Hello everyone! My name is Laura Broughton, and I will be the one managing the blog this year as the Public Archaeology Graduate Assistant! I am a second-year graduate student in the Applied Archaeology program here and Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP), and I am excited to be taking over duties as the new Public Archaeology GA. I have a wide variety of interests in different aspects of archaeology and history, with a passion for public archaeology. I graduated from IUP with a B.A. in Anthropology with a focus on Archaeology, and a minor in Asian Studies. In my undergraduate years at IUP, I ran both the Association of Korean-Cultural Interests (AKI) and the Japanese Student Association (JAPASO). My years running AKI and JAPASO swayed my interest in archaeology towards East Asia, but if I’m being honest archeology itself is my passion. However, my experience and most of my knowledge lie in historical archaeology and historic ceramics. Due to my wide variety of interests, my master’s thesis is focusing on Chinese Diaspora Archaeology on the East Coast of the United States, where I hope to research Pittsburgh’s Chinatown. Regardless, I hope to one day use my knowledge of archaeology to teach the public and make archaeology accessible to everyone. This past summer I worked as a field technician for Environmental Design and Research (EDR), where I mainly worked on Phase I surveys on solar and wind farms. This summer taught me a lot about how archaeology is done today and made me more confident in my skills in the field. I am excited to use my variety of skills and knowledge to create blog posts throughout the year that everyone can enjoy!