Herbert D. G. Maschner

Maschner was a professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison (1993–1999), Idaho State University (1999–2015) and the University of South Florida (2015–2017). He resigned his professorship following controversy over his sexual harassment of a student at ISU and complaints about his conduct at USF.

Career

Maschner studied at the University of Wyoming and at the University of New Mexico under Lewis Binford, graduating in 1980 with a BS in Anthropology. He received a master's degree in archaeology from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks in 1987 with a thesis entitled Site Structure, Site Use, and Site Reuse of an Ahtna (Na Dene) Spring Camp and a PhD in Anthropology from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1992 with a dissertation entitled The Origins of Hunter-Gatherer Sedentism and Political Complexity: A Case Study from the Northern Northwest Coast. His PhD dissertation advisors included Brian Fagan and Napoleon Chagnon.

After a brief stint at UC Santa Barbara, Maschner was appointed assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, a post he held from 1993 to 1999. He then moved to Idaho State University, where he was Research Professor in the Department of Anthropology. He created and directed the Center for Archaeology, Materials, and Applied Spectroscopy. Maschner was also affiliated with the Idaho Accelerator Center and was the Director of the Idaho Museum of Natural History between 2010 and 2015. In 2015 he moved to the University of South Florida as the director of the Center for Virtualization and Applied Spatial Technologies (CVAST), and a professor in the Department of Anthropology and School of Geosciences. In 2016, following the revelation that he had been reprimanded for sexual harassment in his former position at ISU, Maschner was demoted from his post as director of CVAST. He resigned from USF entirely in 2017, following further complaints about his conduct and a formal review.

Maschner was the keynote speaker for the Arctic Section of the 2003 conference of the American Association for the Advancement of the Sciences. He was named an Outstanding Researcher of Idaho State University in 2005 and 2006, an Idaho Academy of Science Distinguished Scientist in 2011, and most recently a visiting scientist at the Santa Fe Institute in 2012. He serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of World Prehistory and the Alaska Journal of Anthropology.

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Research

Maschner's research interests include complex systems analyses of the North Pacific Rim and Western North America, particularly the eastern Aleutian region, Northwest Coast, western sub-Arctic, and Idaho. Maschner's archaeological exploration of this geographic region is multidisciplinary and synthesizes both human and environmental factors to present a holistic understanding of the areas in question. Many native groups have drawn on Maschner's archaeological work as an aid in better understanding and preserving their cultural heritage. Maschner is also interested in the application of Darwinian evolutionary theory towards the study of social inequality and complexity in prehistory. He is one of the creators of the Virtual Zooarchaeology of the Arctic Project, an online database that contains comparative skeletal information on a wide range of fauna found in the Arctic. Also known as the VZAP, this online database is an example of the cutting-edge technology accessible to researchers like Maschner as well as the general public; it is utilized in a wide variety of archaeological disciplines to make otherwise difficult-to-access artifact or bone collections more easily viewed. Maschner is a prolific author, having written nine books, two monographs, one journal section, and numerous conference papers, professional reports, reviews, articles, and book chapters.

Maschner's field research has focuses on the archaeology and historical ecology of Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. He has directed field projects including:

Forager Site Structure at Taznina Lake in Copper River Valley, Alaska (1985–1987)
The Northwest Hunter-Gatherer Complexity Project at Tebenkof Bay at Kuiu Island in southeastern Alaska (1988–1994)
The Warfare and Landscape in the North Project (1997–2002)
The Lower Alaskan Peninsula and Eastern Aleutian Islands Catastrophic Change Project, on lagoon systems of the Bering Sea shore and at Morzhovoi and Cold Bays, particularly the Russell Creek Site (1994–2004)
The Bering Sea Complexity Project (2001–2004)
The Hot Springs site in Port Möller, Alaska (2002–2005)
The Steller Sea Lion TEK and Aleut Historical Ecology/Geography Project on the Alaskan peninsula (2003–2006)
The Sanak Island Complex Human-Ecological Systems Project (2004–2006)
The Sanak Biocomplexity Project (2006–2010)
The Virtual Zooarchaeology of the Arctic Project (2008–present)
The Virtual Museum of Idaho Project (2011–present)
The Virtual Repository of Arctic Archaeology (2012–present)

Sexual harassment

Between July and October 2013, Maschner is alleged to have sexually harassed 28-year-old Kelly Pokorny, a graduate student employed as education resources coordinator at the Idaho Museum of Natural History. He was her supervisor at the time. According to Pokorny, he engaged in inappropriate conduct and showered her with unwanted attention for several months, culminating with him assaulting her in her office on October 25, 2013. Maschner allegedly entered her office, closed the door, grabbed her by the buttocks, and kissed her on the lips.

Pokorny filed a sexual harassment complaint with Idaho State University's Human Resources Office three days after the assault. Both the ISU Human Resources Office and Opportunity Office conducted investigations and determined that she was telling the truth. ISU issued a final report on January 9, 2014, concluding that her claim and statement of facts were credible, that Maschner's counterclaim and statement of facts were meritless, and that Maschner violated ISU's sexual harassment policy. Maschner was issued a formal reprimand and was suspended for two weeks without pay. He was also ordered to attend sexual harassment training, but he left Idaho State to begin work at South Florida before completing the required training. ISU's final report recommended that she be allowed to return to work as education coordinator at the museum with a different supervisor. Maschner requested on January 29, 2014, that the investigation of the original sexual harassment claim be reopened by the university. After further investigation, the equal opportunity office at ISU again reaffirmed the veracity of the sexual harassment claims against him.

Lawsuit

On 18 February 2015 Pokorny filed a lawsuit seeking monetary damages against Idaho State University for violations of the Idaho Human Rights Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Sixth District Judge Robert Naftz earlier rejected ISU's request to kill the case, writing that the original investigation by the school found the woman's claims credible and Maschner's claims meritless.

Employment at USF

Maschner took a position at the University of South Florida in August 2015. He did not inform his employer about his sexual harassment finding until more than a year later, when it became apparent that an Idaho newspaper was publishing an article about it. According to USF Maschner was not hired like other applicants and the university was not aware of the sexual harassment. In response, USF stripped him of his position as director of CVAST, although he remained employed as its tenured "chief scientist".

The following year, USF initiated a legal review of Maschner's conduct following complaints that he was a "hostile, sexist, boorish boss". The review concluded that Maschner was "hostile with many subordinates", but did not find evidence that his behaviour was discriminatory. Maschner resigned from USF shortly after the report was published.