Community engagement and public outreach are not only important, but fundamental.

As a scientist, my objective is to deepen our understanding of the world by contributing to the academic knowledge base while also engaging and including anyone interested in these discoveries. Generating new data should not be limited to the publication of academic papers; it should also serve local communities and the general public, who have a vested interest in the history of their communities and our shared world.

I try to foster and nurture this invaluable relationship between researchers and communities in a variety of ways. Collaborating with local scholars and experts, discussing and organizing workshops with local communities, and including everyone as authors who had a role in publications (from students who helped in the field to senior academics who offered their decades-long experience) are just some of these ways.