January 6, 2026
The Archaeological Institute of America established a new award this year to recognize the broad and important range of outreach conducted by AIA members—the Public Engagement Award. All members who dedicated a minimum of 12 hours to their public education work and/or participated in three separate public education engagements between September 2024 and August 2025 were eligible to self-nominate for this award.
This year we will recognize 22 members in the gold, silver, and bronze award categories. Categories were established based on the number of volunteer hours of outreach work performed. Public engagement activities included archaeology fairs, in person and virtual classroom visits, FIRST LEGO League meetings, presentations to seniors, teacher workshops, programming at public libraries, K-12 school outreach trips to archaeological sites, social media content creation, podcasts, public talks, popular media articles, websites, videos, and more. In total, this incredible group of AIA members achieved the following:
These professionals and graduate students are on the front lines demystifying science, debunking myths, and increasing transparency in archaeological practice. Their work strengthens communities and cultural identity, encourages inclusivity, cultivates stewards and advocates for the past, and so much more. We are thrilled to be able to honor their work.
Gold Public Engagement Award Winners: Taylor Cwikla, Ece Erlat, Annelise Baer, and Tate Paulette.
Silver Public Engagement Award Winners: Chiara Sulprizio, Katherine Seeber, Bruno Soltic, Frances Gallart Marqués, Grace Erny, and members of the Peopling the Past podcast team: Chelsea Gardner, Christine Johnston, Megan Daniels, Sabrina Higgins, and Victoria Austen.
Bronze Public Engagement Award Winners: Nathalie Roy, Jennifer Porter, Alison Rittershaus, Catherine Judson, Natalie Abell, Braden Cordivari, Lylaah Bhalerao, and Leigh Anne Lieberman.
