BOSPP Core Team |
Cameron Ross Born in Sydney, Australia, Cameron spent many years in the rain-forest of NSW studying oil painting and working in a travelling bush circus. He then gained a degree in archaeology and palaeoanthropology, sailing tall ships to pay for his tuition, and afterwards worked for the Australian Museum, specialising in Aboriginal sites. Cameron studied archaeology at UCL, and also gained maritime archaeology and advanced diving qualifications. He has worked as a freelance archaeologist on sites in Britain, Italy, and Egypt, and, for many years, as a commercial archaeologist with UCL’s Archaeology South-East. He was a lead archaeologist at La Boiselle on the Somme in 2013, and is currently director of archaeology at the Hooge Crater WWI project in Belgium and the Operation Cobra WWII project in Normandy. |
Roger Ward Roger is a Chartered Physicist and former academic scientist with specific expertise in IT and other related technologies. He has multi-skilled expertise, specializing in the technical aspects of conflict archaeology; the use of digital technologies for data acquisition in the mapping of landscapes; and the recording and analysis of data. He played a leading role in the Great Arab Revolt Project in Jordan (2006-2014) - including Head of Field Survey for the latter seasons, and maintaining then innovative site blog which was syndicated through Current World Archaeology - and he has also worked on British WWI and WWII sites. Roger is a member of the NCMD (National Council for Metal Detecting), and is a qualified and certified drone pilot. He also designs, builds, and operates ethical (trap/record/release) lepidoptera traps for the recording of moth species for the county and national databases in the UK. |
Ali Baldry Ali has twenty-five years working in the field of forensics as a Crime Scene Examiner. With the last eighteen also providing forensic archaeology expertise to UK Police Forces as an expert witness. Her qualifications and experience bring photography, GPS survey, excavation and forensic examination skills to the project, supporting both site and post-excavation work. She is also a professional member of The Chartered Institute of Archaeologists and a member of the Forensic Archaeology Special Interest Group. Outside of forensic casework Ali has been extensively involved with conflict archaeology projects since 2006, including, The Great Arab Revolt Project in Jordan, Operation Cobra in Normandy, zeppelin crash sites in the UK, the Battle of Hastings site investigation and now, The Battle of San Pietro. Ali is friendly, methodical and thorough, with a brilliant sense of humour and is looking forward to meeting you! |
Helen Basson After graduating with a degree in Classics, Helen co-founded a garden design practice specialising in creating sustainable, low-maintenance gardens in tough Mediterranean climates. Designing show gardens worldwide that won numerous medals including golds at Singapore, Italy, France, Philadelphia, Moscow, Japan, China and Chelsea. Her fascination has always been the history of the landscape and the interaction of humans with nature throughout time. This led her to focus on Landscape Archaeology and Heritage, gaining an MA from the University of Sheffield with thesis in the landscape changes caused by WW2 in Normandy. She is currently in the final year of a sponsored PhD looking at conflict landscape recovery using the case study of the First World War battlefields. Her goal is to use the lessons from the past to create a framework for current traumatic landscape regeneration. Specialising in the multi-layered aspects of Landscape Archaeology she is skilled in TST surveys, GIS and soil analysis. Helen consults on historical landscape and archaeological considerations for design projects worldwide. She has been a core team member of the Battlefield Archaeology Group in Normandy for all 3 seasons and for BOSPP in 2024. She lives in the Somme,and loves nothing more than to share her passion for WW1 with visitors to her AirBnB |
Anna Gow After working on both Roman and modern conflict sites, Anna has, with little formal training, become a key team member on several field projects, training others in the recording and photographing of artefacts. During the Great Arab Revolt Project, she catalogued and analysed thousands of artefacts collected in the deserts of southern Jordan, using GPS data to interpret the significance of the spreads. She was also involved in the recording of a First World War aerodrome at Sedgeford in Norfolk, and more recently, has worked as finds officer, project photographer, and surveyor at 'The Glory Hole' in La Boisselle, Picardy. |
Michelle Hagstrom Michelle Hagstrom is an Archaeologist born and raised in the southeastern United States. She has worked as an archaeologist in the US and abroad for the last 14 years. She graduated from Georgia State University in 2012 with a bachelor’s in history (minor anthropology) and is pursuing her graduate degree from New Mexico Highlands University in Cultural Resource Management Archaeology. Michelle also volunteers as an Archaeologist with an organization called Project Recover, which conducts missions around the world to find and bring home America’s MIA soldiers. Michelle also serves as a Civil Affairs Officer with the United States Army Reserves outside of archaeology. She began working with Battlefield Archaeology Group in Normandy beginning in 2023 and began work with BoSPP in 2024. Michelle acts as one of the project’s Field Directors. |
David Long After a career in the City of London, David discovered an interest in archaeology and subsequently in metal-detecting. In recent years he has excavated Roman and medieval sites and has used his experience in metal-detecting to good effect in a complementary role on these sites. His interest in modern conflict archaeology arose from involvement in the Great Arab Revolt Project in Jordan between 2006 and 2014, where he divided his time between excavating and detecting. Current projects include excavation of a Roman villa site in Dorset and an intensive geophysical survey around a medieval village. |
Jenny Townzen Jenny Townzen is a master’s graduate of Conflict Archaeology and Heritage from the University of Glasgow in Scotland. In 2020 she wrote her dissertation focusing on the archaeology of World War II, the moving image, and front-line film as a form of evidence, memory creation and manipulation in the Italian campaign. While pursuing this research topic, she met her fellow project administrators for the Battle of San Pietro Project. Currently, Jenny lives in her sunny home state of Texas in The United States, where she hopes to provide a unique viewpoint to the BoSPP team which highlights the major role of Texans in the 36th Infantry during the Italian campaign. Her current position within the Texas Historical Commission focuses on the interpretation and education of the historic ruins of a German Texan brewery. Jenny acts as the project administrator and field archaeologist. |