I received a BS in Biochemistry, BA in Classical Civilization, and a post-baccalaureate certificate in Classics from the University of California, Los Angeles, an MA in Classical Archaeology from the Florida State University, and PhD from the Graduate Group in Ancient History and Mediterranean Archaeology at the University of California, Berkeley. Before joining the Department of Classics at Princeton University in Fall 2018, I was a fellow of the American Academy in Rome (2016-2017) and lived in Rome for two years.
My research focuses on the history of the Roman Empire and draws on material, textual, and visual evidence to study the socio-economic history of non-elites under Roman rule, ancient food and agriculture; technology, craft production, and labor; and urban and rural relations. I am a field archaeologist and have participated in various projects in Italy, including the , , and . I am currently the head of ceramics for the , an excavation project that investigates a city block to study the long-term development of Pompeii and its economy and infrastructure. I have published articles and chapters on craft production, workshop knowledge and working conditions, food storage technology, and agriculture as well as editions of papyri.
My first book, Dolia: the Containers that Made Rome an Empire of Wine (Princeton University Press, 2024), examines the dolium, a large ceramic storage container capable of holding from hundreds to over three thousand liters, to provide insights into storage technologies, various types of craft production, and the workforces behind one of the largest food systems of the pre-modern world. I am currently working on a new book that studies marble use and the development of sculptural techniques over time through the lens of emperor portraits.
