Meet The Team

As Founder and Co-CEO of DigVentures, Lisa combines archaeology with professional experience in communications, finance and journalism, including several years as Editor of Current Archaeology magazine. As a Clore Leadership Fellow and Ashoka Fellow,  Lisa’s work is focused on harnessing archaeology as a vector to enrich communities, and building partnerships with purpose-driven organisations that drive positive social impact for DV’s work. Lisa is an international speaker on hybrid cultural experiences and crowdfunding, and was the driving force behind our Europa Nostra Award-winning ‘Archaeology at Home’ project in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.  She is responsible for DV’s Americanisms, absurdly strong site coffee, lack of post-it notes and early morning dance parties.

As Founder and Co-CEO of DigVentures, Brendon brings together two decades of commercial archaeology experience with his expertise in digital innovation for archaeological fieldwork, public participation, and social impact evaluation. With a consistent research and publication record, his PhD (‘Digging the Crowd: the future of archaeology in the digital and collaborative economy’) explores new business and social impact models that position citizen science as a response to economic and climatic challenges facing humanity. Brendon steers the ship of DV’s fieldwork, evaluation and  ‘Deep Time’, our crowdscience platform training citizens to search Earth Observation Data for cultural and natural heritage. Brendon’s signature laugh lights up every room, especially when he sneaks onto the turntables for a cheeky DJ set!

Steph started her career in America working for commercial and academic units in the Mid-Atlantic region, before coming to the UK to do her MA and PhD at the University of Manchester. Her dissertation was titled: ‘Taverns, Inns and Alehouses? An Archaeology of Consumption Practices in the City of London, 1666-1780’, which basically means she’s DV’s resident expert in…pubs! After completing her doctorate, Steph spent seven years working in UK commercial archaeology, and has now stepped up at DV to hold the operational reins of our fieldwork programme. In addition to digging, Steph has a penchant for pottery and specialises in late Medieval to Post-Medieval pot analysis…as well as making her own! In addition to herding all of DV’s cats, Steph is the Site Director for our Sudeley Castle and Caerfai projects.

Peter pursued a life in corporations big and small before coming to his senses and turning to archaeology. After years as a corporate CEO, non-profit leader and government appointee, he retreated to University College London and acquired a Ph.D. in archaeology based on ground-breaking research into the potential for local communities to manage their own heritage. Three books and numerous international teaching roles later, Peter is now the Chair of the Board of Advisers of the University of Pennsylvania’s Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology and on the board of the Sustainable Preservation Initiative. Peter joined DV team in 2016 as our business partner and chief supplier of intimidating sourdough bread recipes.

After completing an MA at the University of Liverpool, Nat went on to work in archaeology for several years, both commercially and on research projects in Turkey, Iraq, Greece and Ipswich, ranging from the Palaeolithic through to the Bronze Age. He first crossed paths with DigVentures at Leiston Abbey in 2014, and then fell headfirst into commercial archaeology, working all over England and Wales. Nat is always happiest when digging holes and is mildly obsessed by cheese, and always travels with a block of blue in his bag.

Nat is very capable hand on the tiller of DV’s fieldwork, leading our sites across the UK including the Earth Trust, east Yorkshire, Soulton Hall, and Lindisfarne among others.

As Chief Digital Officer of DigVentures, Jonski brings an enthusiastic love of archaeology and innovation which he has sustained during 23 years within the commercial sector of Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish archaeology. Jonski was drawn to a career in archaeology as the result of a childhood passion for digging holes, drawing, all gadgets and technology, which evolved into professional expertise in gathering, processing and presenting archaeological data, with emphasis on instrument survey, archaeological illustration and post-excavation dissemination, interpretation and outreach. Jonski is a member of the CIfA Professional Standards Advisory Panel and Treasurer of the Graphics Archaeology Group (GAG). He does traditional stone-carving in his spare time because life’s not just about things that go ‘beep’!

Maiya graduated from UCL with an MSc in Skeletal and Dental Bioarchaeology. After a stint in commercial archaeology, Maiya leapt into the City, carving out a niche as a marketing and communications consultant. Having axed her way through a jungle of small print and complex policy conditions to build a culture of customer-friendly communication, Maiya’s back to the field with a trowel in one hand and a twitter feed in the other. Maiya was DV’s first-ever employee and she’s capably and creatively helped DV design all of our digs, events, digital channels and participation opportunities with our fantastic crowd in mind. Her creativity was part of one of DV’s biggest-ever achievements: pivoting our DigNation Festival to a completely online event during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. She can be reliably bribed with bits of chorizo.

Ben graduated with a BA in Finance from the University of Strathclyde in 2014, but his passion has always been archaeology and he’s been hooked ever since his first dig at DigVentures’ launch project, Flag Fen Lives, in 2012. Returning year after year and spending all his summers digging, eventually it became inevitable that he would move into a career in archaeology. After five years working in accounting and retail, Ben joined the DigVentures team as a community archaeologist in 2019. He now manages a number of our community archaeology projects and also uses his background in Finance to look after our core business functions. Community archaeology is what makes him tick, and his favourite place to be is in the trenches with our venturers – especially if its a Roman site! He recently graduated with an MA in Archaeological Practice in 2025, which he undertook as part of the first cohort on the combined MA and Level 7 archaeological specialist apprenticeship with UWTSD and CIfA.

Harriet graduated from the University of Aberdeen with a BA in Archaeology in 2014, following which she began a career in the banking and finance industry. It wasn’t long before she came to her senses and realised that archaeology was her true calling, following which she joined DigVentures as a communications and content intern. Harriet takes the lead on educational programming on site and in schools, and is the fearless leader of our popular DigCamp and DigClub activities. She is also our resident specialist in identifying and excavating human remains. In her spare time she enjoys collecting every kind of tea she can get her hands on, photography and being outdoors hillwalking. Harriet’s impressive fortitude at delivering awesome projects can be seen on big DV projects including our search for St Aebbe at Coldingham, as well as Glengarnock Castle, Miracles to Medicine and Trimontium Trust.

Jasmine graduated from The University of Chester in 2013 with a BA in archaeology before moving on to an MA in Museum Studies at Durham University. During this time, she had a small stint interning in the British Museum and has been hooked on Post-Excavation and Archiving ever since. Jasmine worked in the commercial sector depositing archaeological archives before moving to DV in early 2024 as our Archives Officer. She spends her spare time wrangling her toddler and silly labrador and enjoys going for woodland walks, baking, extreme pumpkin carving and being a general high fantasy nerd.

Prior to joining DV, Johanna was awarded a Master’s degree in Sustainable Heritage Management at Aarhus University in Denmark, and was a researcher for television documentaries as well as interactive history events. She joined the team as a Community Archaeologist after completing an internship with DV, working her way up from newbie to Chief Data Cruncher, with extra focus on finds and post-ex processing. Johanna’s specialism in impact evaluation and data visualisation is a key aspect of DV’s sector leading practice in understanding the value of our work to people and places. She has a passion for lists and organising things, and is the leader of the DV dungarees enthusiast club.

After starting as a history major, Anna took one archaeology class and never looked back. Graduating with a BA in Archaeology and Classical Studies from Memorial University of Newfoundland, Anna continued on to do an MA in Public Archaeology from UCL. Anna first joined DigVentures as a social media and communities intern before taking a break to work in commercial archaeology, digging sites in Dublin and Ontario, Canada. Now she’s back to work on Deep Time, our online crowdscience platform. But it’s not all digital – Anna loves digging holes, even if there’s nothing in them, it’s all about the thrill of the chase! These days she’s particularly into prehistory, but she still has a soft spot for the Romans. Outside of work, Anna enjoys crafts of all kinds but particularly knitting, loves mushroom foraging, and collects skulls and vintage plumb bobs.

Shelby graduated from Brunel University London with an NCTJ-accredited BA in Journalism. With a background spanning communications, engagement and visitor services across the charity, heritage and cultural sectors, Shelby joined DigVentures in 2025, bringing experience in multi-platform campaigns, strategic fundraising, community events and audience-facing roles in museums, galleries and arts centres. Shelby has also volunteered her time supporting collections care and archival digitisation, and especially loves Ancient Egypt and the Tudors. Outside of DigVentures, you might find Shelby (halfway) up a climbing wall, at the theatre or chasing views (halfway) up a mountain.

While studying Ancient History and Classical Archaeology at the University of Edinburgh, Darcey spent much of her spare time getting hands-on with local, community-based digs and encouraging other students to get involved. She later worked in commercial archaeology, where excavating a Roman cemetery in Essex sparked her passion for mortuary archaeology and the study of human remains. After completing a Master’s in Osteoarchaeology at the University of Aberdeen and another stint in the commercial sector, Darcey joined DigVentures in 2025 as our Community Archaeologist (Engagement). During dig season, you’ll find her in the trenches, getting excited about Early Medieval and Neolithic archaeology, and especially by the discovery of burials!

Monty has recently ascended to the (plush) throne of Chief  Dog Officer, in recognition of years of hard graft and generally crushing his Couch-Based Assessment duties. A being of pure love, light and goodness, Monty is a lot lickier than Ernie (be warned), and much more likely to steal sausage rolls out of your bag. Come see him when we’re next out digging, and get yourself one of the highest-quality cuddles in British archaeology!

His job is just … dog.

Fergus was the world’s finest archaeological dog. A natural risk-taker and entrepreneurial spirit, Fergus displayed a keen interest in digging and a fine nose for interesting buried things his entire life. A key member of the DigVentures team, in his younger years Fergus was responsible for on site security, leisure activities, and finding chips on a Friday night. Fergus never believed in meetings, panels, working groups, forms, reports or KPIs, and could always be relied on to accept bribes for access to the team. Predictably, Fergus made sure the team was assembled on site at his favourite place, Lindisfarne, before making his decision to cross the rainbow bridge after one last gravy bone. We feel sure that he’s whooping it up over there now and keeping a watchful eye on our proceedings.