Katharyn Hanson, Ph.D., is the US Director for The American Academic Research Institute in Iraq (TAARII) and is a Smithsonian Fellow with the Smithsonian Institution's Museum Conservation Institute. She works as an archaeologist specializing in the protection of cultural heritage. Katharyn received her doctorate from the University of Chicago with a dissertation entitled: Considerations of Cultural Heritage: Threats to Mesopotamian Archaeological Sites. She has curated museum exhibits and published on damage to ancient sites in Iraq and Syria. Her research combines archaeology, remote sensing, and cultural heritage policy. She has been involved in various archaeological fieldwork projects for over 20 years. She directs the Archaeological Site Preservation Program at the Iraqi Institute for the Conservation of Antiquities and Heritage in Erbil, Iraq.