George Nicholas

Professor of Archaeology, SFU; former director of the Intellectual Property Issues in Cultural Heritage (IPinCH) Project (2008-2016)

George Nicholas, Professor of Archaeology, was the founding director of SFU’s Indigenous Archaeology Program in Kamloops (1991–2005), and has worked closely with the Secwepemc and other First Nations in British Columbia, and Indigenous groups worldwide. Nicholas’ research focuses on Indigenous peoples and archaeology, intellectual property issues relating to archaeology, the archaeology and human ecology of wetlands, and archaeological theory and practice, all of which he has published extensively on. Currently, he serves on the Editorial Board of the journals Heritage and Society, and the Journal of the Archaeological Society of South Australia, and previously American Antiquity. He was Co-Editor of the World Archaeological Congress’ Research Handbooks in Archaeology Series and Editor-in-Chief for the Canadian Journal of Archaeology. Nicholas was also the director of the Intellectual Property Issues in Cultural Heritage (IPinCH) project (www.sfu.ca/ipinch), an 8-year international collaboration of over 50 scholars, 120 Associate members and students, and 25 partnering organizations concerned with the theoretical, ethical, and practical implications of commodification, appropriation, and other flows of knowledge about the past, and with how these may affect communities, researchers, and other stakeholders. In 2013, he received both the inaugural “Partnership Award” from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and SFU’s Excellence in Teaching Award.