معرفی
Dr. Justin St. P. Walsh is a Professor of Art History, Archaeology, and Space Studies at Chapman University's Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences. He is a leading scholar in the emerging field of space archaeology and co-directs the International Space Station Archaeological Project (ISSAP) with Dr. Alice Gorman. Walsh was selected as a member of the Explorer Club 50 in 2024, recognizing him as one of '50 remarkable explorers changing the world and extending the meaning of exploration.'
His expertise spans both terrestrial and space archaeology, with significant contributions to Mediterranean archaeology, particularly Greek pottery studies and cultural heritage protection. Walsh has received numerous prestigious awards including the Archaeological Institute's 2023 Award for Outstanding Work in Digital Archaeology and the American Anthropological Association's 2023 General Anthropology Division New Directions Award for his groundbreaking work with ISSAP.
Walsh's research interests focus on space archaeology, Mediterranean archaeology, Greek pottery, and cultural heritage protection. His work examines the material culture of human activity in outer space and human activity on Earth directed at space. In 2022, ISSAP conducted the first archaeological work in space through the SQuARE experiment, which had astronauts document sample locations around the ISS with daily photography for two months. His terrestrial work includes Mediterranean art and archaeology, with fieldwork conducted in the United States, Spain, Jordan, Kazakhstan, and Italy since 1998.
His most recent publications demonstrate a clear trajectory toward space archaeology as a legitimate discipline, with innovative methodologies for studying human habitats in space. These works explore space station culture, material culture in microgravity environments, and the development of frameworks for future space archaeological research. His work bridges the gap between traditional archaeology and the challenges of studying human activity in orbital environments.
- Explorer Club 50 (2024)
- Archaeological Institute's 2023 Award for Outstanding Work in Digital Archaeology
- American Anthropological Association's 2023 General Anthropology Division New Directions Award
- Fulbright Grant to Greece (2002-2003)
- Rome Prize (2003-2004)
- Arthur Ross Advanced Research Fellowship (2008)
Walsh has successfully mentored numerous student researchers at Chapman University and has received multiple awards for these collaborations. His current projects include documenting human heritage on Mars and analyzing the cleanup of the Arecibo radio telescope following its collapse. As a founding member of the ICOMOS Scientific Committee on Aerospace Heritage, Walsh plays a key role in establishing frameworks for protecting cultural heritage in space environments.
Walsh leads the International Space Station Archaeological Project (ISSAP), the first large-scale space archaeology project that studies the ISS crew as a 'microsociety in a miniworld.' The project involves an international team of scholars and has received extensive media coverage from CNN, NPR, The New York Times, WIRED, and numerous other global outlets. Since 2023, Walsh has also served as Ad Astra Fellow in Space Habitats and Space Anthropology at the University of Southern California's Space Engineering Research Center.
