The SEAC Nominations Committee has identified a slate of candidates for one (1) elected position in SEAC.

The candidates for Executive Officer I are HEATHER LAPHAM and ERIN NELSON. The term for this position is 2025 through 2027.

The definitions of SEAC offices and the duties and terms of SEAC officers are specified in Articles III and IV of the SEAC Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws (see pages 5–8).

The 2025 SEAC election will be held from 9:00AM EDT on Oct. 6, 2025, through 5:00PM EDT on October 24, 2025, by electronic ballot only. All current SEAC members in good standing will receive an email which will provide a link to access your official ballot. Please do not share this link or forward this email message to others. Please note that Family and Family Life members are entitled to two votes and will be sent two codes.

Please take the time to familiarize yourself with the candidates and to vote! Your participation is an important contribution to the SEAC community. For questions about the election process, please contact Amanda Regnier (aregnier@ou.edu).

Candidate Statements for Executive Officer I:

Heather A. Lapham

I am the Associate Director of the Research Laboratories of Archaeology and an Adjunct Associate Professor in both the Curriculum in Archaeology and the Department of Anthropology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. I earned my PhD from the University of Virginia in 2002, one year after attending my first SEAC annual meeting in 2001. My research explores human-animal relationships in the American Southeast and southern Mexico, with a particular focus on how people produced and used animals and their by-products, such as hides, furs, and eggs. In recent years, I have also partnered with Tribes in North and South Carolina to co-develop archaeology-based exhibitions for tribal cultural centers.

Over the past 25 years, I have contributed to local, regional, national, and international professional organizations. Within the Society for American Archaeology (SAA), I served on the Board of Directors (2018–2021) and chaired the Task Force on Awards, leading a major revision of the organization’s awards, scholarships, and grants program to ensure sustainable growth. In this role, I worked closely with nearly two dozen Award Committees, as well as the Minority Scholarships and Native American Scholarships Committees. I later chaired the Meeting Access Fund Task Force (2021–2022), which developed processes and criteria for soliciting proposals and prioritizing awards to expand member participation in the SAA Annual Meeting.

Because I find joy in celebrating the accomplishments of others, much of my SAA service has centered on awards and scholarships. I currently serve on the Matthew Cappetta Scholarship Committee (2023–present) and previously chaired the SAA Committee on Awards (2013–2016) after serving as a member (2011–2013). I have also served on the SAA Nominating Committee (2009–2010, 2016–2017) and the Student Paper Award Committee (2009–2011). Through these roles, I helped establish more than a dozen new awards and scholarships.

Internationally, I served the International Council for Archaeozoology (ICAZ) as a member of its International Committee (2006–2018) and as Newsletter Editor (2000–2010). Regionally, I edited the North Carolina Archaeological Society Newsletter (2017–2019). My service to SEAC has been more limited, but has included co-organizing the 2020/2021 annual meeting in Durham, North Carolina, mentoring through the Southeastern Archaeological Mentoring Network, and serving a one-year term on the Nominations Committee (2011–2012).

I am honored to be considered for an Executive Officer position with SEAC. For me, SEAC has always been a space defined by outstanding scholarship, a welcoming atmosphere, and an inspiring community of members, and the opportunity to serve at this level is truly exciting. Over the past two decades, my professional experiences have centered in university-based research centers, but I have also worked in museum settings and cultural resource management firms. Coupled with research that extends from the eastern United States to southern Mexico, these experiences have given me a broad perspective on the diverse community of archaeologists and Tribal members represented in SEAC and in our profession more broadly. I believe an organization’s true strength comes from welcoming members with diverse backgrounds and actively engaging students to help build a strong and equitable future. If elected as an Executive Officer, I will work to support a vibrant, inclusive, and diverse SEAC community.

Erin Nelson

I am an Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of South Alabama (USA), and also coordinate USA’s NAGPRA activities. My current research explores the origins and development of Pensacola culture, a Mississippian cultural tradition of the northern Gulf of Mexico Coast. The project incorporates legacy collections housed in repositories across Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida, and includes a collaboration with Indigenous potters, who are re-creating pottery recipes based on those used by their coastal ancestors and preserved in the archaeological record. As a member of the SEAC community since the 2003 meeting in Charlotte, I can say without a doubt that the generosity, intellectual curiosity, and collaborative spirit of SEAC members have shaped me as a scholar and made possible the type of collaborative research, teaching, and service I do. My previous service to SEAC includes two years on the nominations committee (one as chair) and one on the Patty Jo Watson Award committee. I also serve as Executive Officer of the Alabama Archaeological Society, and have recently served on the Local Arrangements and Program committees of the Society for American Anthropology. I was honored to receive the Rising Scholar Award from SEAC in 2023 and it would be my privilege to serve the organization and its membership in the role of Executive Officer. Our discipline and our organization have and will continue to face challenges, and if elected, I will work to preserve and build upon our commitment to making SEAC a safe and welcoming environment for all members, which necessarily includes authentic and sustained collaboration with Tribal partners.