Kelsey Hanson is a Ph.D. candidate in the School of Anthropology at the University of Arizona and was selected in 2021 to receive the 2022–2023 Lister Fellowship from Crow Canyon. She was an intern at Crow Canyon in 2016, which set her on her current path in Southwest archaeology. Hanson is dedicated to seeking creative interdisciplinary and collaborative means of understanding the diversity of human expression, problem solving, and sociopolitical organization. Her dissertation work is inspired by anthropological archaeology, Indigenous philosophy, and conservation science, and investigates paint technology to understand the circulation of specialized knowledge in the Chaco World of northern New Mexico (A.D. 850–1300). By treating paint technology as a material proxy for traditional knowledge, Kelsey uses the circulation of paint technology to understand changing power relations through time. 

Kelsey is a strong advocate for hands-on, experiential learning and has maintained a makeshift pigment lab in her studio apartment since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. She conducts ongoing experimental research on this growing collection of regionally available pigments and binders. 

Upon completion of her Ph.D., she plans to pursue postdoctoral and university faculty positions where she will continue research dedicated to making the human past accessible and relevant through interdisciplinary research and student-centered mentorship and training.