Interests: Historical archaeology; artifact conservation; Caribbean archaeology and Caribbean culture studies; topics in visual anthropology and digital imaging.
Dr. Smith is an associate professor and director of the Archaeological Preservation Research Laboratory (APRL). He holds the INA Faculty Fellowship.
Working as a conservator, he specializes in the preservation of organic artifacts using silicone oils, resins, and other polymers. Since 1981, he has participated in survey and shipwreck assessment in the
Great Lakes and participated as a student and research assistant in excavations at Port Royal, Jamaica.
Working in conjunction with Donny L. Hamilton of Texas A&M University and Dow Corning Corporation of Midland, Michigan, he has developed and patented new conservation strategies and industrial
applications. He also participates in numerous joint international research projects.
APRL is currently working to conserve selected artifacts from
- La Salle Shipwreck Project,
- forensic anthropology,
- Egyptian mummy tissues studies, and
- the conservation of a wide range of artifacts from many of the on-going excavations from Texas A&M University and the Institute of Nautical Archaeology.
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