Smiti Nathan

Assistant Director of Life Design

I employ design thinking informed methods to help students. My efforts focus on offering a framework to help them reflect, connecting them to diverse mentors, and supporting immersive experiences.

Co-Director

I work closely with the PI to administer the project. My responsibilities include coordinating and administering on-the-ground fieldwork across ARWHO’s multi-disciplinary international teams; co-creating manuscripts for peer-reviewed publications; proposing and implementing community engagement initiatives; steering research surrounding plant use in the Yanqul region; designing and implementing a broad range of geospatial technologies

Archaeobotanist

I design and implement archaeobotanical strategies for the archaeological site of Beta Samati. Some of my responsibilities include designing an archaeobotany strategy and translating it excavation supervisors and workers; creating, managing, and executing protocols and workflows for the in-country processing of archaeobotanical materials; exporting and analyzing archaeobotanical remains to answer questions surrounding Aksumite food choice.

CLIR Postdoctoral Fellow in Geospatial Data Discovery, Access, Management, and Curation

I was awarded a national Council on Libraries and Information Resources Postdoctoral Fellowship to support university patrons in managing and sharing their geospatial research data. 

Design Thinking Intern

Worked closely with the Senior User Experience Designer to conduct user experience research to support ongoing innovation cycles at Digital Innovation Partners and actively contribute to the success of the digital transformation at ZEISS.

Field Director of Archaeological Survey

I designed and implemented survey strategies aimed at locating new archaeological sites for ARWHO. I oversaw ground survey expeditions (Yanqul, Oman); created and managed workflows for the collection, processing, and analysis of archaeological artifacts and environmental data collected in the field; used geospatial technologies (e.g., ESRI ArcGIS, Google Earth, ERDAS Imagine) to manage and analyze different types of data (e.g., archaeological, environmental, interpretative); ensured fieldwork and analyses stay on track with the project’s goals and timeline

Field Director and Archaeobotanist

Initially, my role focused on designing and executing a 2-year comprehensive archaeobotany survey to examine the plants that Bronze Age inhabitants were using at Bat – a UNESCO World Heritage site. After my first year, I was promoted to Field Director and my responsibilities expanded into directing excavations, while continuing to lead BAP’s archaeobotany program.

Co-Instructor

New York University’s Science and Technology Entry Program (STEP) is a program for New York City middle and high school students. STEP aims to expose students to college-level science and technology topics through extra-curricular instruction and experiences on the weekend. I served as a Co-Instructor for the Anthropology course.

Adjunct Instructor

I taught laboratory sections (up to 40 students) for the introductory level archaeology course, ‘Early Societies and Culture’. I crafted tailored lessons to promote comprehension of complex concepts, especially those pertaining to the archaeological sciences.

Survey Supervisor & Remote Sensing Analyst

I joined SRSAH in 2011 as a Survey Supervisor and the Remote Sensing Analyst. As the team was awarded grants by NASA, the Archaeological Institute of America, and National Geographic, I transitioned to spearheading the team’s archaeobotanical program. 

Geospatial Analyst I – Team Lead

I lead a team (2-4 people) as we analyzed global change through land cover analysis on LANDSAT imagery for a global mapping project. I provided technical and analytical guidance to team members, while liaising between project management and analyst teams to work towards completing the project’s goals.

PhD Anthropology (Archaeology)

MSc GIS & Spatial Analysis in Archaeology

BA Archaeology & Anthropology