Greetings! My name is Chris Nicholson and this month (October 1st) I was hired to be the new Executive Director at the Center for Digital Antiquity and tDAR. I come to Digital Antiquity from the University of Wyoming, where I served as the Director of the Water Resources Data System and Wyoming State Climate Office for the past 8 years. My most recent research has focused on human paleoecology and paleoclimates, with my geographic interest spanning both North America and Eurasia.
I’m truly excited to be working for Digital Antiquity and am optimistic about our future, both from the perspective of broadening the archaeological community’s awareness of the importance of archiving digital data, and ensuring the long-term sustainability of Digital Antiquity. As more archaeologists learn about and understand the ethical and legal obligations we have to facilitate open access research, the better off we are as a discipline. Reproducibility and transparency are topics that transcend the science community, and archaeology is not immune; this issue is truly a global one. Our European colleagues, recognizing this, have coined the phrase “Digital Dark Age”, and it is our hope and goal at Digital Antiquity that North American archaeologists are cognizant of the importance of not falling behind other disciplines when it comes to archiving, preserving, and ultimately sharing data.
Over the next several months I’ll be reaching out to many of you, but if you have yet to hear from me, please feel free to contact me. I’m looking forward to sustaining long-standing relationships and collaborations, as well as cultivating new ones. Please contact me at Christopher.M.Nicholson@asu.edu or 480-965-6510.