Christopher I. Roos

Bio

Christopher Roos is an environmental archaeologist whose primary areas of interest and expertise are in human pyrogeography and behavioral geoarchaeology. For two decades, he has directed interdisciplinary research projects on the long-term interactions of human societies, climate, and wildfire in the southwestern United States. More recently, Roos has expanded his fire work to include collaborative research projects in Montana, Fiji, and Australia. He also works closely with archaeologists in the Southwest and the northern Great Plains to apply earth science methods and techniques to the reconstruction of spatial patterns of human behavior in ritual and domestic contexts. Roos' scholarship has been extensively funded by the National Science Foundation and has appeared in various peer-reviewed journals, including the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Journal of Archaeological Science, Journal of Biogeography, and Science. 

At SMU, Roos directs the Environmental Archaeology Lab.

Research Interests

Human Pyrogeography • Behavioral Geoarchaeology • Dendrochronology • Indigenous Fire Stewardship • Southwest United States

Courses Taught

Fire on Earth: An Introduction to Pyrogeography • Paradise Lost? Archaeology and Paleoecology of Human-Environment Impacts • Sustainable Living: An Introduction to Systems and Resilience Thinking • Geoarchaeology • Special Topics: Cultural Pyrogeography Seminar • Archaeological Sciences • Archaeological Theory