong, undertaking archaeobotanical work and overseeing the utilisation of environmental archaeology at sites being investigated by the company.

I am interested in the presentation of Environmental Archaeology to the public and have presented workshops for the Newcastle Young Archaeologists Club and the West Cumbria Archaeology Society. As well as my work with the West Cumbria Archaeology Society I have presented talks to other Cumbria archaeology societies, particularly to the Friends of the Senhouse Museum and to the Appleby Archaeology Society. I have been employed by Newcastle University to act as their environmental archaeologist for the excavations at the Roman fort at Maryport, as well as presenting a number of seminars to Newcastle University undergraduates as part of their introduction to archaeological science. I have been a member of the AEA since my time at UCC, as well as an active participant in the Archaeobotany Working Group.

Standing for Student Representative (one position available; two year term)

Ms Hayley McParland, PhD student, University of York
Proposed by Dr Allan Hall, Seconded by Dr Ruth Pelling

I have recently begun an AHRC funded PhD at the University of York focusing on the production of a phytolith reference collection for East African plant species and the analysis of phytoliths from SongoMnara, Tanzania alongside other archaeobotanical techniques.  I previously completed a BA in Archaeology from the University of Exeter and an MSc in Wetland Archaeology and Environments at the same institution, specialising in Phytolith analysis but also receiving training in pollen analysis. I subsequently undertook a year as a self-funded Honorary Research Assistant, during which I co-organised a session based on environmental archaeology at MESO 2010 and continued my research into phytolith production and potential in British plant species. Throughout both degrees and the subsequent year of research I worked in commercial field archaeology, progressing to post-excavation and the processing of environmental samples after the completion of my Master’s degree. I have previously worked for Northern Archaeological Associates, Oxford Wessex Archaeology, John Moore Heritage Services and Wessex Archaeology, initially gaining experience of environmental sample processing, moving on to supervising and writing small assessment reports. I have worked on a range of projects, both large and small across the UK, including the East Kent Access Road Scheme. More recently I have supervised finds, environmental and archive processing at John Moore Heritage Services and post-excavation processing for Wessex Archaeology at their Rochester office.

I have been a member of the AEA for 3 years, and during this time I have attended the one day conference at the University of Birmingham and the Autumn Meeting in Amsterdam. It would be a wonderful opportunity to be elected Student Representative as it would allow me to share my enthusiasm and experience, encourage student membership and become more involved with the Association.

Miss Jade Whitlam, PhD student, University of Reading
Proposed by Dr Robin Bendrey, Seconded by Dr Andy Howard

I am an archaeobotanist and am currently in the second year of my PhD at the University of Reading. My research is undertaken as part of an inter-disciplinary project looking at the transition to agriculture and human sedentarisation in the Early Neolithic of the Central Zagros of Iran and Iraq. This involves working closely with a range of environmental archaeological specialists and understanding how these sub-disciplines integrate. I began my academic career as a biologist, completing a BA in Biological Sciences at the University of Oxford. Following this I studied for an MSc in Environmental Archaeology and Palaeoenvironments at the University of Birmingham.

I am applying for the role of student representative as I am keen to undertake a more active role in the AEA at present and in the future. Since I joined I have found the AEA to be highly supportive and encouraging of its student members and it has helped me foster links with a diverse range of environmental archaeologists both in commercial and academic research. I feel the links between universities and the commercial sector are particularly important both for the development of the discipline as a whole and the future progression of careers of current students. I would like to help promote the importance of environmental archaeology and the association within the wider community and nurture a greater awareness and participation at a student level both nationally and internationally.

It is through my role as part of the organising committee for the current conference and publicising the AEA that gave me the motivation to apply for this position as it has given me a greater awareness of what the association represents and the hard work needed by its members to make it successful. I am excited to put myself forward and I feel that I would make a valuable contribution as a member of the AEA committee.