Katharine Napora, PhD
Assistant Professor, Graduate Advisor
Office: SO177; Phone: 561-297-0408; Email: knapora@fau.edu
Faculty Affiliate, School of Environmental, Coastal, and Ocean Sustainability
Faculty Affiliate, Environment & Society, College of Arts & Letters, Florida Atlantic University
Education
Ph.D., Anthropology, The University of Georgia, 2021
M.A., Social Sciences, The University of Chicago, 2012
B.A., Archaeology, The University of Virginia, 2011
Courses Taught at Florida Atlantic University
ANT 2410 Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
ANT 3114 Stones & Bones: Unearthing the Past
ANT 3143 Archaeology of Europe
ANT 3312 Native American Culture & Society
ANT 4116/ANG 6905 Research Methods in Archaeology
ANT 4158 Florida Archaeology
ANT 4930/ANG 6930 Zooarchaeology
Research Interests
Environmental Archaeology, Public Archaeology, Heritage Science Methods, Historic Maritime Industries, Mollusks, Trees & Wood, Conservation Paleobiology
I am an environmental archaeologist, and I use heritage science methods like radiocarbon and tree-ring dating, elemental and chemical analyses, and 3D scanning to study the relationships between societies and coastal environments. I am particularly passionate about collaborative research that employs scientific methods and operationalizes data on the ancient world to benefit communities, conservation, education, and restoration in the 21st century.
My new interdisciplinary, community-based research program, COMPASS (Contemporary Oceanscapes and Maritime Pasts of Adaptive Science and Stewardship), examines how historic maritime industries like oyster canneries, coastal timber operationsm, fish factories, and shipyards have left lasting legacies on our modern landscapes, environments, and communities. The COMPASS team includes researchers and students in engineering, history, data science, biology, education, cultural anthropology, public policy, and archaeology. Partners on COMPASS include the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Salisbury University, the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, and the Maryland Park Service. We are currently working at sites on the Eastern Shore and Georgia Coast.
I am also conducting research at the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse Outstanding Natural Area (ONA) in northern Palm Beach County, which represents over five millennia of human occupation; this work is in partnershup with the Florida Public Archaeology Network, Lynn University, and the Bureau of Land Management. My work is currently being funded by the Bureau of Land Management, Florida Atlantic University's School of Environmental, Coastal, and Ocean Sustainability, and the College of Arts and Letters.
I serve as the Lead Scientific Advisor for Florida Atlantic Univerity's K-12 Laboratory Schools' educational archaeological program. This in-depth, collaborative program includes a highly realist replica archaeological site modelled on the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse ONA, with Ancestral Indigenous components as well as 19th century lighthouse keepers' structures and a Seminole trading camp as was developed with the guidance of the Seminole Tribe of Florida's Historic Preservation office.
My graduate students work on a wide array of thesis projects, including developing K-12 educational programming to support state standards, researching Florida Atlantic University's WWII history as the Boca Raton Army Air Field, identifying faunal material from archaeological sites in Palm Beach County, conducting charcoal analysis to learn about ancient and historic fire regimes and anthropogenic land management, and creating digital records of structures and watercraft for historic preservation.
Recent Funding
Principal Investigator, WLW-ECOS Interdisciplinary Research Award, Florida Atlantic University School of Environmental, Coastal, and Ocean Sustainability. 2026. "Historical Ecological & Economic Influence of American Maritime Industries: Chesapeake Bay Pilot Study." $80,000.
Co-Principal Investigator. U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management Financial Assistance Cooperative Agreement. 2023. "Your Public Lands at Risk." NOFO No. L23AS00170. Award for 5 years totaling $474,693.
Principal Investigator. Florida Atlantic University School of Environmental, Coastal, and Ocean Sustainability. Seed Grant. 2024. "Examining Cultural Temporalities, Paleoenvironment, and Resource Sustainability at the Jupiter Inlet Complex, Palm Beach County, Florida." $19,108.
Recent Publications
2025 Napora, Katharine G., Alanna Lecher, Alexander Cherkinsky, Robert Horan, Craig Jacobs, Blaine Tyler, and Victor D. Thompson. Subfossil Bald Cypress Trees Suggest Localized, Enduring Effects of Major Climatic Episodes on the Southeast Atlantic Coast of the United States. PNAS 122(24): e2421181122. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2421181122.
2025 Lecher, Alanna, Katharine G. Napora, Sara Ayers-Rigsby, Malachi Fenn, Melissa Lehman, Peter De Witt, and John Sullivan. A Framework for a Sustainable Archaeology Field School in South Florida. Sustainability 17(2): 588. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17020588.
2024 Thompson, Victor D., Karen Y. Smith, Matthew Sanger, Carey J. Garland, Thomas J. Pluckhahn, Katharine G. Napora, Jennifer Dodd Bedell, Carla Hadden, Alex Cherkinsky, Rachel Cajigas, Elliot Blair, Anna Semon, and David Hurst Thomas. The Dynamics of Fishing Villages Along the South Atlantic Coast of North America (ca. 5000 to 3000 years BP). Scientific Reports 14(4691). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-55047-z.
2024 Hadden, Carla, Katharine G. Napora, and Brent Tharp. "Approximate" Wiggle-Match Dating Applied to Early American Museum Objects. Radiocarbon 66(6):1616-1629. https://doi.org/10.1017/RDC.2023.127.
2024 Ayers-Rigsby, Sara, Katharine G. Napora, Alanna L. Lecher, Malachi Fenn, John Sullivan and Peter De Witt. "Your Program Was The Only Field Experience I Had": Using Partnerships to Collaborate for a Locally Accessible Field School at the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse Outstanding Natural Area, Florida. The Society for American Archaeology Archaeological Record 24(5):37-41.
https://mydigitalpublication.com/publication/?i=835963
2023 Napora, Katharine G., George M. Crothers, Carla S. Hadden, Lisa Guerre, Laura J. Waldman, Hugo Reyes-Centeno, James Keppeler, Madeline Imler, Edward Jakaitis, Alexander Metz, and Philip Mink. Multi-Method Analysis of a Historic Wooden Trough from Kentucky, USA: A Case Study in Corroborating Artifact Oral Histories with Heritage Science. Heritage Science 11(235). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40494-023-01075-3.
2022 Cramb, Justin, Brandon T. Ritchison, Carla S. Hadden, Qian Zhang, Edgar Alarcon-Tinajero, Xianyan Chen, K.C. Jones, Travis Jones, Katharine G. Napora, Matthew Veres, and Victor D. Thompson. The Changing Profile of Tenure-Track Faculty in Archaeology. Advances in Archaeological Practice 10(4): 371-381. https://doi.org/10.1017/aap.2022.8.