Gerry Bigelow

Dr. Gerry Bigelow is a Visiting Professor at Coastal Carolina University and Research Affiliate. He holds a Visiting Reader position at the Archaeology Institute. His career spans over four decades in academia, including roles at Bowdoin College (1987–1995) as Curator of the Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum and Arctic Studies Center.

His research focuses on archaeology, ethnohistory, and historical ecology in the North Atlantic regions, with specializations in medieval/post-medieval artefacts and zooarchaeology. He leads interdisciplinary projects like the NSF-funded 'Shetland Islands Climate and Settlement Project' (2010–2014), coordinating teams of archaeologists, geologists, and historians to study environmental changes and human impacts.

Bigelow has secured significant grants, including two US NSF awards and Historic Environment Scotland funding for his Shetland-based work. He co-founded the Journal of the North Atlantic in 2007 and authored over 30 peer-reviewed articles and reports. His fieldwork spans Greenland, Iceland, the UK, and France, with Shetland as his primary study area.