Dr. Jo Osborn is an anthropological archaeologist and zooarchaeologist whose work centers on how ancient societies adapted to demanding coastal and desert environments. Now an Assistant Professor at Texas A&M University, she brings a background shaped by a BA in Anthropology from Harvard and an MA and PhD from the University of Michigan. Her research blends environmental archaeology, human adaptation, and the long-term dynamics of coastal life, with a particular focus on the Central Andes and the Peruvian south coast.

Her fieldwork has been especially influential at the Topará fishing village of Jahuay in Peru, where she investigates “maritime specialization”—the economic strategies coastal communities developed to buffer against the instability caused by recurring El Niño events. Through the analysis of faunal remains and the use of Bayesian modeling, she reconstructs how these societies navigated unpredictable climates, managed resources, and sustained resilience in the face of environmental shocks.

Before joining Texas A&M, Dr. Osborn served as a Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of New Mexico and as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Exeter for the LASTJOURNEY project. Her scholarship appears in leading journals such as Quaternary Science Reviews, Radiocarbon, and Latin American Antiquity, and she remains an active contributor to the archaeological community, frequently organizing symposia for the Society for American Archaeology.