Jessica Edwards is the Mill Field Site Director for Historic St. Mary’s City and has over 10 years of experience in her field. She received a B.S. in Anthropology from Longwood University and an M.A. in Archaeology at the University of Liverpool. Currently, she oversees excavations at the site of the 1634 St Mary’s Fort under the direction of Dr. Travis Parno, Director of Research.

Through her education and career, Ms. Edwards has gained experience on 17th and 18th century sites as well as excavating Native American sites ranging from the Archaic to Woodland periods. This includes her time working in Cultural Resource Management before being hired at Historic St Mary’s City in March of 2013, where she first worked under the direction of Ruth Mitchell, the Manager of Archaeological Services, working on several mitigation projects including the Anne Arundel Replacement project, the Maryland Heritage Interpretive Center survey, and many other landscape and development projects within St Mary’s City.

Growing up in Williamsburg, Va, Ms. Edwards was surrounded by such historic sites as Jamestown, Yorktown, and Colonial Williamsburg, which had an influence on her developing an interest in history and archaeology. While in high school, She was given the opportunity to volunteer for the Colonial Williamsburg Archaeology Department by Staff Archaeologist Andrew Edwards, which solidified her interest in pursuing archaeology as a career. Because of this, Ms. Edwards believes in the importance of museum public outreach. She regularly volunteers at the annual Discovering Archaeology Day at Jefferson Patterson Park, representing the HSMC’s Research Department, and is a member of the Maryland Archaeology Month (MAM) committee where she assists with the upkeep of the MAM website, providing information on archaeology lectures, articles, events, and volunteer opportunities to the public.