John S. Wah, Ph.D.
Soil Scientist
Dr. John Wah is trained in soil science (Ph.D. University of Maryland, M.S. University of Tennessee) and archaeology (B.A. Penn State). John has spent more than 20 years working with soils from archaeological sites in field and laboratory analysis. He is particularly interested in loess and landscape evolution on the Delmarva Peninsula, stratified archaeological sites in alluvial settings, and the early inhabitants of North America. In addition to being a Principal Investigator for Matapeake Soil & Environmental Consultants, John has a Research Collaborator appointment from the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, and is a Past President of the Mid-Atlantic Association of Professional Soil Scientists.
Select recent publications:
Wah, J.S., D.P. Wagner, and D.L. Lowery. 2018. Loess in the Mid-Atlantic region, USA. Quaternary Research, 89:786-796.
Stanford, D.J., D.L. Lowery, M. Jodry, J.S. Wah, and M. Frank. 2018. Mockhorn Island Clovis Site: An Intertidal Locality from Coastal Virginia. p. 16-37. In J. Gingerich (ed.) In the Eastern Fluted Point Tradition, Volume II. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.
Rick, T.C., L.A. Reeder-Myers, C.A. Hofman, D. Breitburg, R. Lockwood, G. Henkes, L. Kellogg, D.L. Lowery, M.W. Luckenbach, R. Mann, M.B. Ogburn, M. Southworth, J.S.Wah, J. Wesson, and A.H. Hines. 2016. Millennial-scale sustainability of the Chesapeake Bay Native American oyster fishery. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences: 113:6568-6573.
Reeder-Myers, L., T. Rick, D. Lowery, J. Wah, and G. Henkes. 2016. Human ecology and coastal foraging at Fishing Bay, Maryland, USA. Journal of Ethnobiology 36:593-614.
Lowery, D.L., T.C. Rick, M. Barber, J.S. Wah, and M. Madden. 2015. Meadowood South of the Mason-Dixon Line: An Early Woodland Meadowood presence on the Delmarva Peninsula. Archaeology of Eastern North America 43:39-60.
Rick, T.C., M. Barber., D.L. Lowery, J.S. Wah, and M. Madden. 2015. Early Woodland coastal foraging at the Savage Neck Shell Midden (44NH478), Chesapeake Bay, Virginia. Archaeology of Eastern North America 43:23-38.
Wah, J.S., D.L. Lowery, and D.P. Wagner. 2014. Loess, Landscape Evolution, and Pre-Clovis on the Delmarva Peninsula. p. 32-48. In D.J. Stanford and A.T. Stenger (eds.) Pre-Clovis in the Americas, International Science Conference Proceedings, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
Rick, T.C., J.S. Wah, and J.M. Erlandson. 2012. Re-evaluating the origins of late Pleistocene fire areas on Santa Rosa Island, California, USA. Quaternary Research 78:353-362.
Lowery, D.L., J.S. Wah, and T.C. Rick. 2011. Post-Last Glacial Maximum Dune Sequence for the “Parsonburg” Formation at Elliots Island, Maryland. Current Research in the Pleistocene 28:103-104.
Rick, T.C., D.L. Lowery, G.A. Henkes, and J.S. Wah. 2011. A Late Holocene radiocarbon chronology for the shell middens of Fishing Bay, Maryland. Archaeology of Eastern North America, 39:153-167.
Wah, J.S. (editor). 2011. Michaux State Forest Soils, Sediments, and Landscapes Field Tour. Guidebook for the Mid-Atlantic Association of Professional Soil Scientists Soils Field Tour, September 10-11, 2011. Shippensburg, PA.
Lowery, D.L., M.A. O’Neal, J.S. Wah, D.P. Wagner and D.J. Stanford. 2010. Late Pleistocene upland stratigraphy of the western Delmarva Peninsula, USA. Quaternary Science Reviews, 29: 1472-1480
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