Joanna joined Far Western’s Desert Branch in Henderson, Nevada, in 2012, where she is a Principal Investigator and Branch Manager. She has a BA in Anthropology from the University of Oklahoma and earned her Master’s degree from Southern Methodist University in 2010. Her archaeological research interests focus on lithic resource use and hunter-gatherer adaptations, and she has 25 years of regional archaeological experience in the Great Plains, Rocky Mountains, Great Basin, and Mojave Desert.
Joanna’s Far Western work profile involves project management, field leadership, and reporting efforts in various sectors of cultural resource management, including energy, military, and federal agencies. Her primary focus with Far Western has involved Section 106 and Section 110 projects on lands managed by the US Navy, US Marine Corps, and US Air Force, as well as the BLM in California and Nevada. This work entails large-scale Class III pedestrian inventories, excavation and National Register of Historic Places evaluations of precontact sites, site condition assessments, and cultural resources monitoring in various desert landscapes. She also coordinates on projects with multiple stakeholders and managing agencies including the US Forest Service (Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest), US Fish and Wildlife Service (Desert National Wildlife Refuge), National Park Service (Death Valley National Park), Caltrans, and NDOT.
Recent regional experience includes directing large-scale surveys and precontact site evaluations in the Mojave Desert around Twentynine Palms, California, and the Nellis Air Force Base in Clark County, Nevada, and coordinating archaeological and tribal monitors for fiber optic installation across Nevada. She is permitted by the BLM as Principal Investigator in California, Nevada, and Utah, as Project Director in Arizona, and as Field Director in Oregon and Washington.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Joanna’s Featured Publications
Byerly, Ryan M., Chelsea Karthauser, Erik P. Martin, Andrew J. Hoskins, D. Craig Young, Joanna C. Roberson & Eric L. Gingerich
2022 Hunter-Gatherer Settlement Patterns in the South-Central Mojave Desert: Perspectives from Emerson Lake, San Bernardino County, California. California Archaeology 14(2):1-28.
Roberson, Joanna C., Daron G. Duke, and Jerome H. King
2018 Seldom Seen: A Look at Petroglyphs and Pictographs on the Nevada Test and Training Range. Poster presented at the 36th Great Basin Anthropological Conference, Salt Lake City.
Byerly, Ryan M., and Joanna C. Roberson
2019 Late Holocene Drought and the Archaeology of the South-Central Mojave Desert. Paper presented at the 2019 Kelso Conference, Zzyzx.
Byerly, Ryan M., and Joanna C. Roberson