Rachel Opitz, PhD
Education:
- B.A. Highest Honors, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (2003)
- MPhil World Archaeology, University of Cambridge (2005)
- PhD Archaeology, University of Cambridge (2009)
- Chief Topographer, The Gabii Project, Kelsey Museum, University of Michigan (2009 till present)
- Post-Doctoral Researcher, LIEPPEC project (2009–2010), CNRS C.N. Ledoux (USR 3124)/MSHE Université de Franche-Comté
- Visiting Fellow, Digital Institute for Archaeology, Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies, University of Arkansas (January–May 2011)
- Post-Doctoral Fellow, University of Arkansas (June 2011–June 2012)
Research interests
Rachel Opitz is a post-doctoral researcher at the Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies at the University of Arkansas. She received her PhD in Archaeology from the University of Cambridge in 2009.
Her research interests include laserscanning, photogrammetric, and hyperspectral applications in archaeology, Mediterranean landscapes, and the interplay between urban and rural spaces.
She has been involved in fieldwork in Italy since 2003 and is currently chief topographer for the Gabii Project (Kelsey Museum, University of Michigan), a major excavation in central Italy.
Rachel Opitz is a visiting researcher from 6th June to 5th December 2012.
(Full C.V. at http://www.cast.uark.edu/assets/files/PDF/opitz_cv_academic_2012.pdf.)
Opitz, R. And Cowley, D. (eds.) (in press, 2012) Interpreting Archaeological Topography – 3D Data, Visualisation and Observation. Oxbow.
Opitz, R., Nuninger, L. and Fruchart, C. (2012) Thinking topographically about the landscape around Besançon (Doubs, France), in Kluiving, S. and Guttmann-Bond, E., Landscape Archaeology between Art and Science. From a Multi- to an Interdisciplinary Approach. Amsterdam University Press.
Opitz, R. (2009) Integrating lidar and geophysical surveys at Falerii Novi and Vignale, Falerii Veteres (Viterbo, IT). Papers of the British School at Rome. 77: 1–27 and 335–43.
Cifani G., Opitz R., and Stoddart S.K.F. (2007) Mapping the Ager Faliscus road-system: The contribution of LiDAR survey. Journal of Roman Archaeology, 20:165–176.
Laplaige, C., Fruchart, C., Bossuet, G., and Opitz, R. (2011) Apports des prospections non destructives à la connaissance du quartier artisanal antique de l’Essarté, Epomanduodurum, commune de Mathay, Doubs.Revue archéologique de l’Est.
Fruchart, C., Laplaige, C., Opitz, R. and Nuninger, L. (2011) The LIEPPEC Project: using lidar for the study of long term landscape change. Antiquity, 85(327): Project Gallery.
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Selected Conference Papers
Opitz, R., Gallone, A., Mogetta, M. and Terrenato, N. (2012) The Gabii Project: the 2011 season. AIA Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA, 5-8 January 2012.
Opitz, R., Simon, K., Barnes, A. And Fisher, K. (2012) Close-range photogrammetry vs. 3D scanning: Comparing data capture, processing and model generation in the field and the lab.Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology, Southampton, UK, 26-29 March 2012
Opitz, R., Nuninger, L., Fruchart, C. And Laplaige, C. (2010) Integrating fieldwalking, geophysics and lidar in the Franche-Comté. AARG Annual Conference, Bucharest , 16-18 September 2010.
Stoddart, S. and Opitz, R. (2007) Problems and prospects for the use of Lidar in a Mediterranean environment: experience from the Agro Falisco. 1st Valle Giulia meeting. Urban Landscape Survey in Italy, 2-3 May 2007.
Opitz, R. and Stoddart, S. (2005) Lidar mapping for the Lower Tiber Catchment, Italy. The Annual Conference of the Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry Society. Understanding a Changing World, 5-7 September 2005.