Dr. Robert Feranec

Director of Research and Collections, Curator of Pleistocene Vertebrate Paleontology
robert.feranec@nysed.gov
518-474-5819

While my interests encompass a broad scope of topics including influences on biogeography, causes of speciation and adaptive radiation, and triggers of extinction, my research has been focused at describing the evolution of ecology in mammals.  My research concentrates on examining ecology in mammals from short time scales (seasons) to very long time scales (millions of years). 

In order to understand ecology of fossil mammals, the modern quantitative and analytical techniques I employ include stable isotope geochemistry, utilization of bioinformatics databases, and computer-based imaging of fossils which permits quantitative analysis of various morphological features.  Fieldwork is also an important aspect of my research program, and I have conducted or participated in excavations in the U.S. and Spain. 

Typical questions addressed in my research include:

How does climate change effect ecology?
Does ecology change during development?
Does immigration/dispersal of new species affect ecology?
Does extinction/extirpation of species affect ecology?

I am interested and open to collaboration within and beyond North America.  Potential collaborators, including current or potential graduate students, are encouraged to email me.

Publications

2021

P. Drooker 2021, Sources and Significance of Pipestone Artifacts from Fort Ancient Sites, Midcontinenetal Journal of Archaeology 46, 17–52..

2017

P. Drooker 2017, Fabric Fragments from Pine Island, Alabama: Indicator of an Evolving Male Costume Item, Southeastern Archaeology 36, 75-84. 10.1080/0734578X.2016.1247633
Drooker, P., 2017. The Fabric of Power: Textiles in Mississippian Politics and Ritual, in: Waselkov, G., Smith, M. (Eds.), Forging Southeastern Identities: Social Archaeology, Ethnohistory, and Folklore of the Mississippian to Early Historic South. University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, pp. 16-40.

2012

P. Drooker 2012, European Trade Goods at the Ripley Site: Implications for Interaction Networks and Chronology, Northeast Anthropology 77-78, 89-138.

2011

P. Drooker, V. Steponaitis, S. Swanson, G. Wheeler 2011, The Provenance and Use of Etowah Palettes, American Antiquity 76, 81-106. 10.7183/0002-7316.76.1.81
P. Drooker 2011, Using Replication-Related Techniques to Examine the Significance of Fabrics in Mississippian Society, Ethnoarchaeology 3, 163-186. 10.1179/eth.2011.3.2.163

2010

P. Drooker, J. Hart 2010, Soldiers, Cities, and Landscapes: Papers in Honor of Charles L. Fisher, New York State Museum Bulletin The University of the State of New York, Albany, New York
Bradley, J., Younge, M.H., Kozlowski, A., 2010. The Sundler Sites: Reconstructing the Late Pleistocene Landscape and its People in the Capital Region of New York, in: Drooker, P., Hart, J. (Eds.), Soldiers, Cities, and Landscapes: Papers in Honor of Charles L. Fisher. The University of the State of New York, Albany, New York, pp. 213-224.
Orser, C., 2010. Foreword, in: Drooker, P., Hart, J. (Eds.), Soldiers, Cities, and Landscapes: Papers in Honor of Charles L. Fisher. The University of the State of New York, Albany, New York, pp. xiii-xiv.
Pickands, M., 2010. A Local Industry Reflects a Local Community—The Watts Blacksmith Shop, in: Drooker, P., Hart, J. (Eds.), Soldiers, Cities, and Landscapes: Papers in Honor of Charles L. Fisher. The University of the State of New York, Albany, New York, pp. 281-293.