Dr. Stefani A. Crabtree

Archaeology. Computational Social Science. Archaeoecology. Ethnography. Environmental Science.

Dr. Stefani A. Crabtree is a multidisciplinary scholar blending the fields or archaeology and ecology. Her research applies complex systems science modeling methodologies (such as agent-based modeling and network science) to problems in social science and ecology. Dr. Crabtree has two Ph.D.s,; one from Washington State University (Anthropology, 2016) and one from the Université de Franche-Comté (Maison des Sciences de l’Homme et l’Environnement, 2017). She has recently been promoted to Associate Professor in Social-Environmental Modeling in the Department of Environment and Society of the Quinney College of Natural Resources at Utah State University after having gone up for tenure 3.5 years early. She is also External Professor at the Santa Fe Institute. She additionally holds affiliation at Crow Canyon Archaeological Center and the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage.

ArchaeoEcology

My research explores the impacts of human/environment interaction and examines how the actions and interactions of individuals can have large overarching consequences for ecosystems and society.

Fieldwork

I am co-director of the Northern Mongolia Archaeology Discovery in Science, lead fieldwork in the back country of Mesa Verde, in Gaulish France, and in the Western Desert of Australia.

Agent-Based Modeling

I use agent-based modeling (ABM) to examine how the interactions among people and between people and their environments led to the development of complex society.

Crabtree’s paper in Nature Human Behaviour was the Winner of the 2021 Hyperion Research Innovation Excellence Award. This is the first time archaeology has won this award, sponsored by NASA and others.
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