Archaeologist, documentary filmmaker, and digital humanist. Conducting field excavations across three continents, building GIS databases, and preserving the stories of the historically silenced.
Explore WorkOriginal scholarship spanning environmental science, colonial archaeology, Holocaust memory, medieval archives, and Indigenous history.
Co-authored with Teacher Mike Judge and published in the Journal of Emerging Investigators. Analyzed historical data from 1999–2022 to examine how legacy mining, reservoir releases, river flows, and sediment dredging affect methylmercury concentrations in San Francisco Bay.
A remote 1-on-1 mentorship research project with Dr. Danai Thomaidis, a Princeton University archaeologist, examining the 1680 Pueblo Revolt — one of the most significant acts of Indigenous resistance in North American colonial history. Champion, Santa Clara County National History Day 2026; Finalist, California State NHD 2026.
Conducted at Stanford University’s Stanford Humanities Institute (Summer 2026) as part of the “Colonial Extractions of African Cultural Treasures” program. Used the Book of Ben Sira to argue that sacred Geniza texts merit physical repatriation while secular documents should be digitally reunited in one accessible location.
Pioneered a research and archaeological dig at the historic Hillbrook School site under the mentorship of Stanford University Archaeologist Garret Trask and Foothill College Professor Sam Connell. Excavated a former state ward school from the early 1900s, and presented findings showing that many children at the site were frequently ill — presented at Foothill College’s Research and Service Leadership Symposium 2026.
A documentary exploring resilience and memory through the lens of the Holocaust. First Place, Elie Wiesel’s National Holocaust Commission Contest 2026. First Place, National Weinberger Competition 2025.
Archaeological fieldwork and Jewish cemetery preservation conducted across six countries, spanning Roman, Indigenous, colonial, antebellum, and Jewish heritage sites.
Studied Ancestral Puebloan archaeology through site visits, artifact documentation, and close observation of archaeological materials. Research at Crow Canyon inspired my Pueblo Revolt paper and the National History Day website that grew from it.
Conducted multiple excavations at plantation sites investigating the daily lives of enslaved individuals. Work included drone surveys, ArcGIS spatial mapping, ground-penetrating radar (GPR) analysis, and artifact analysis. Designed and built an archival database with more than 50 formerly enslaved individuals’ names that I independently researched and identified.
Pioneered a multi-month archaeological research project at the historic Hillbrook School campus under the mentorship of Stanford University archaeologist Garret Trask and Foothill College professor Sam Connell. Excavated the former site of a California State ward school from the early 1900s. Research demonstrated that many of the children housed at the institution were frequently ill. Findings presented at Foothill College’s Research and Service Leadership Symposium (RSLS) 2026.
Conducted 120 hours of field excavation on a 4th-century AD Roman fortress. Contributed to the full artifact lifecycle — from collecting and cleaning in the field to classifying and documenting finds in a database. Developed technical skills including stratigraphic analysis, photogrammetry, and 3D reconstruction.
Studied cultural and technological shifts of Mesolithic and Neolithic societies through hands-on fieldwork including excavation of materials and laboratory analysis of recorded data and paleobotany samples.
Excavated The Berry Site, a 16th-century settlement of Native American and Spanish origin. Discovered and analyzed artifacts including pottery sherds, arrowheads, and bone fragments, contributing to ongoing research into early contact-period archaeology in the American Southeast.
Restored headstones at one of Europe’s largest surviving Jewish cemeteries, cleaning and photographing centuries-old graves inscribed in Hebrew, Polish, and Yiddish as part of ongoing preservation efforts.
Documented the fragmented remains of Vilnius’s historic Jewish cemetery, where many headstones fell victim to Soviet-ordered destruction — their Hebrew inscriptions systematically chiseled away — before being displaced and collected in a stone yard. Physical evidence of the erasure of Jewish memory in the region, and the ongoing effort to record what survives.
Cleared overgrowth and hand-cleaned centuries-old matzevot at a forgotten Jewish cemetery outside Vilnius, using specialized cleaning solution and soft brushes to reveal inscriptions buried under decades of moss and forest growth.
Honors earned across history, documentary film, poetry, and community service.
First place recognition for the documentary “Resilience Through the Lens of the Holocaust,” honoring outstanding student work in Holocaust education and memory.
Selected as a finalist for the Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Award in recognition of the Everlasting Witness project — adding 257,000 graves to FindAGrave.com and restoring lost Holocaust family histories for people around the world.
State finalist for the NHD research website “The Pueblo Revolt,” following a first-place finish at the Santa Clara County level. Also Runner-Up at the National NHD Individual Documentary competition in 2025.
Runner-up in the 2025 Senior Individual Documentary competition for “The Journey of a Soul in a Sea of Millions,” recognized at the South Bay-Peninsula History Day winners report.
First place in the Weinberger Competition for the documentary “Resilience Through the Lens of the Holocaust,” recognizing excellence in Holocaust education.
Topical winner for a creative writing piece about an archivist in the National Poetry Contest, Winter 2026.
Honorable Mention in the 2026 Scholastic Art Competition for a “Trash to Treasure” sewing machine bike sculpture.
Completed the 12-week Social Innovators Program in Social Entrepreneurship, an initiative of the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy & Practice and Schoolyard Ventures.
University programs, college coursework, and independent mentorships pursued alongside secondary school.
Researched the Cairo Geniza and the ethics of cultural repatriation. Used the Book of Ben Sira to construct an original argument that sacred Geniza texts merit physical repatriation while secular documents should be digitally reunited in one accessible location.
Completed all 4 courses of the GIS Certificate program — 420 total hours (4 courses × 105 hours each) — covering spatial analysis, cartography, remote sensing, and GIS project design.
Conducted a mentored independent research project on the 1680 Pueblo Revolt with Professor Danai Thomaidis of Princeton University, culminating in a National History Day research website that placed first at Santa Clara County and reached the California State finals.
College-level Introduction to Archaeology. Grade: A. Also presented dig research at Foothill College’s Research and Service Leadership Symposium (RSLS) in Spring 2026.
Studied archaeometry by dating materials, extracting fossil and bone DNA, and interpreting oxygen-isotope data sets from tooth enamel to reconstruct the childhood diets and water consumption of individuals from Kaminalijuyu and Teotihuacan during the Classic period. Grade: A+.
GPA 3.97/4.00. 11th-grade Student Council Representative. Founder of the History Club and Founder of the Jewish Affinity Space. Pioneered an archaeological dig of the historic Hillbrook campus under university mentorship.
Digital humanities, GIS mapping, and archival restoration that bring historical research to life.
Added 257,000 graves to FindAGrave.com, solving multiple family mysteries about lost Holocaust relatives for people around the world. Sourced archival grave inventories, wrote software to transcribe spreadsheet data from multiple European languages, posted headstone images and descriptions, and built family trees for descendants. Finalist, Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Award 2026.
Explore ProjectAn ArcGIS story map tracing the global journey of a Holocaust survivor to illustrate how World War II shaped her life and the broader refugee population displaced by the conflict.
Explore ProjectConducted excavations at plantation sites in Gloucester, Virginia, investigating the daily lives of enslaved individuals through drone surveys, ArcGIS mapping, ground-penetrating radar analysis, and artifact analysis. Designed and built an archival database with more than 50 formerly enslaved individuals’ names that I independently researched and identified.
Explore ProjectGeo-referenced 800 historical ward maps of cities across the United States, digitally aligning archival cartographic records to modern coordinate systems to enable spatial analysis of urban and demographic change over time.
Explore ProjectKinetic sculpture, woodworking, poetry, and prose — creative work across mediums.
A functional kinetic sculpture that weds a vintage Singer sewing machine to the frame of a Schwinn bicycle. Pedaling turns the drivetrain, which through a system of chains, shafts, and pulleys powers the machine’s needle. The piece fuses locomotion with domestic labor — two objects defined by repetitive motion — into a single working form.
A handcrafted Art Deco-inspired jukebox cabinet built from walnut and maple, with steam-bent decorative slats over upholstered grille cloth. Every curve, joint, and panel was designed and assembled by hand. A functional audio piece that merges woodworking, fabrication, and music history into a single standing object.
A poem about the historic alliance between Black and Jewish communities during the American civil rights movement — the shared grammar of oppression, the theology of solidarity, and what it means to march beside someone whose suffering rhymes with your own.
A prose piece inhabiting the consciousness of an archivist — the keeper of what the world agrees to remember. Explores the quiet power and moral weight of deciding which lives leave a trace, and which disappear into silence.
Service and mentorship work rooted in education, disability advocacy, and community resilience.
Assisting teachers by organizing activities, teaching curriculum, and supervising 20 Kindergarteners. Providing one-on-one aid to a neuro-atypical student during weekly Shabbat services.
Mentoring physically or developmentally disabled children weekly throughout the academic year, providing guided art and educational activities to develop skills and entertain participants while giving caregivers a much-needed break.
Volunteered in community clean-up events focused on waterways, parks, and streets to promote environmental sustainability across the San Jose area.
Created and organized community-building activities for residents transitioning from homelessness. Designed and led events including bingo, basketball, trivia tournaments, and holiday-themed contests for 20–40 participants.