Meet the Team

MHTT Project Directors

Dr. Alicia Odewale
Meet Alicia
Dr. Parker VanValkenburgh
Meet Parker
Dr. Nkem Ike
Meet NkemMHTT Field Leaders

Tiffany Bruner
- MHTT Field Leader
- Joined the Team in 2022
- Starting Affiliation – Tulsa Community College
- Current Affiliation – Greenwood Rising History Center (Docent)
- The Great Equalizer: Mapping Education and the Childhood Experience in Greenwood

Billie Burden
- MHTT Field Leader
- Joined the Team in 2022
- Starting Affiliation – Booker T. Washington High School (Sophomore)
- Current Affiliation – Booker T. Washington High School (Senior)
- The Unyielding Spirit of Greenwood: Survivance and Community Resilience
- Applying for Universities currently and hoping to major in Anthropology

Jasmine Carter
- MHTT Field Leader
- Joined the Team in 2023
- Starting Affiliation – Oklahoma State University (PhD Student)
- Current Affiliation – Oklahoma State University (PhD Student)
- Standpipe Hill: The place to be during the time of Black Wall Street
- Planning to Defend Dissertation and Finish PhD in Fall 2025

Kristin Coon
- MHTT Field Leader
- Joined the Team in 2021
- Starting Affiliation – University of Tulsa (Anthropology Major)
- Current Affiliation – Stantec (Archaeology Technician)
- Curator of MHTT Diagnostic Artifact Photo Collection

Gary Ervin
- MHTT Field Leader
- Joined the Team in 2022
- Starting Affiliation – University of Tulsa (Anthropology Major)
- Current Affiliation – University of Massachusetts-Boston (Masters)
- Objects of Resilience: From the Aftermath of the Massacre to Greenwood’s Golden Age

Victoria Harris
- MHTT Field Leader
- Joined the Team in 2021
- Starting Affiliation – Booker T. Washington High School
- Current Affiliation – University of Chicago (Anthropology Major)
- Creator of the MHTT Project Showcase – Photo Gallery

Orion Long
- MHTT Field Leader
- Joined the Team in 2021
- Starting Affiliation – Booker T. Washington High School
- Current Affiliation – Booker T. Washington High School Graduate

Amber Vinson
- MHTT Field Leader
- Joined the Team in 2021
- Starting Affiliation – University of Oklahoma (Anthropology Masters)
- Current Affiliation – Geospatial Specialist at Arkansas Department of Transportation
- A Black Space Elevated on a Hill: An Archaeology of Hate and Racial Violence in Black Wall Street’s Most Affluent Neighborhood

Louise Walker
- MHTT Field Leader
- Joined the Team in 2021
- Starting Affiliation – Tulsa Community College (Early Education)
- Current Affiliation – Northeastern State University (Early Education)
- Objects of Resilience: From the Aftermath of the Massacre to Greenwood’s Golden Age
- Proud Member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma

Patty Williams
- MHTT Field Leader
- Joined the Team in 2022
- Starting Affiliation – University of Tulsa (Anthropology Major)
- Current Affiliation – University of Tulsa (Masters Student)
- Mapping Greenwood: Learning History Through Mapping Important Spaces
MHTT Student Interns

Heidi Hampton
- MHTT Student Intern
- Booker T. Washington High School
- Objects of Resilience: From the Aftermath of the Massacre to Greenwood’s Golden Age
- Plans to attend Tulsa Community College

Sean Shumaker
- MHTT Student Intern
- Joined the Team in 2022
- Starting Affiliation – University of Tulsa (History Major)
- Current Affiliation – Woody Guthrie Center (Museum Sales Assoc.)

Oscar Diaz
- MHTT Student Intern
- Joined the Team in 2022
- Starting Affiliation – Tulsa Community College
- Current Affiliation – Tulsa Community College

Johnny Hung Irons-LaGrone
- MHTT Student Intern
- Joined the Team in 2023
- Starting Affiliation – Oklahoma State University (History Major)
- Current Affiliation – Oklahoma State University (Public History Masters)

Christina Miles
- MHTT Student Intern
- Joined the Team in 2023
- Starting Affiliation – Brown University (Anthropology Major)
- Current Affiliation – Brown University (Anthropology Major)
- Working as Records and Collections Assistant for Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World
- Writer of Greenwood Archaeology Poetry Collection

Reagan Ballard
- MHTT Student Intern
- Joined the Team in 2021
- Starting Affiliation – Booker T Washington (Junior)
- Current Affiliation – UNC Chapel Hill (Biology Pre-Med Major, Robertson Scholar)
- Oklahoma Public Archaeology Network – Advisory Board Member

Reagan Cheshewalla Bieligk
- MHTT Student Intern
- Holland Hall School
- MHTT Origin Year: 2024
- Dunbar Grade School: A Micro History
- Senior at Holland Hall, working at the Oklahoma Public Archaeology Network
- Proud Member of the Osage Nation

Elijah Whalen
- MHTT Student Intern
- Joined the Team in 2021
- Starting Affiliation – University of Oklahoma (Anthropology Major)
- Current Affiliation – OU-TU School of Community Medicine (Medical Student)
- Worked at Oklahoma Public Archaeology Network with specific focus on Indigenous Heritage Preservation
- Proud Member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma
MHTT Team Member photos were provided courtesy of JW Photography.