Jessie P. Ben-Avraham -- Geoarchaeologist

Jessie P. Ben-Avraham, doctoral candidate at Bar Ilan University, leads the Mnemotrix Geoarchaeological Support Team for the Mount Zion Excavations.  Her undergraduate work was done at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio and University of Miami in Florida. Her doctoral work is concentrated on geoarchaeological data acquisition and modeling using Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) for strategic planning and decision support. She has been working since 2005 at several sites in the Southern Levant, with an emphasis on rough terrain GPR with archaeological support application, as well as interfacing of results in a GIS database model.  Her work has been under the supervision of Professor Aren Maeir and Dr. Moti Haiman of The Martin (Szusz) Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology, Bar-Ilan University, Professor Hanoch Lavee of the Department of Geography, Bar-Ilan University, and Professor Ben K. Sternberg, Ph.D., Director of the Laboratory for Advanced Subsurface Imaging, University of Arizona. She is planning a post-doctorate at Texas A&M.

In addition to her current doctoral work, Jessie has completed numerous projects and archaeogeophysical surveys throughout Israel. These sites include Kiryat Anavim Cemetery and Tel Mond Cemetery, forensics projects in support of the Israel Defense Forces' MIA department; and Hazor Archaeological Project, Tell es-Safi/Philistine Gath, City of David Excavations, Neolithic Sha'ar HaGolan Archaeological Project, and Givat Sher archaeological projects to name a few.  Current projects include the Mount Zion Excavations, the Horns of Hittin, the ancient city of Bethsaida, and select sites in Jerusalem and the biblical city of Nazareth. She has published portions of her work in several journals and research editions. Her doctoral work has focused on advanced data modeling of numerous archaeological, geological, geophysical, hydrological and climatic datasets, including data acquisition in the Negev desert at her 5 research sites of Avdat, Nizzana, Shivta, the Yatir Forest, and Tell es-Safi.  She brings specialized experience in rough-terrain situations where on-site innovation allows her to produce useful reports for both the researchers and professionals in the field.  She has also worked at several sites in the USA, including the Miami Circle in Florida, one of the few Prehistoric architectural structure remains in the country, the ancient Ortona canals in Central Florida, and Little Salt Springs on the west coast of Florida.  See here for GPR field reports including 3D modeling and animations.