About me
Nicky is the Training and Communications Manager for the Archaeology Data Service (ADS). His main role is to design and deliver training for ADS depositors and end-users of ADS data resources and to oversee the ADS Communications group.
Nicky completed his doctoral research in 2017 at the UCL Institute of Archaeology on the archaeology of Iron Age and Roman Britain. His research interests focus on the landscapes of Iron Age and Roman north-western Europe, specifically understanding the origins, development of role of Iron Age settlements known as ‘oppida’. Nicky’s doctoral research used a multi-scale analysis of these complex settlements to better understand their function, social structure and transformation across the Iron Age-Roman transition.
Career
Since 2017 Nicky has worked on numerous research projects across several different Universities. These include the National Lottery Heritage Funded project ‘Hadrian’s Wall Community Archaeology (WallCAP)’, at Newcastle University and the AHRC/English Heritage funded ‘Exeter: A Place in Time’ project, with Cotswold Archaeology.
Prior to this Nicky spent twelve years working in numerous roles in developer-funded archaeology (2005-2017). This included several years leading fieldwork projects in the Republic of Ireland (Eachtra Archaeological Projects) and Southern England (Archaeology South-East) and as an Archaeological Consultant as part of a wider heritage team (Heritage Collective) and a solo practitioner.
Most recently, Nicky was a Senior Publications Officer at Cotswold Archaeology, where he managed and undertook the post-excavation analysis and publication of archaeological excavations across southern Britain. He also trained junior members of staff in report writing and post-excavation analysis..
Nicky has a deep interest in digital approaches to the past. Much of his research utilises spatial analysis to explore past landscapes and as such has a detailed knowledge of ArcGIS and QGIS. He utilises scripting languages, namely R, to explore statistics and identify trends in archaeological data. He has undertaken an analysis of learner satisfaction scores for the FutureLearn MOOC, Hadrian’s Wall: Life on the Roman Frontier, as part of a REF impact case study.
Nicky conducted a bibliometric analysis of publications for the Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conference (TRAC) to explore the research trajectory of this institution over the last 30 years. The data and code written is available via his GitHub account. His recent research explored mobility surrounding linear earthworks based on high resolution digital elevation models and utilises the high performance computing service at Durham University.