Assistant Professor of Anthropology
Ph.D., Arizona State University
Research Interests: Using GIS to address questions of human
ecology; ancient environmental degradation in desert regions
Over the last 25 years Brett has conducted archaeological research in seven countries
on three continents, and covering time spans from the Upper Paleolithic more than
20,000 years ago to the Middle Ages. Since the early 1990’s he has used Geographic
Information Systems (GIS) to address questions of human ecology and has focused
especially on ancient environmental degradation in desert regions. Research with
colleagues at Arizona State University on the
Mediterranean Landscape Dynamics Project and with colleagues at
Archaeology Southwest
in Tucson emphasize the relationships among ancient farmers and pastoralists, and
the land and water resources critical to their survival in an arid environment.
Brett is particularly interested in lessons from the past for contemporary problems
of environmental degradation and brings these insights to the classroom for example
in his “Human Impact on Ancient Environments” course at Hendrix.
Digital technology brings tremendous capability to analyses such as these and
Brett has been active in the development and use of GIS in environmental archaeology.
Among the many GIS applications he has pioneered include techniques for
estimating agricultural potential,
rates of erosion,
population size and density, spatial potential for
social networking, the effects of
terrain on climate, and the likelihood of
heritage tourism negatively impacting archaeological sites. Research on these
and related issues has been supported by numerous grants from the National Science
Foundation and resulted in more than 50 professional publications. Brett teaches
GIS at Hendrix and has frequently involved students in his GIS research using databases
he developed for Jordan and American Southwest. He has also taken students on
archaeological field schools in New Mexico, and most recently on an
archaeological tour of
France.