Colin Grier

Colin Grier is a Professor of Archaeology at Washington State University (WSU), based at the Vancouver campus. His work focuses on the archaeology of Northwest Coast Indigenous peoples, particularly the Coast Salish, emphasizing long-term social change, inequality, and sustainability. He holds a PhD from Arizona State University and has conducted research globally, including in Ireland, Korea, Japan, and Canada. His current NSF-funded research employs geophysical methods to investigate coastal archaeological sites threatened by climate change, while collaborating with Indigenous communities on reconciliation efforts related to residential schools and unmarked graves. Grier teaches courses on archaeological theory, Northwest Coast studies, and quantitative methods, and supervises graduate students in the Northwest Coast Archaeology Lab.

Education:

• B.A., McGill University, 1993
• M.A., Arizona State University, 1996
• Ph.D., Arizona State University, 2001
• SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellow, University of British Columbia, 2001–2003

Research Themes:

• Northwest Coast household and village organization
• Indigenous resource management and sustainability
• Geophysical methods for archaeological site preservation
• Reconciliation through shoreline restoration and unmarked grave investigations
• Comparative analysis of hunter-gatherer-fisher societies globally

Grants & Collaborations:

• NSF-funded geophysical research (2024)
• Canadian Archaeological Association Working Group on Unmarked Graves
• Postdoctoral collaboration with Dr. Alberto Garcia-Piquer on Indigenous seafaring
• Community partnerships with Hul’q’umi’num peoples

Laboratory: The Northwest Coast Archaeology Lab at WSU Vancouver houses geophysical equipment, GIS tools, faunal collections, and supports student research in archaeology and environmental anthropology.