People of PRI

A woman standing in front of a mounted Triceratops skeleton.

Amanda Quealy, undergraduate researcher

Nov 5, 2024 11:00 am

Amanda Quealy is a sophomore majoring in history and anthropology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. As an undergraduate researcher at the Illinois State Archaeological Survey, Amanda plays an essential role in organizing and cataloging artifacts, ranging from bones to botanical materials and lithics.

A man kneeling over an excavation site, removing dirt with a trowel

Seth Allgeier, curation specialist

Sep 10, 2024 2:15 pm

Seth Allgeier recently joined the Illinois State Archaeological Survey as a curation specialist. At PRI, Seth is leveraging his fieldwork experience to assess, organize, and digitize Illinois Department of Transportation site documents

Mera Hertel, 2024 Distinguished Support Staff Award recipient

Jun 5, 2024 8:45 am

Recognized for her exceptional contributions, Mera Hertel, a cornerstone of the Illinois State Archaeological Survey (ISAS), has been honored with the 2024 Distinguished Support Staff Award by the Prairie Research Institute.

Kenton Geier holding a clipboard working in the field

Kenton Geier, research archaeologist

Jul 13, 2022 8:00 am

Kenton Geier, a research archaeologist, is a familiar face with the ISAS crew. He's worked at the survey for nearly a decade and is heavily involved in outreach and educational opportunities raising public awareness of past and current destruction of archaeological sites. Geier's work centers around time – finding opportunities every day to preserve items from the past for future generations!

Robert Rohe, historic resource analyst

Jul 11, 2022 11:15 am

Robert Rohe returns to the Illinois State Archaeological Survey (ISAS) behind the lens and a with a different view. Rohe spent nearly a decade working on the East St. Louis Mound project, and will be working in production and graphic design in the American Bottom Field Station documenting excavations at some of their sites for outreach and training purposes.

Patrick Green, Central Illinois Field Station (CIFS) coordinator

Mar 21, 2022 8:00 am

If there's construction planned in your area, one of the first people you may see on the scene is Patrick Green, the Central Illinois Field Station coordinator at the Illinois State Archaeological Survey (ISAS). As an Illinois native, Patrick knows the Illinois landscape quite well and is a wealth of knowledge about the history and archaeological sites all around Illinois and the United States! He recently answered some questions about his work, career advice, and why you don't have to travel to Egypt or the Yucatan (unless you want to!) to learn about fascinating ancient history – it's all around you!

Lauren Fitts sitting down and holding an artifact

Lauren Fitts, research archaeologist

Feb 28, 2022 8:00 am

Meet Lauren Fitts, Research Archaeologist with the Illinois State Archaeological Survey (ISAS). Initially drawn to archaeology because of Jurassic Park, she now leads archaeological surveys in advance of Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) related projects.

Elizabeth Watts Malouchos, research archaeologist

Oct 19, 2021 12:30 pm

Elizabeth Watts Malouchos recently answered some questions about her career in archaeology, commonly-held misconceptions about archaeology, and her advice for those just starting out in the field.

Jim Pisell, staff archaeologist

Oct 4, 2021 12:15 pm

Jim Pisell has been with the Illinois State Archaeological Survey for nearly 20 years, and while technology has changed the face and pace of what archaeology looks like today, at its core Jim believes it's deeper than artifacts—it is a type of informed storytelling.