Bryn is an instructor of Anthropology/Archaeology at Coast Mountain College. He is an archaeologist with a research focus on the Indigenous archaeology and history of Prince Rupert and the surrounding north coast region of British Columbia. He completed his MSc at the University of Toronto, a PhD at the University of British Columbia, and was a SSHRC and Banting Postdoctoral Fellow at Simon Fraser University, where he is also now an Adjunct Professor.
Bryn's specializations blend archaeology and anthropology with physical geography, geology, and environmental science. His research involves reconstructing changes in ancient sea levels and coastal landscapes to understand how ancient people occupied and used their transforming world through time. A lot of his research involves reconstructing paleoenvironments during and immediately after the last Ice Age to look for archaeological evidence of the earliest occupation of the northwest coast. He has worked with Indigenous communities along the coast of British Columbia, including the Ts'msyen Nations of Gitga'ata, Metlakatla, and Lax Kw'alaams. Bryn also does archaeological work in the Near East, for the last decade he has participated in a research project studying the transition to settled village life during the Neolithic in northwestern Jordan.
At Coast Mountain College, Bryn teaches introductory anthropology and archaeology courses, and he incorporates his expertise in working with local First Nations communities into his teaching and course content. Bryn runs field schools where students visit the spectacular coastal territories of local First Nations, and can get their hands dirty with real archaeological materials. He also runs a weekly open lab night on Prince Rupert campus where students can come and learn about archaeological methods and participate in archaeological research projects. Reach out to him if you want to get involved in archaeological research at CMTN!
Learn more about Bryn's research at brynletham.com