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. 

Past President: Jim Sherratt 

Jim is a currently the Manager of Planning and Business Development at Timmins Martelle Heritage Consultants Inc. and holds a professional archaeological license. He has been involved in Ontario archaeology since the late 1990s after taking a fieldschool at the Lawson Site, now Museum of Ontario Archaeology. Jim received his Hons. B.A. and M.A. from the University of Western Ontario with research focussed on the Late Woodland period.  He spent the first years of his career working in the field of commercial archaeology before joining the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport. During his 10 years with the provincial government Jim worked on both compliance enforcement as an Archaeology Reviewer Officer and Inspector under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act. In addition, he also in the development and implementation of policies specific to the practice of archaeology within the province. Jim's interest continues to focus on collaborative archaeology with Indigenous communities, archaeological echoes of shared territories, returning Ancestors to Indigenous communities, archaeological practice and policy development. Jim lives in Bayfield Ontario where he is an active member of his local community and can often be found at the hockey rink. 

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: Nancy Kallina

Nancy is currently taking a break from the professional world but has offered to assume the Treasurer role on the Board of Directors. Nancy holds a Chartered Professional Accountant designation through the legacy Chartered Accountant institute, as well as a Chartered Business Valuator specialty. Nancy also obtained an MBA from the University of Toronto, and a BAH in Economics and BA Classics from Queen’s University. Nancy was the Director of Finance at Lifelabs and worked at both KPMG and Ernst & Young. Nancy lives in Toronto with her husband and two teenage sons and spends most of her summer at her family cottage.

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: Craig Ramsoomair

Craig received his B. A. (Hons) from Wilfrid Laurier University in 2011, double majoring in Archaeology and History. During his time there, he worked extensively with the Wadi-ath Thamad Project in the lab and two field seasons in Jordan. Craig also spent a field season in Israel with the Tell es-Safi/Gath Archaeological Project.

He went on to obtain his M. A. from University of Toronto in Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations in 2014. Craig’s work primarily focused on analysis of Northern Levantine ceramics. He also had the opportunity to work with the CRANE Project, an international multi-university collaboration concentrated on developing a platform for extensive data integration and analysis between researchers. His task focused on the integration of the Tell Tayinat Project data into the OCHRE Database and assisting with the development of the ceramic recognition tool.  

Since 2008, Craig has also worked with numerous Cultural Resource Management firms throughout Ontario including as a Field Archaeologist at Archaeological Services Inc, Field Director at Archaeological Research Associates Ltd., and most recently as an Archaeologist at WSP Canada Inc. When Craig is not digging all over Ontario, he is most likely found with his Wife and three cats, making and selling soap.

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: Greg Bruan

Director of Chapter Services: Susan Dermarker

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.

Editors, Ontario Archaeology: Dr. Bonnie Glencross and Dr. Suzanne Needs-Howarth

Editors, Arch Notes: Katie Mather and Sarah Timmins

Editor, Website: Josh Dent