Kristen (KC) Carlson, Ph.D.

Biography 

Dr. Kristen (KC) Carlson is an associate professor at Augustana University. Her research focuses on paleoenvironmental reconstructions of climate through the use of isotopic analysis. Time periods of focus span from the Paleoindian period to the Plains village period in North American. Additionally, she has spent much of her career as a large-game hunting specialist, predominantly studying bison and large-scale hunting. Carlson received an M.A. from Northern Arizona University where she also worked for the National Park Service as a southwestern archaeologist. Her research interest pivoted back to the region while teaching study-away courses in the American Southwest. Her interests include sustainable tourism with a focus on Indigenous stewardship and archaeological resources. She is the chair of the Global Education and Off Campus Committee (2020-23). She teaches courses in France, Costa Rica, India and Spain. She is a National Science Foundation and National Geographic funded scholar, receiving the Orin M. Lofthus Distinguished Professorship from 2021-24. She also served as the editor of Diversity in Open Air Site Structure Across the Pleistocene/Holocene Boundary and The Archaeology of Large-Scale Manipulation of Prey: The Economic and Social Dynamic of Mass Hunting, University Press of Colorado.