Our Team
Get to know our team below and learn about the diverse expertise and unique perspectives that drive our research. From fieldwork to groundbreaking studies, we are dedicated to uncovering and sharing the rich history of Black life in New England through archaeological research.
Dr. Nedra K. Lee
she/her
Associate Professor, Anthropology Department
Nedra Lee examines the intersection of race, class, sex, and gender in the lives of African Americans during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Although her research primarily focuses on freed Black landowners in the United States South and Southwest, she has a growing interest in the archaeology of New England and partnered with Dr. David Landon of the Andrew Fiske Memorial Center for Archaeological Research in overseeing archaeological excavations of the historic Boston-Higginbotham House on Nantucket Island, Massachusetts in 2014. Dr. Lee has received funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the Texas Historical Commission and previously worked for the Smithsonian Institution Libraries and the City Museum of Washington, DC.
Enoch S. Koomson
he/him
Graduate Student
Enoch Koomson is currently a fourth-year student in the Historical Archaeology master’s program at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Originally from Ghana, he earned a bachelor's degree in Archaeology and Psychology from the University of Ghana. Enoch's research focuses on smoking pipes from Sylvester Manor, exploring how Anglo-Dutch hostilities influenced tobacco pipe consumption and trade networks in the Atlantic world. Also, he has participated in archaeological projects in both Ghana and the United States. In Ghana, he worked on the Axim Archaeological Project, studying the pre-European lifeways of the Brawire people of Axim. In the U.S., he contributed to the Eastern Pequot Archaeological Field School, gaining experience in Indigenous archaeology and colonial interactions.
Ella T. Virkler
She/her
Graduate Student
Ella Virkler is currently a third-year student in the Historical Archaeology master’s program at the University of Massachusetts Boston. She graduated from Wake Forest University in the spring of 2024 with majors in Anthropology and History and a minor in Jewish Studies. While at Wake, she worked in archaeological laboratories and conducted projects ranging from ceramics to faunal materials. At UMB, she is researching the faunal remains at Sylvester Manor, where she is particularly interested in gathering data regarding the cattle that were raised, lived, and died on the property.
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Micaela Pardue
she/her
Graduate Student
Micaela Pardue is a second-year MA student in the Historical Archaeology program at UMass Boston. She completed her undergraduate studies in 2023 at Missouri State University (MSU) with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Anthropology, with a focus in archaeology, and a Bachelor of Science in Education in History. After graduating, Micaela worked as an archaeological technician for the Ouachita National Forest in Arkansas along with Missouri State University’s Center for Archaeological Research. She has an interest in the lives of marginalized groups, particularly black Americans and other people of color, including their everyday lives, resistance, gender dynamics, and cultural persistence in colonial contexts, with a focus on the intersectionality of race and gender.
Alexandria Misick
she/her
Graduate Student
Alexandria Misick is currently a second-year student in the Historical Archaeology master’s program at the University of Massachusetts Boston. She earned a degree in Anthropological Sciences from Ohio State University. Alexandria has an interest in Caribbean archaeology and Black Feminist archaeology with a focus on the memory sense and forgetting of enslaved people in the Northeast. She has previously completed an internship in collections management and is currently working on Indexing and updating NEAAAL's collections materials. Alexandria is excited to work more on understanding the experiences of Black people in the Northeast and creating mindful narratives surrounding Black communities.
Tess Ostoyich
She/her
Graduate Student
Tess Ostoyich is currently a third-year student in the Historical Archaeology master’s program at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Prior to coming to UMass Boston, Tess worked in the Chesapeake.
Links to Our Partners
