Matthew O'Leary

Matthew is a doctoral candidate studying anthropological archaeology; his current research focuses on socio-economic entanglements, fort communities, and frontier landscapes in the early modern North Atlantic. His ongoing dissertation research, Entangled Frontiers: Fortification Material Culture of French Fort St. Frédéric at Crown Point, New York, examines archaeological and archival evidence with an interest in expanding interpretation of the non-military aspects of European colonial fortifications and the legacy of New France in early American history. He earned his bachelor’s degree with honors from the University of North Georgia  in 2017 where he studied history, anthropology, and military science. His previous work in historic interpretation at Washington's Newburgh Headquarters New York State Historic Site furthered an ongoing interest in public engagement with heritage resources. Earning his CAS in GIS & Spatial Analysis through Syracuse University’s Geography and the Environment Department, his research engages with the application of remote-sensing technologies towards the location, protection, and recognition of the material legacies of past human actions on contemporary landscapes. To better understand the multifaceted interconnectivity of the trans-Atlantic world-system, he participated in ongoing archaeological excavations with the Central Region Project at Fort Amsterdam, in coastal Ghana.