Our latest Member Spotlight is on Jayde Hirniak, Postdoctoral Research Scholar at the Institute of Human Origins at Arizona State University, and 2024 winner of the SAS Student and ECR Research Support Award.

Jayde investigates modern human origins through the impact of catastrophic events on human societies through geochemical and geoarchaeological methods including tephrochronology and cryptotephra analysis, silcrete sourcing, site formation processes. Jayde’s dissertation research used tephrochronology to link archaeological and environmental records throughout South Africa and assess the impact of volcanic eruptions on past populations by investigating for the first time in this region the geochemical make up of volcanic material, while her further postdoctoral research expands on this work through offering novel methodological advancements.

Jayde is passionate about working in the field and teaching and considers mentoring young students as very important but also fun. In her own words “when I am in the field, I don’t feel like I am working and it is when I am most creative.” Jayde finds there is something special about visiting the sites one often reads about and get to be a part of the data collection process. If Jayde had a time travel machine she would go back to the Western Cape of South Africa to observe how people lived and see if we are interpreting the archaeological record correctly. Of course, with the caveat of being able to come back! When not in the lab, Jayde enjoys the mountains, typically on a bike.

Get in touch! SAS members can always highlight their research through our Spotlight program: www.socarchsci.org/communications/sas-spotlights