Lost Towns Project Consultants

Lauren Franz is a laboratory assistant for the Lost Towns Project. She graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania with a B.A. in Anthropology/Archaeology. She has completed internships with the National Park Service while stationed in St. John U.S. Virgin Islands and the Maryland Historical Trust underwater archaeology program.

David Gadsby is the laboratory director for The Lost Towns Project. He holds a B.A. in anthropology/sociology from St. Mary's College of Maryland. He is pursuing an M.A. in anthropology from the University of Maryland College Park, where he is a research assistant. Dave is the project director for Homewood's Lot, as well as assistant project director for the Swan Cove site and Leavy Neck site. He is also assisting with research studies involving an analysis of native clays and oyster shells. Dave brings field experience from the Historic St. Mary's City Commission and the Anthropological Studies Center at Sonoma State University.

Carl Gehrman is a computer animation specialist for The Lost Towns Project. He graduated from the University of Maryland Baltimore County with a B.A. in Imaging and Digital Arts. Carl has created digital reconstruction of several of the project's archeological sites, including a wide array of excavated artifacts, colonial period furnishings, and architectural elements.

Carolyn Gryczkowski is a laboratory specialist/curator. She earned a B.A. in Sociology from Bucknell University. Carolyn is currently researching historic buttons excavated at the project's archaeological sites, and she is also the president of the Anne Arundel County Chapter of the Archaeogical Society of Maryland.

Mechelle Kerns-Nocerito is an archaeologist/historian for the project, managing The Lost Towns project archival database. She holds a B.A. in ancient studies and an M.A. in historical studies from the University of Maryland Baltimore County. She is currently a Ph.D. candidate at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, specializing in maritime history and underwater archaeology. Mechelle's research interests include colonial town formation, taverns and ordinaries, and All Hallows parish. She has also co-authored "Dr. Richard Hill of London Town".

John Kille is an assistant director for the project, overseeing operations for the project. He holds B.A. degrees in history and political science from Miami University and an M.A. in museum studies from The George Washington University/Smithsonian program. He is a Ph.D. student in the University of Maryland American studies program with a specialization in material culture. He is the project director for the town of Herrington (ca. 1660) and London Town Bluff excavations. He is also assistant project director for the Scott Street excavations at London Town.

Tony Lindauer is a historian/archaeologist. He is a lifelong resident of Annapolis, and attended Kirkland Hall College on Maryland's Eastern Shore. Tony authored From Paths to Plats: The Development of Annapolis, 1651 to 1718. His research at the Maryland State Archives has provided a foundation for archaeological excavations of the Providence settlement, Herrington, and London Town.  Tony is the assistant project director for the town of Herrington (ca. 1660) excavations. He is also constructing a clay tobacco pipe kiln and assisting with the reconstruction of the Lord Mayor's Tenement earthfast building at London Town.

Michelle Lohin is a research historian assisting the Anne Arundel County Historic Sites Planner and The Lost Towns Project. Michelle graduated from Chesapeake College, and is enrolled in the historic preservation program at Goucher College. She is conducting research on the 1798 Federal Direct Tax of Anne Arundel County and updating the historic sites layer of the project's geographic information system.

Erin Piechowiak is an archaeologist/laboratory specialist and education/volunteer coordinator. She graduated from Salisbury State with a B.A. in anthropology and a minor in history. Erin spent a year at the University of Tubingen in Germany, excavating Stone Age cave sites and assembling mammoth bones. She is overseeing a sclerochronology (dating) research project involving an analysis of growth rings on oyster shells excavated by the project.

Shawn Sharpe is an archaeologist/laboratory specialist. He is in charge of the project's survey work, as well as metal and glass conservation. Shawn holds a B.A. in anthropology from the University of Maryland College Park and attended University College Galway in Ireland. He is the project director for the Hancock's Resolution site near Bayside Beach and the Scott Street excavations at London Town.  He is also assistant project director for excavations at the Willson property in Galesville and the Bluff excavations at London Town. During his time abroad, Shawn helped excavate an Iron Age hill fort in Wales and an early monastery in Ireland.