Personal Statement
My research interests focus on the late Palaeolithic and early Neolithic prehistory and palaeoecology of Southwest Asia and the Eastern Mediterranean, including the Pleistocene-Holocene transition, human responses to climate and environmental change, and the archaeology of hunter-gatherers and the transition from foraging to farming. I also specialise in anthracology: the study of wood charcoals retrieved from archaeological sites and interpreted as proxies of prehistoric woodland vegetation habitats and cultural selection of wood as fuel and raw material. This research focus is reflected in my published work and my involvement over the last 25 years in collaborative projects in several countries in these regions (Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Cyprus, Lebanon, and Greece).

Research Overview
Since 2013 I have directed as Principal Investigator two major field projects: the Unfamiliar Landscapes project in the Konya plain of central Turkey investigating the local palaeoenvironmental context of the transition from foraging to farming (funded by the Leverhulme Trust) and the Eastern Fertile Crescent Prehistory project in the northwest Zagros of the Kurdistan Region of northern Iraq (KRI) exploring late Palaeolithic habitation, economic and cultural practices, and palaeoenvironments in collaboration with the Sulaymaniyah Directorate of Antiquities & Heritage (funded by the Wenner Gren Foundation, the Leverhulme Trust, the G.A. Wainwright Fund for Near Eastern Archaeology, and the British Institute for the Study of Iraq).

In 2023 I and my team are returning to the KRI with a new field project ("Last hunter-gatherers of the Eastern Fertile Crescent") excavating and surveying late Palaeolithic and early Neolithic habitations in the Sulaymaniyah Governorate, with the generous support of the Gerda Henkel Stiftung.

Major research projects I am currently collaborating with include the Karahan Tepe project in the Şanlıurfa Province of southeast Turkey (directed by Professor Necmi Karul of Istanbul University as part of the Taş Tepeler project) and the Çayönü Tepesi project in the Diyarbakır Province of southeast Turkey (directed by Professor Aslı Erim Özdoğan of Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University). I am also collaborating in the study of archaeobotanical remains from the recent excavations at Shanidar Cave in the Erbil Governorate (KRI) directed by Graeme Barker (Cambridge), Tim Reynolds (Birkbeck University of London) and Chris Hunt (LJMU).

The Liverpool Archaeobotany Laboratory facilities comprise a state-of-the-art research microscopy suite including a Keyence VX7100 4K ultra-high accuracy digital microscope, and several stereo zoom microscopes and reflected/transmitted light (BF/DF) microscopes which are used for archaeobotanical and anthracological analyses. Other archaeobotanical resources include a specialist collection of botanical publications and identification manuals, and a reference collection comprising modern charred wood and seed, nut and fruit specimens primarily from Southwest Asia, Italy and Greece. These facilities support undergraduate, Masters, PhD and postdoctoral research projects. The departmental Professor Elizabeth Slater Archaeological Research Laboratories also provide access to an in-house SEM with an automated sputter coater, a stable isotope preparation lab and a GIS suite.