A Little Bit About Me

Location:
Koh Ker, Cambodia
Latitude/Longitude:
13.790305000000, 104.535558500000
Journal Entry:

My name is Alyssa Akemi Loyless, I am 24 years old, and I currently live in Sacramento, California. I am the oldest of four kids in my family, with my brother Curtis (23), brother Cody (18), and sister Angie (13). My ethnic background is Scottish and Japanese, and my grandma was born and raised in Okinawa, Japan. I visit Japan almost every year, and have been learning Japanese for about two years now. 

Since the end of my undergraduate degree, I began pursuing the career path of a "Digital Archaeologist." Digital archaeology is using digital methods to study the past. Some examples of this include using satellite imagery to locate and map archaeological sites, making 3D models of ancient artifacts and architecture, and collecting data in the field using digital tools such as magnetometry. I was first introduced to digital archaeology through a professor at Dartmouth, who used satellite imagery to track the looting patterns of archaeological sites in Syria and Iraq. After joining his research, I started looking for more ways in which I could get more involved in the topic.

Currently, I am living in Cambodia for a year on a Fulbright Independent Research grant. Here, I am conducting archaeological fieldwork at the site of Koh Ker in the Preah Vihear province of Cambodia.

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