President
Jill Taylor-Hollings
Currently, Jill is an adjunct professor and postdoctoral fellow in the Dept. of Anthropology at Lakehead University, as part of the Six Seasons of the Asiniskaw Ithiniwak SSHRC partnership grant project centred in Manitoba Rocky Cree communities and the University of Winnipeg. Since moving to NW Ontario in 2001, she has been working for Lakehead in different capacities and has been on the OAS Thunder Bay Chapter executive since 2007.
Jill is passionate about studying, protecting, and promoting Canada’s heritage. Her PhD (University of Alberta, 2017) focused on archaeological research with Lac Seul, Little Grand Rapids, and Pikangikum Anishinaabe communities and Ontario Parks personnel along the Miskweyaabiziibee (Bloodvein River) in Woodland Caribou Provincial Park, which is now part of the Pimachiowin Aki UNESCO World Heritage site. She also completed a Masters of Arts at the University of Saskatchewan and Bachelor of Arts Honours at Brandon University in archaeology. Her research interests include precontact pottery, Indigenous archaeology, and lithic raw material studies. She has over 25 years of academic, CRM, and museum experience in four Canadian provinces and Tasmania.
When not working, Jill enjoys raising champion Standard Long-haired Dachshunds and replicating traditional crafts such as pottery, textiles, and beading. Her other passion is drivable artifacts, as she owns a rare 1969 Acadian 350 SS car. She is married to Peter Hollings, who is a geology professor at Lakehead University. Jill has a mixed Euro-Canadian and Indigenous background, originally hailing from southern Manitoba.
President Elect
Vice President
Abbey Flower
Abbey fell in love with history while listening to her great-grandmother (who lived to be 110) tell stories around the kitchen table on Manitoulin Island. After discovering archaeology there was no turning back. Abbey has a BA in Archaeology and Anthropology from Memorial University in Newfoundland, and a MA in Medieval Archaeology from the University of York in the UK. Originally from Kingston Ontario, Abbey has been an active member of the OAS for many years, and has worked closely with various people and groups within the broader cultural heritage industry. She worked for several years in consulting archaeology, with public archaeology programs, and at the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport, before taking on her current role as Heritage Specialist at Infrastructure Ontario (aka IO). Abbey is committed to help promote understanding, preservation and overall community engagement in Ontario’s archaeology and heritage. In her other passions, Abbey can be found chasing her energetic toddler, working with horses, and playing competitive baseball.
Treasurer
Director of Education
Jake Cousineau
Jake currently works for the Lands and Resources Department of Mississauga First Nation. He graduated with an M.E.S. at Lakehead University and a B.A. in archaeology at Laurentian University. His previous research focused on archaeobotany and zooarchaeology in Northwestern Ontario and recovery bias. He previously worked for the OAS assisting in the training of First Nation archaeological monitors. Although the majority of his current work focuses on modern land use and geomatics, his side projects include initiatives to build archaeological capacity within the community and maintaining a spatial database of traditional land use values to aid the Nation in protecting their traditional territory. When not working he enjoy cooking, gardening, kayaking in the summer and snowshoeing in the winter.
Director of Membership Services
Joshua Dent
Josh (he/him) is a project manager and Community Relations Coordinator with TMHC Inc. He is a licensed Professional Archaeologist in Ontario with 15 years of practical and research-based cultural resource management experience. He has supervised commercial work in Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, and the Yukon. He is co-founder of the Archaeologist’s Almanac and the Heron Research Portal, former Chair of the London Heritage Council, and member on the City of London’s Advisory Committee on Heritage (LACH). He holds a doctorate from Western University and was one of the first graduates of Western’s Applied Archaeology Masters program
Originally from Prince George, British Columbia, Josh currently lives and works in London, Ontario together with his family.
Director of Outreach
Breanne Reibl
Director of Heritage Advocacy
Jeff Seibert
Jeff Seibert is currently one of the Regional Archaeologists at the Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO) and has previously worked for Parks Canada, the Cataraqui Archaeological Research Foundation and taught University courses in anthropology, archaeology, Latin American Studies and art history in both Ontario and Alberta, in addition to picking up work now and then in private sector CRM. Jeff has a B.A. (Hons) from York University in Anthropology (History minor), an MA from Trent University in Anthropology and a PhD in Archaeology from the University of Calgary. Jeff has worked on archaeological projects in Ontario, Belize, Guatemala, Alberta and Saskatchewan, although he spends most of his time now in his work with the MTO ensuring that the ministry fulfills its archaeological obligations as part of the infrastructure development process. Jeff lives with his wife and their cat in mid town Toronto and when he’s not doing something archaeology related he spends his time seeing live bands, buying records and watching Toronto FC play.
Director of Publications
Director of Chapter Services
Susan Dermarkar
I am currently a research associate at Trent’s TUARC and the University of Toronto’s Archaeological Resource centres. I completed my PhD in Iroquoian ceramics and social network analysis at U of T in 2019. My 1985 master’s degree from Trent University in Mayan archaeology investigated two Postclassic Colonial era residential platforms at Tipu, Belize. I received by B.A. in Iroquoian archaeology from Wilfrid Laurier under Dean Knight and have been involved in both academic and CRM field research in Ontario, British Columbia, Belize, and Greece since my first dig at the Seed-Barker site in 1977.
I have lived and raised my children in the small hamlet of Burketon on the Oak Ridges Moraine since the late 1980s and have been the Commissioner of 1st Enniskillen Scouts for over 25 years. My passions include canoeing, hiking and travelling both across Canada and internationally.
Executive Director
Kaitlyn Malleau
Always fascinated by human stories in all their forms, archaeology has always been a natural fit for Kaitlyn (she/her). An Ontario-focused archaeologist, Kaitlyn has accumulated 10 years of experience working in the field of Ontario archaeology in various roles including researcher, lab and field technician, and field director. She received her training at Laurentian University (B.Sc.) where she assisted in research relating to Wendat subsistence practices, as well as Western University (M.A.) where she learned lithic analysis pursuing research relating to Genesee point-making practice communities. After completing her M.A., she joined the ranks of CRM archaeologists where she enjoyed the challenge of completing a quality Stage 2 survey. Before becoming the Executive Director, Kaitlyn had a long history of volunteering for the OAS, and she is very excited to serve the organization in this new capacity!
Outside of archaeology, Kaitlyn likes to express her creativity through screenwriting and experimenting in the kitchen with plant-based cooking.
Appointed
Editor, Ontario Archaeology
Dr. Bonnie Glencross and
Dr. Suzanne Needs-Howarth