Archaeologist
Lauren Elizabeth O'Shea
O’Shea began her career in archaeology nearly two decades ago, cleaning and classifying artifacts as a student lab assistant at the University of Oklahoma. Following graduation from OU, she spent 11 years working for the Oklahoma Department of Transportation’s Cultural Resource Program as a research scientist. O’Shea completed her master’s degree from OU in 2012. Currently, she is studying ancient bison DNA recovered from kill sites excavated in Oklahoma to determine the effects of human predation on bison populations.
WATCH
Archaeologist Lauren O’Shea studies ancient bison DNA. She demonstrates in the lab how a chunk of bone can be broken down into DNA for analysis. DNA tells a history. “It’s not the written record,” she says, “but it’s a biological record of the past.”
