Michael W. (Mike) Diehl received his PhD in Anthropology from SUNY Buffalo in 1994. His research focus is paleoethnobotany—the identification and study of charred plant tissues and pollen recovered from archaeological sites. Paul Minnis (Professor Emeritus, University of Oklahoma) is his longtime mentor.
Mike has conducted paleobotanical analysis since 1990 and has studied plant tissues from ancient and historic period sites throughout Arizona and New Mexico, as well as from parts of California, New York, and Texas. His research focuses on past generations’ decisions about the kinds of plants to use as food, fuel, and economic commodities, from the ancient past through recent historical times. He takes on topics such as human-environment interaction, human behavioral ecology, food selection and consumption, food sustainability, and ethnicity in food preparation.
Mike’s secondary expertise includes military history and industrial archaeology.