I am a paleoanthropologist exploring technological and behavioral innovations in early modern humans.My major research interests include stone tool technology, the emergence complex behavior, and the heat treatment of lithic raw materials.

 Currently my work focuses on the Middle to Later Stone Age transitional period in southern Africa, where I investigate technological and social responses to rapidly changing climate conditions at the end of the Pleistocene. My research centers around a newly discovered archaeological site along the southern coast of South Africa, Knysna Eastern Heads Cave 1, with occupational periods dating to a time when we have little information on human activity in the region. I am examining stone tool technology in hopes of putting innovations in human behavior, material culture, and landscape use into context within the larger picture of human evolution.