I am a PhD candidate at Berkeley currently working on completing the fieldwork portion of my dissertation research on three traditional Hawaiian communities in Kalaupapa, Hawai'i.

My dissertation research is an extension of my general interest in the development of social complexity and touches a broad range other topics including the issue of scale in archaeological research, the integration of ethnohistory and archaeology, religion and ritual practices, and agricultural development. My technical areas of expertise are primarily spatial technology and lithics and my general research interests include: landscape archaeology, geographic information systems (GIS), and historical anthropology.

I first became interested in archaeology as a teenager growing up in Newark, Delaware. In 1997, I earned my B.A. (magna cum laude) in Anthropology and American Studies from the University of New Mexico. After graduation, I took my first step to study Oceanic archaeology – I moved to New Zealand and began the graduate program at the University of Auckland.

During my graduate work at the University of Auckland I began working in the Hawaiian Islands as part of a research project run by my former advisor Thegn N. Ladefoged (University of Auckland) and Michael W. Graves (University of Hawaii at Manoa). The project – located in the continuously modified landscape of the North Kohala field system, Hawaii Island - employs an innovative methodology that takes advantage of the capability of GPS and GIS technologies in recording features in the field, storing data, and spatial analysis. My masters research centered on identifying pathways of agricultural development and the development of the Hawaiian territorial land tenure system. I was awarded a masters degree in 2000 (First Class Honours). In the time between my undergraduate and master degrees, and prior to beginning the graduate program here at Berkeley in 2001, I worked on many memorable cultural resource management and research projects in the Southwest, Polynesia, and Micronesia.

Building on an initial study by Patrick Kirch, my dissertation project focuses on the pre-European contact (A.D. 1000 to 1778) and early historic era (A.D. 1778-1866) on the Kalaupapa Peninsula. Located at the base of Moloka'i Island’s massive north shore cliffs, this isolated peninsula is best know for its historic settlement for people with Hansen’s disease (also known as leprosy). The last of the settlement’s “patients” still live in Kalaupapa today although the town has not been quarantined for over 35 years. In 1980, the Kalaupapa National Historical Park was created to preserve the local historical, archaeological, and natural landscapes. Indeed, the excellent preservation of the archaeological record, natural isolation, rich ethnohistoric record, and long occupation of this area make it ideal for a comparative analysis of community development.
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Publications

in press The Lands of Hina: An archaeological overview and assessment of Kalaupapa National Historical Park,
Moloka'i Island, Hawai'i. Research Corporation of the University of Hawai’i/National Park Service, U.S.
Department of the Interior, Honolulu. [138 pp., i-vii, 18 figs, 11 tables.

2004 Book review of Defining the Pacific: Opportunities and Constrains (The Pacific World: Lands, People,
and History of the Pacific), 1500-1900, Vol. 1)” edited by P.W. Blank and F. Spier. Pacific Affairs
76(4):688.

2003 Archaeological Evidence for Agricultural Development in Kohala, Island of Hawai'i. Journal of Archaeological Science 30:923-41. (with T.N. Ladefoged and M.W. Graves)

Presentations

2003 Session Organizer: Kalaupapa Archaeology - Society for Hawaiian Archaeology - 16th Annual Meeting of SHA, Oct. 24-26, Kaneohe, Oahu, with J. Holson.

2003 Ancient Communities and Agricultural Development on the Kalaupapa Peninsula, Moloka’i Island, Hawaiii. Paper presented at the 16th Annual Meeting of the Society for Hawaiian Archaeology. Kaneohe, Oahu. Oct. 24-26.

2003 Public Outreach Community Talk. McVeigh Social Hall, Kalaupapa, Hawai?i.

2003 Session Organizer: From the Household to the Community: Implementing Multiscalar Research on Social Organization in the Islands of Oceania - Society for American Archaeology - 68th Annual Meeting of SAA, Apr. 9-13, Milwaukee, with J.G. Kahn. Discussant: Michael Kolb

2003 Social Organization and Community Structure in the Hawaiian Islands: Developing the archaeology of communities on the Kalaupapa Peninsula, Moloka’i Island, Hawai?i. Paper presented at the 68th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Apr. 9-13, 2003, Milwaukee.

2002 Between the Pali and the Sea: A report on recent surveys in the Kalaupapa National Historical Park, Moloka'i. Presented at the Society for Hawaiian Archaeology Speaker Series, Honolulu, Aug. 21.

2002 Public Outreach Community Talk. McVeigh Social Hall, Kalaupapa, Hawai'i.

2001 An overview of University of Hawai'i research on prehistoric agricultural and social development in Kohala, Hawai'i Island. (with M.W. Graves., L.J. Perry, and T.N. Ladefoged) Paper presented by M.W. Graves at the 2001 Annual Meeting of the Society for Hawaiian Archaeology, Kahului, Hawai'i, Oct. 5-7.

2001 Studying Large Scale Agriculture in the Pacific: Lessons learned from research on the Kohala dry land system. (with T.N. Ladefoged and M.W. Graves) Paper presented by M.D. McCoy at the 66th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, New Orleans, Apr. 18-22.

2000 Multiple Trajectories of Agricultural Development in Kohala, Hawai'i. (with T.N. Ladefoged and M.W. Graves) Paper presented by M.D. McCoy at the Pacific 2000 International Congress of Easter Island and Pacific Studies, Waimea, Hawai'i, Aug. 7-12.

1997 Competition and Conflict in the prehistoric Southwest: A case study. First Annual Undergraduate Anthropology Conference, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque.

Research Projects and Reports

2003 Report on Kalaupapa Peninsula Archaeological Project 2003. On file with NPS. [24 pp., 3 figs, 5 tables]

2002 Report on Kalaupapa Peninsula Archaeological Project 2002. On file with NPS. [10 pp., 1 figs]

2000 A Comparison of the Accuracy of GPS Data Correction Using Two Alternative Base Stations: Leeward Community College vs. Kaloko-Honokohau. IARII, Inc., Internal Report. [2 pp.]

2000 Agricultural Intensification and Land Tenure in prehistoric Hawai?i. Masters Thesis, University of Auckland, New Zealand. [148 pp., i-xi, 89 figs, 24 tables]

1998 Visibility Analysis of Fortified Pa: A case study from the coastal polity of Te Awanga, Cape Kidnappers, New Zealand. Unpublished manuscript. [20 pp., 5 figs, 2 tables]

1997 Competition and conflict in the prehistoric Southwest: A case study of cavate features in the Middle Rio Grand Valley, New Mexico. Senior Honors Thesis. [34pp., 6 figs]
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