About

 

 

 

 

jhg in the field

 

 

 

 

 

Joan H. Geismar, Ph.D., an archaeological consultant, has been a practicing urban archaeologist in the New York-metropolitan area since 1981. Dr. Geismar, who received her doctorate in Anthropology from Columbia University, has extensive experience in documenting the history of sites in the New York- metropolitan area, assessing their archaeological potential, and implementing and carrying out fieldwork when necessary. Many of her projects have fulfilled the cultural resources requirement for environmental assessments and impact statements or permitting.

 

Among her clients are private developers and institutions, municipal agencies in New York and New Jersey, federal agencies, architects, The New York City Parks Department, and historical societies and museums as well as engineering and environmental assessment firms. Her projects are varied, ranging from numerous NJ Transit projects to the restoration of the Hunterfly Road Houses in Historic Weeksville (Brooklyn) and from Manhattan's Lower East Side Tenement Museum, where she has been the archaeological consultant since its inception, to a major Hollywood film.

 

Dr. Geismar is a founding member of Professional Archaeologists of New York City, Inc., (PANYC), its president for four non-consecutive terms and a member of the Executive Board since 1984. She also serves on the Preservation Committee of the Municipal Art Society and is the recipient of several preservation awards. In 1999, she was designated a Centennial Historian of the City of New York by Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. Her research interests include, but are not limited to, community studies and the development of the urban condition, such as landfill, transportation, housing, and sanitation issues.