I began my academic training in Fine Art, studying painting and ceramics at University in the USA. After immigrating to the UK with my family in 1984,  I was invited to join the newly formed Cambridge Archaeological Unit in 1986. At the Unit, I had the role of Finds Officer. In 1993, after seven years with the Unit, I accepted a position with Dr. Charles French and Dr. Wendy Mathews in the Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge. It is here that I learned to produce thin-sections of archaeological sediment for a SERC research funded project looking at ‘Understanding the Occupational Sequences and Use of Space in Ancient Tell Sites of the Near East’. Although, the practice of utilizing soil micromorphology in archaeology was known and had been in use since the 1970’s, I pioneered the craft of making mammoth thin-sections by completing nearly 300 slides during the course of this ground-breaking research. The results of this project were so successful, that a further two years of funding was granted through the Leverhulme Trust.

Some of my personal highlights:

2001: I hosted a conference at the Department of Archaeology, on the ‘Craft of Thin-sectioning’. Over forty fellow thin-section practicioners and researchers from the UK gathered together to discuss and share their work. The Society of Thin-sectioner's was founded at the meeting, and continues to meet on a regular basis to share ideas, the latest methodologies, and the craft.

2002: I collaborated with Dr. Wendy Matthews to create an exhibition on ‘Life at the Ancient Tell Site of Catalhoyuk, Turkey’, at the Science Museum of Minnesota. Thin-section slides from archaeological features were produced and displayed as ‘museum objects’ to the public, in an effort to demonstrate and describe the fine microscopic details of everyday life in the ancient Neolithic city of Catalhoyuk, 8000 BC. I would like to return to and develop some of the ideas that came out of this successful exhibition for future work with thin-sections.

2002-2005: I returned to the landscapes of my childhood in the Southwest USA, and began a five-year collaboration with Dr. Richard Periman of the United States Department of Agriculture, at the Rocky Mountain Research Station in Albuquerque. Along with Dr. Charles French, fieldwork was conducted in an effort to research and understand the ‘Long-term Landscape and Fire History of the Riparian areas of Northern New Mexico and Western Montana’.  Major standstill phases in the last 5000 years of the Holocene erosion record were discovered in the modern Rio Puerco river incisions just NW of Cuba, New Mexico. This included a very well developed phase of the Archaic period (c.2000-3000 BP), associated with ditch features which suggested floodplain management, possibly for maize agriculture. See the photos in my Gallery. Unfortunately, funding for this project was withdrawn from the US Forestry Services before work could be fully completed. It is hoped that new funding can be found to continue this work in the future.

2003: I was asked to do forensic thin-section work in relation to a major national murder case investigated by the Cambridgeshire police. The results of my work, along with other forensic specialists formed a substantial body of data, which helped secure a conviction in this case.

2006: I joined Dr. Steve Boreham, and Chris Rolfe in support fieldwork for ‘Ancient Food’; a recent Ray Mears UK television show. The support group supplied their expertise in coring Holocene lake sediments of Hockham Mere, Norfolk, in order to show evidence for food in the hunter-gatherer environment of c.8,000 BP. See the photo in my Gallery.

2007: I began my own 'earthslides' freelance thin-section business.  I continue to work with Dr. Charles French and my husband Dr. Steve Boreham, in the field and in the laboratories of the Departments of Archaeology and Geography.

2008: I attended the World Archaeological Congress in Dublin, Ireland, in June 2008. I presented a show entitled, 'Hidden Worlds - A Journey in Geoarchaeology'. This exhibition of soils and sediments gathered together the research work of nine of my closest colleagues. The idea behind the show was to present the 'science' of Geoarchaeology as 'art'. Each thin-section (standard slide size of 137 x 67 x 3mm) was scanned and produced as a A1 poster size image. Visitors were provided with a gallery catalogue, and were able to view thin-sections from around the world in a truly unique and ground-breaking way. Another focus of the show, was to look at the way in which Geoarchaeologists write about and describe the 'micromorphology' images they create. The catalogue provided a science description, and a public description for every image. I am extremely excited about further researching the need to present the discipline of Geoarchaology in a new and understandable way not only to the archaeologists we work with, but also to the public. Please see the photos of 'Hidden Worlds' in my Gallery.