Katherine Parker (kparker8)

by

Assistant Professor

Areas of Expertise: Historical Archaeology, Landscapes, Critical Heritage Studies, Cultural Resource Managment, Remote Sensing
Combs Hall Room 134
kparker8@umw.edu
540-654-1314


Academic Degrees

B.A., University of South Carolina Ph.D., University of Tennessee

Katherine Parker is a historical archaeologist who joined the Department of Historic Preservation in 2023. Dr. Parker has more than ten years of experience in cultural resource management (CRM) archaeology across the Southeast, Midwest, and Mid-Atlantic, which encompasses the use of traditional, remote sensing, and geophysical methods. Her research focuses on the ways moonshine is constructed in discursive spaces, such as popular media, social memory, and academic research, and in material places where moonshine distillation sites exist as archaeological resources. Her other research interests include critical heritage studies, archaeological ethics and practice, climate change and sustainability, and the applications of GIS and remote sensing technologies to understanding conflict and erasure in the built environment. Dr. Parker is an affiliated volunteer archaeologist with the Archaeology in the Community (AITC) and Southeastern Archaeological Conference (SEAC) African American Historic Resources Project network.

Dr. Parker is the director of the UMW Archaeology Lab. Please visit our lab website for more information on archaeology at UMW, current projects, and how to get involved. For community members and organizations who are seeking assistance with archaeological projects and/or GPR resource documentation, please email Dr. Parker directly (kparker8@umw.edu).

Katherine Parker in the News

Parker Highlights AI Pedagogy at Archaeology Conference

Assistant Professor of Historic Preservation Katherine Parker gave a recent paper entitled, "AI^2: Artificial Intelligence Applications for Archaeological Instruction," at the 2026 Society for Historical Archaeology conference. An invited contribution to the organized symposium on Digital Historical Archaeology, the paper outlined different opportunities for preservation professionals to incorporate AI-centered curriculum Read more…

Parker Shares Search for Mary Washington’s Gravesite With ‘Northern Virginia Magazine’

Assistant Professor of Archaeology Katherine Parker's work with her students to locate Mary Washington's gravesite was highlighted in a Northern Virginia Magazine article titled "Searching for Mary: George Washington’s Mother." Parker, who joined the Historic Preservation Department last year, said in the article, “I used GPR for a lot of Read more…

Parker’s Hunt for Mary Washington Grave Continues to Make Headlines

Assistant Professor of Historic Preservation Katherine Parker's work with UMW students to locate Mary Washington's grave continues to catch media attention. Mary Washington’s Grave Location a Mystery (Mount Vernon Gazette) The team was led by historians from Washington Heritage Museums, and a professor from the University of Mary Washington who manned the GSSI Read more…

Parker Teaches the Ins and Outs of Ground Penetrating Radar to Volunteers in Search of Mary Washington’s Final Resting Place

Historians and officials with Washington Heritage Museums, which own the monument site along Washington Avenue, don’t know the precise location of Mary Ball Washington’s grave. Washington Heritage Museums is working with the University of Mary Washington’s Department of Historic Preservation to understand what lies beneath. Read more.  [...] The post Parker Read more…
Read more about Katherine Parker.