Myra obtained her BA and MA in Anthropology from Wichita State University (1984, 1986) and her PhD from Ohio State University (1992). Her postgraduate work focused on bioarchaeology, focusing on health, disease, and biodistance of Native American skeletal collections from the Ohio Valley. Between 1993 and 2006, Myra worked for the US federal government, initially as a field archaeologist, but soon became involved with compliance work related to the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). She became the Bureau of Reclamation’s national lead on NAGPRA and the management of its museum property, working in Reclamation’s national policy office as a senior cultural resource manager. Since returning to academia in 2006, Myra is interested in the care of ancient monuments, contemporary issues facing heritage managers; fortified structures; collections/archaeological ethics; issues related to archaeological human remains; and reconciling records and extant human remains in collections to improve research capacity.
Dr Myra Giesen