Suzanne Pilaar Birch

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Associate Professor, Geography and Anthropology

Director, Quaternary Isotope Paleoecology Laboratory

Director, Center for Archaeological Sciences

Coordinator, Georgia Museum of Natural History Internship Program

Contact info

Email:

sepbirch@uga.edu

Office:

Geography-Geography & Geology Building 103

Anthropology-Baldwin Hall 265A

Lab-Geography & Geology Building 318

Research Interests:

I have a joint appointment in Geography and Anthropology and direct the Quaternary Isotope Paleoecology Lab. My research is focused on human adaptation and resilience to climate change and natural resource unpredictability in prehistory, and how our understanding of past human response to environmental change informs current thinking about these issues. I combine archaeology and biogeochemistry to investigate changes in diet, mobility, and settlement systems in the period spanning the end of the last ice age to the arrival of farming.

My other research interests include the initial domestication of livestock, diffusion of domesticates across Eurasia, the transition from hunting to herding, seasonality and human mobility, multispecies archaeology, and advancing methodologies in zooarchaeology and stable isotope analysis. I am an active advocate of open access publishing and online data and research sharing. I co-founded and moderate the blog TrowelBlazers, which highlights women in the fields of archaeology, paleontology, and geology. I am also an editor-in-chief of the open access journal for Quaternary science, Open Quaternary.

Google Scholar Page

Quaternary Isotope Paleoecology Lab

CV:

Pilaar Birch CV July 2021 public.pdf (337.67 KB)

Education

Education:

Ph. D. (2012), University of Cambridge, Archaeology
M. Phil. (2009), University of Cambridge, Archaeological Science
B. Sc. (2008), Rutgers University, Evolutionary Anthropology and Paleoecology

Grant Support

Grants:

[11] National Science Foundation. "Ancient Agrarian Responses to Environmental Stress across the Mediterranean, Levant to Sardinia” Co-PI with Patricia Fall and Steven Falconer et al. (total awarded $189,763; $55,377 to Pilaar Birch) 2021-2023

[10] National Science Foundation. “Neotoma Paleoecology Database, a Multi-Proxy, International, Community-Curated Data Resource for Global Change Research” Co-PI with Jack Williams et al. ($53,989 to Pilaar Birch)

[9] National Science Foundation. “Climate change and agrarian responses during the collapse and reemergence of Bronze Age urbanism in the Southern Levant” Co-PI with Steven Falconer and Patricia Fall et al. (total awarded $189,111; $67,699 to Pilaar Birch) 2019-2022

[8] University of Georgia Office of Experiential Learning. Innovation Grant. “Revamping the Georgia Museum of Natural History Internship Program” PI ($26,720) 2018-2020

[7] The Funk Foundation. “Passenger Pigeon Exploitation during the Holocene in New York State.” PI ($2,500) 2018-2019

[6] Arts and Humanities Research Council UK. “Radical Death and Early State Formation in the Ancient Near East” Co-PI with David Wengrow and Brenna Hassett (total awarded £550,000; $36,948 to Pilaar Birch) 2018-2022

[5] University of Georgia Research Foundation. Faculty Research Grant. “Archaeologically-Linked Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction” PI ($10,000) 2016-2017

[4] Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Connection Grant. “Reconstructing Hunter-Gatherer Mobility: Building New Inter-disciplinary Frameworks in the Quaternary” Co-PI with Julien Riel Salvatore and Rebecca Wragg Sykes ($15,612 CAD) 2015-2016

[3] UGA STEM Initiative Small Grants Program. “Enhancing and Diversifying Geosciences Instruction through Popular Gaming Platforms and Multi-user Virtual Environments (MUVES)” Co-PI with Marshall Shepherd, Jerry Shannon, and Thomas Mote ($8,000) 2015

[2] International Union for Quaternary Research (INQUA) Project Grant. “Reconstructing Hunter-Gatherer Mobility: Building New Inter-disciplinary Frameworks in the Quaternary” Co-PI with Rebecca Wragg Sykes and Julien Riel Salvatore (€4,000) 2015-2016

[1] National Geographic Committee for Research and Exploration. “Neolithization of Europe: New Zooarchaeological and Stable Isotope Evidence from Uğurlu Höyük, Gökçeada, Turkey” Co-PI with Levent Atici ($22,000) 2015-2016

Of Note

Of note:

Willson Center Fellowship, UGA 2021

Active Learning Summer Institute, UGA 2019

Southeastern Conference Faculty Travel Award, UGA 2017-2018

Faculty Leadership Institute Fellow, UGA 2017

President’s Venture Fund, UGA 2015

Sarah H. Moss Fellowship, Center for Teaching and Learning, UGA 2015

Lilly Teaching Fellowship, Center for Teaching and Learning, UGA 2015-2016

Online Learning Fellow, Franklin College, UGA 2014

Course Instruction

Courses Regularly Taught:

Research

Selected Publications:

[33] Pilaar Birch, S.E., Metzger, M., Ridder, E., Porson, S. Falconer, S.E., and P.L. Fall. 2022. Herd management and subsistence practices as inferred from isotopic analysis of animals and plants at Bronze Age Politiko-Troullia, Cyprus. PLOS ONE DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0275757

[32] Pilaar Birch, S.E. and Szpak, P. 2022. “Current Developments and Future Directions in Archaeological Science” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 119 (43) e2212490119. DOI: 10.1073/PNAS.2212490119

[31] Balk, M. (and 32 others, including S.E. Pilaar Birch). 2022. “A solution to the challenges of interdisciplinary aggregation and use of specimen-level trait data” iScience DOI: : https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2022.105101

[30] Fall, P.L, Richard, S., Pilaar Birch, S.E., Ridder, E., D’Andrea, M., Long, J.C. Jr., Hedges-Knyrim, G., Porson, S., Metzger, M., and S.E. Falconer. 2022. New AMS chronology for the Early Bronze III/IV Transition at Khirbat Iskandar, Jordan. Radiocarbon. DOI: 1-16. doi:10.1017/RDC.2022.2

[29] Pilaar Birch, S.E., Boz, B., and B. Erdoğu. 2021. “Isotope paleodietary analysis of humans from Chalcolithic Uğurlu, Gökçeada Island, Turkey” Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 39: 103136 DOI: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2021.103136

[28] Vaiglova, P., Reid, R.E.B., Lightfoot, E., Pilaar Birch, S.E., Hui, W., Li, S., and X. Liu. 2021. “Localized management of non‑indigenous animal domesticates in Northwestern China during the Bronze Age” Scientific Reports 11:15764 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-95233-x

[27] Hoggarth, J. (and 13 others, including S.E. Pilaar Birch). 2021. “Impacts of the Coronavirus Pandemic on Women and Early Career Archaeologists”. Heritage 4(3) 1681-1702 DOI:10.3390/heritage4030093

[26] Porson, S., Falconer, S., Pilaar Birch, S.E., Ridder, E., and P. Fall. 2021. “Crop management and agricultural responses at Early Bronze IV Tell Abu en-Ni‘aj, Jordan” Journal of Archaeological Science. DOI: 10.1016/j.jas.2021.105435

[25] Leppard, T. (and 10 others, including S.E. Pilaar Birch). 2021. “The premise and potential of model-based approaches to island archaeology: A response to Terrell” Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology. DOI:10.1080/15564894.2021.1904463

[24] McPherson, M.G., Freeman, B.J., and S.E. Pilaar Birch. 2020. “Uncovering the early history of the Georgia Museum of Natural History, 1785-1900” Journal of the History of Collections DOI: 10.1093/jhc/fhaa025 *

[23] Pilaar Birch, S.E., Atici, L., and Erdoğu, B. 2019. “Spread of domestic animals across Neolithic Western Anatolia and into Southeast Europe: New stable isotope evidence from Uğurlu Höyük, Gökçeada, Turkey” PLOS ONE. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0222319

[22] Rivera Araya, M.J., Arnauld, C., Emery, K., and S.E. Pilaar Birch. 2019. “Stable isotope analysis of white-tailed deer teeth as a paleoenvironmental proxy at the Maya site of La Joyanca, northwestern Peten” Isotopes in Environmental and Health Studies 55(4): 344-365. DOI: 10.1080/10256016.2019.1636047

[21] Pilaar Birch, S.E., Scheu, A., Buckley M. and C. Çakırlar. 2018. “Combined osteomorphological, isotopic, aDNA and ZooMS analyses of sheep and goat remains from Neolithic Ulucak, Turkey” Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences. DOI: 10.1007/s12520-018-0624-8

[20] Marwick, B. and S.E. Pilaar Birch. 2018. “A standard for the scholarly citation of archaeological data” Advances in Archaeological Practice. DOI: 10.1017/aap.2018.3

[19] Rivera Araya, M.J. and S.E. Pilaar Birch. 2018. “Stable isotope signatures in white tailed deer as a seasonal paleoenvironmental proxy: A case study from Georgia, United States” Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 505:53-62. DOI: 10.1016/j.palaeo.2018.05.025

[18] Pilaar Birch, S.E. 2018. “Seasonal mobility and multispecies interactions in the Mesolithic northeastern Adriatic.” in S.E. Pilaar Birch (ed.), Multispecies Archaeology. Archaeological Orientations Series. London: Routledge.

[17] Atici, L., Pilaar Birch, S.E., and B. Erdoğu. 2017. “Spread of Domestic Animals across Neolithic Western Anatolia and into Southeast Europe: New Zooarchaeological Evidence from Uğurlu Höyük, Gökçeada, Turkey.” PLOS ONE. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0186519

[16] Pilaar Birch, S.E. and Vander Linden, M. 2017. “A long hard road... Reviewing the evidence for environmental change and population history in the eastern Adriatic and western Balkans during the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene.” Quaternary International. DOI:10.1016/j.quaint.2016.12.035

[15] Pauli, J.N., Newsome, S.D., Cook, J.A., Harrod, C., Steffan, S.A., Baker, C., Ben David, M., Bloom, D., Brown, G., Cerling, T., Cicero, C., Cook, C., Dohm, M., Eherlinger, J., Federhen, S., Frey, B., Ghosh, P., Graves, G., Gropp, R., Hobson, K., Jordan, C., Pilaar Birch, S.E., Poelen, J., Ratnasingham, S., Russell, L., Stricker, C., Uhen, M., Yarnes, C., Harden, B. 2017. “Why we need a centralized repository for isotopic data” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[14] Pilaar Birch, S.E. 2017. “From the Aegean to the Adriatic: Exploring the Earliest Neolithic Island Fauna” Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology.

[13] Pilaar Birch, S.E. & P.T. Miracle. 2017 “Human response to climate change in the Northern Adriatic during the late Pleistocene and early Holocene” G. Monks (ed.), Climate Change and Human Responses: A Zooarchaeological Perspective. Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology Series. New York: Springer.

[12] Hassett, B.R., Pilaar Birch, S.E., Herridge, V.L., & R.M. Wragg Sykes. 2017. “TrowelBlazers: Accidentally crowd-sourcing an archive of women in archaeology.” Apaydin, V. and Jameson, J. (ed.) Public Participatory Archaeology. New York: Springer.

[11] Pilaar Birch, S.E. 2017. “Neolithic subsistence at Vela Špilja on the island of Lošinj, Croatia” D. Serjeantson, P. Rowley-Conwy and P. Halstead (eds.), Economic Zooarchaeology: Studies in Hunting, Herding and Early Agriculture. Oxford: Oxbow. Chapter 30.

[10] Pilaar Birch, S.E., Miracle, P.T., Stevens, R.E. & T.C. O’Connell. 2016.“Reconstructing late Pleistocene/early Holocene migratory behavior of ungulates using stable isotopes and its effects on forager mobility” PLOS ONE 11(6): e0155714. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0155714.

[9] Leppard, T.P. and S.E. Pilaar Birch. 2016. “The insular ecology and palaeoenvironmental impacts of the domestic goat (Capra hircus) in Mediterranean Neolithization” in Géoarchéologie des îles de la Méditerranée, edited by M. Ghilardi, F. Leandri, J. Bloemendal, L. Lespez, and S. Fachard. Paris: CNRS Editions Alpha. pp. 47-56.

[8] Pilaar Birch, S.E. 2015. “Diversity and demographics of zooarchaeologists: Results from a digital survey” Ethnobiology Letters 6(2): 59-67.

[7] Pilaar Birch, S.E. and R.W. Graham. 2015. “A stable isotope data repository as part of Neotoma, a paleoecological database” BioScience 65(10): 953. DOI: 10.1093/biosci/biv133

[6] Pilaar Birch, S.E. & P.T. Miracle. 2015. “Subsistence continuity, change, and environmental adaptation at the site of Nugljanska, Istria, Croatia” Environmental Archaeology 20(1):30-40.

[5] Çakırlar, C., Gourichon, L., Pilaar Birch, S.E., Berthon, R., Akar, M., & A. Yener. 2014. “Provisioning an urban center under foreign occupation: Zooarchaeological insights into the nature of Hittite presence in late 14th century BCE Alalakh” Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology and Heritage Studies 2(4): 259-276.

[4] Herridge, V., Wragg Sykes, R., Hassett, B. & S.E. Pilaar Birch. 2013. “‘A splendid regiment of women’: 20th century archaeologists and palaeontologists” in S. Charman-Anderson (ed.), A Passion for Science: Stories of Discovery and Invention. London: Finding Ada.

[3] Pilaar Birch, S.E. 2013. “Using social media for research dissemination: The Digital Research Video Project” Internet Archaeology 35.

[2] Pilaar Birch, S.E. 2013. “Stable isotopes in zooarchaeology” Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 5: 81-83.

[1] Zeder, M.A. & S.E. Pilaar.2010. “Assessing the reliability of criteria used to identify mandibles and mandibular teeth in sheep, Ovis, and goats, Capra” Journal of Archaeological Science 37: 225-242.