Areas of interest
Ethnoarchaeology
Traditional knowledge
Archaeology of the Himalaya region
GIS and predictive modelling
Education
- MA: Simon Fraser University
- BFA: Emily Carr University
- BA: University of Winnipeg
PhD Research
Fire Signaling in the Western Himalaya
My research is concerned with the way humans have adapted to alpine environments in the Western Himalaya region and for my PhD I look into the region's ancient early-warning communications networks. I work with communities in the Spiti Valley, north India, where I am conducting interviews with local elders in order to provide data for archaeological predictive modelling systems, a process that will help locate and document the fire beacon signaling sites found throughout the cultural region.
Publications
Stefanyshen, Earl (2019)
Microstratigraphic protocol to assess the impact of wildland fires on subsurface archaeological sites. Simon Fraser University.
Awards and Scholarships
Frederick Williamson Memorial Fund (University of Cambridge, UK)
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, Doctoral Award
Andre Gerolymatos Graduate Award
Dr. Hari Sharma Foundation Scholarship
Simons Foundation Award: Environment
BC Capacities Initiative
Canadian Pacific/Teck Resources Award
SFU Graduate Fellowship
CTEF Graduate Fellowship: Humanities
SFU Travel & Research Award
SFU Graduate International Research Travel Award
Other Academic Interests
- Vernacular architecture of the Himalaya region
- Tibetan language studies
