Jack Gary
Director of Archaeology and Landscapes
jack@poplarforest.org
Jack Gary joined Poplar Forest in 2006, thrilled to take the reins of a department with such an important archaeological legacy. He received his undergraduate training in anthropology and history at the College of William and Mary and a Masters degree in Historical Archaeology from the University of Massachusetts Boston. He has conducted research in Virginia, New York, and Massachusetts with specific research interests in plantation landscapes, the material culture of marginalized communities, environmental investigations of historic landscapes, and applications of GIS to historical archaeology. Jack feels that interdisciplinary collaborative efforts with educational and research oriented institutions, both locally and nationally, have the potential to explode our understanding of Poplar Forest as a plantation and private retreat.

Eric Proebsting
Associate Archaeologist
eric@poplarforest.org
Eric Proebsting is a recent arrival and excited about the opportunity to be part of the ongoing work at Poplar Forest. He received his B.S. in history from Truman State University, his M. A. in Historical Archaeology from the University of Massachusetts Boston, and his PhD in Environmental Dynamics through the University of Arkansas. Past research includes site formation processes, landscape archaeology, historical ecology, and the social and environmental history of 19th-century farming communities. Eric is actively involved in all aspects of Poplar Forest’s archaeology program, and is currently focused on the ongoing investigations of Sites A and B; the social and environmental history of the 18th and 19th-century farming community that surrounded Poplar Forest; the use of digital technologies to present historical archaeology to the public; and the creation of a new geodatabase to serve as a living document for the department’s spatial data from past, present, and future research.

Lori Lee
Archaeology Lab Supervisor
lori@poplarforest.org
Lori Lee has been conducting ongoing research at Poplar Forest over the last several years. She received her B.A. and M.A. in anthropology from the University of Texas at Arlington and is completing her Ph.D. in anthropology through Syracuse University. Her research interests include the intersection of race, consumerism, and social practice; antebellum slavery; structural violence; historical memory; gender; and migration. Lori is the archaeology lab supervisor at Poplar Forest and is involved in artifact processing, material cultural analysis and interpretation, curation, and exhibits. Her dissertation focuses on the social relations and materiality of slavery at Poplar Forest during the antebellum period. Lori feels privileged to have the opportunity to study antebellum slavery at Poplar Forest because the ongoing archaeological excavations at Poplar Forest over the past 24 years have produced a rich and unique set of data with great research potential.

Archaeology Department Consultants and Ongoing Collaborations

Eileen Ernenwein (University of Arkansas)
GIS and Remote Sensing

Barbara Heath (University of Tennessee)
Wingos Quarter Field School

Walter Klippel (University of Tennessee)
Zooarchaeology

Randy Lichtenberger (University of Virginia / Virginia Department of Transportation)
Friends of New London Archaeology Project

Sarah Sherwood and Jason Windingstad (University of Tennessee)
Geoarchaeology

Heather Trigg, Susan Jacobucci, Jessica Bowes (UMASS Boston)
Paleoethnobotany