Director of Art Conservation Named

Elizabeth Shapiro Peña, Ph.D., former curator of anthropological collections at the Buffalo Museum of Science, is the new director of Buffalo State's Art Conservation Department. She succeeds F. Christopher Tahk, SUNY Distinguished Service Professor, who retired in August.

Peña earned her doctorate and master's degree in archaeology from Boston University. Her research interests include North American historical archaeology, material culture studies, wampum and exchange systems, comparative colonialism, documentary archaeology, and gender studies.

She had been an adjunct lecturer in Buffalo State's Anthropology Department and a research associate in the University at Buffalo's Anthropology Department. At the Buffalo Museum of Science, she worked to broaden access to the anthropology collections. She also advanced community partnerships, including collaborative relationships with Buffalo State. She will continue to serve as a research fellow in anthropology at the museum and strengthen ties between the museum and the college. Peña also serves as field director for excavations at Old Fort Niagara in Youngstown and has worked on numerous historical sites in the Northeast and in the Mediterranean.

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