Elizabeth S. Peña joined the Art Conservation Department as Director and Professor in 2004. Since that time, the department has embarked on several initiatives, currently underway: the creation of a $2.5 million conservation science endowment to establish a professorship in conservation science and to provide research funds for the department’s two scientists; and, the improvement of department facilities through the renovation of newly acquired space to create an additional conservation studio, much-needed storage space, an updated classroom, and a new library. Ongoing projects include working with community partners such as the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, the Buffalo Museum of Science, the Buffalo & Erie County Historical Society, and the new Burchfield Penney Art Center on the Buffalo State campus.

In November 2008, Dr. Peña was selected to participate in the ICCROM (International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property) course, “Sharing Conservation Decisions” in Rome, Italy. During this time, she was a Visiting Scholar at the American Academy in Rome.

In addition to her work as an arts administrator, Dr. Peña holds the position of Editor for Northeast Historical Archaeology, an international peer-reviewed journal. She maintains an active archaeological research program, and co-directs, with Dr. Susan Maguire (Anthropology Department), an archaeological field school at Old Fort Niagara State Historic State. The 2009 season will continue the research program of 2005 and 2007, with a focus on 18th-c. trade and relationships between Europeans (French and British) and Native Americans.

Prior to joining the Art Conservation Department, Dr. Peña served as Curator of Anthropology at the Buffalo Museum of Science, where she helped to develop new exhibits and programs while increasing access to the collections for scholars. Dr. Peña is now a Research Fellow in the Anthropology Division, as well as a member of the Museum’s Collections Committee. Dr. Peña also taught in the Anthropology Departments at Buffalo State College and the University at Buffalo. She has worked as an archaeologist for the New York State Bureau of Historic Sites, and has experience with several private cultural resource management firms. Before focusing on North American historical archaeology for her Ph.D. work at Boston University, Dr. Peña worked in the Mediterranean, earning a BA in Classical Archaeology from the University of Michigan.

Dr. Peña’s research interests include material culture theory, wampum and exchange systems, documentary archaeology, and women and gender in frontier contexts. She has published a number of articles on historical archaeological topics, including: “Wampum Diplomacy: The Historical and Archaeological Evidence for Wampum at Fort Niagara“ in Northeast Historical Archaeology, “Desire and Distrust: The Paradox of Women at Old Fort Niagara” in New York History, “Wampum Production at the Albany Almshouse“ in the International Journal of Historical Archaeology, and “The Social Organization of a Boardinghouse: Archaeological Evidence from the Buffalo Waterfront” in Historical Archaeology. Dr. Peña has presented papers at numerous professional conferences.