Dr. Beth O’Leary
Space Archaeology and Heritage expert Dr. Beth O’Leary has investigated the material culture and history of the early space age (c. 1957 – 1972) and its context in the Cold War. Her interests include iconic space sites and artefacts, focusing on the lunar landscape. As of July 2014, Dr. O’Leary is Professor Emerita in the Anthropology Department at New Mexico State University (NMSU) where she taught for 23 years. For the last 14 years she has been involved with the cultural heritage of outer space and the preservation of the Apollo lunar sites. She is one of the leaders in the emerging field of space archaeology and heritage and has been interviewed and/or written for The Washington Post, NY Times, Smithsonian Magazine, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, BBC, CBC, Le ciel et espace and other international media. Her work includes The Handbook of Space Engineering, Archaeology and Heritage with A. Darrin, eds. 2009 (CRC Taylor and Francis); The Archaeology and Heritage of Human Space Exploration with P.J. Capelotti (2014 Springer, in press) and forthcoming in 2015, In the Shadows of Saturn V: Reflections of Apollo, with Lisa Westwood and M. Wayne Donaldson, University Press of Florida.
