Michael Waters

Michael Waters is an archaeologist and geoarchaeologist whose work focuses on the first inhabitants of the Americas. Specifically, he seeks to understand when the first people arrived to the New World during the last Ice Age, where they came from, how they adapted to the environments they encountered and how they got here. He focuses on the investigation of Clovis and the evidence for occupation of the Americas before Clovis. He also is interested in the application of geological concepts and methods in the investigation of archaeological sites. He is a field-oriented scientist and conducts fieldwork every summer. Waters has worked on archaeological field projects in the United States, Mexico, Russia, Jamaica and Yemen. His current research projects include the investigation of the Debra L. Friedkin Site, Texas; Hall’s Cave, Texas; the Page-Ladsen site, Florida; and other sites. He has authored or co-authored numerous journal articles and book chapters and is the author of Principles of Geoarchaeology: A North American Perspective. Waters received the 2003 Kirk Bryan Award and the 2004 Rip Rapp Archaeological Geology Award given by the Geological Society of America. Waters is the CSFA Endowed Chair, the director the Center for the Study of the First Americans, the executive director of the North Star Archaeological Research Program, and a University Distinguished Professor. He earned a BS, MS and Ph.D. in geosciences from the University of Arizona.