Carol Colaninno

Title: Adjunct Professor

Phone: 650-2361

Email: ccolani@siue.edu

Office: SE 3350

Degree: PhD, University of Georgia

Curriculum Vitae

Personal: 

I grew up in sunny Florida, spending as much time as humanly possible in the outdoors exploring the world around me, whether that was the longleaf pine forests or the bays of the Gulf of Mexico. This fostered my love for the environment and ecology. In 2003, I recognized my love of ecology could be uniquely realized through archaeological research, and switched my major from engineering (I love math, too) to archaeology. In 2004, I graduated from the University of Florida with a B.A. in anthropology. After working for a cultural resource management firm for a year, I started my doctoral studies at the University of Georgia researching how people of the past used fish communities. To this day, I enjoy spending time outdoors, but now I am exploring the banks and backwaters of the Mississippi and Illinois rivers.

Research Activities: 

I have two main research foci: human-environmental interactions and archaeological education. As a zooarchaeologist, I am interested in understanding the ways people in the past used fish populations and communities. Further, I work with fish ecologists to understand how this human-fish interaction has changed through millennia. My work generally involves identifying osteological remains recovered from archaeological sites and comparing them with modern comparative skeletons of known taxonomic identification. My work has also led me to investigate the stable isotopic composition of bone collagen to understand how biochemistry of collagen in fishes and other organisms has changed over time. My other line of research is understanding how people teach and learn archaeological and other STEM topics. Much of this work has focused on building more student-focused, field-based research programs that incorporate a strong undergraduate research component. With archaeology so focused on field-based learning, I hope to best understand how to build field-based learning models that are safe, inclusive, and follow best practices in teaching and learning.

Selected Publications:

Colaninno, Carol E., Carla S. Hadden, Shana J. Springman, John H. Chick, Julia R. Allison, Maria S. Brauer, Courtney A. Camp, Alexander C. Huaylinos, Sarah A. Klush, Emily R. Lange, Jennifer M. McBride, Olivia A. Mullenax, Hunter C. Ridley, and Patricia M. Umbricht. 2019.  Effects of Exposure to Nixtamalization Liquid on Bone Collagen δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N and Archaeological Implications. Journal of Archaeological Science Reports published online: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2019.101935.

Sanger, Matthew C., Irvy R. Quitmyer, Carol E. Colaninno, Nicole Cannarozzi, and Donna L. Ruhl. 2019.  Multiple-Proxy Seasonality Indicators: An Integrative Approach to Assess Shell Midden Formations from Late Archaic Shell Rings in the Coastal Southeast North America. The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology published online: https://doi.org/10.1080/15564894.2019.1614116

Colaninno, Carol E., and J. Matthew Compton. 2018.  Integrating Vertebrate and Invertebrate Seasonality Data from Ring III of the Sapelo Island Shell Ring Complex (9MC23).  Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology published online: https://doi.org/10.1080/15564894.2018.1458763.

Colaninno, Carol E., John H. Chick, Terrance J. Martin, Autumn M. Painter, Kelly B. Brown, Curtis T. Dopson, Ariana O. Enzerink, Stephanie R. Goesmann, Tom Higgins, Nigel Q. Knutzen, Erin N. Laute, Paula M. Long, Paige L. Ottenfeld, Abigail T. Uehling, and Lillian C. Ward. 2017.  An Interdisciplinary Human-Environmental Examination of Effects Consistent with the Anthropocene in the Lower Illinois River Valley. Midcontinential Journal of Archaeology 42(3):266-290. (http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01461109.2017.1375067).

Colaninno, Carol E., Carla S. Hadden, and Alexandra L. Emmons. 2015.  Testing Archaeofaunal Collections for Differential Fragmentation. Journal of Archaeological Science 61:17-24.

Colaninno, Carol E. 2012.  Evaluating Formational Models for Late Archaic Shell Rings of the Southeastern United States Using Vertebrate Fauna from the St. Catherines Island Shell Ring, St. Catherines Island, Georgia. Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology 7(3):338-362.

Colaninno, Carol E. 2011. Examining Ichthyofaunal Remains for Evidence of Fishing Technologies Employed in Georgia Estuaries during the Late Archaic Period. Southeastern Archaeology 30(2):337-350.

Professional Membership: