IMPORTANT INFORMATION: This talk will be presented online using Zoom. Registration is required before 3:00 pm on Tuesday, 9 December 2025. Log in information for Zoom will be emailed to those who have registered with their registration confirmation. The session will be recorded and posted to WAPA's YouTube channel within a few days of the event.
YouTube Link: https://youtu.be/6_1QA1hjxWM
Title: Surviving DOGE: Anthropological Adaptations and Career Shifts
Abstract: Through various mechanisms, the year 2025 has seen many sudden and unanticipated job losses among anthropologists employed by the federal government, either directly or at various contracting levels. What pivots have these changes caused in anthropological career tracks? What strategies have anthropologists used to seek new and meaningful jobs and careers?
Join WAPA for a roundtable discussion on how we adapt and move forward from federal agency, staff, and contractor cutbacks. Panelists will briefly summarize their experiences and what they have done to move forward in securing new jobs and/or careers. A discussant will summarize relevant patterns, followed by comments and questions from audience members. The goal is to generate ideas and approaches to manage through an uncertain future for professional anthropologists.
Roundtable Speakers: Georgia Hartman, Sarah Love, Anahid Matossian, Elizabeth Briody (Discussant)
Georgia Hartman, PhD, is a Senior Programme Officer for Climate & Gender at the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Until July 2025, she worked at USAID as a Senior Advisor for Gender, Sustainability, and Partnerships. She was a AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow (2020-2022) and holds a PhD in Cultural Anthropology from the University of California, Irvine (2017).
Sarah Love is a professional archaeologist, architectural historian, and historic preservation specialist with a dual background in archaeology and historic preservation. She has worked for the State of Georgia in land management as well as for the General Services Administration as Historic Preservation and Fine Arts Specialist utilizing skills learned from both degrees. Most recently, she has pivoted to the private sector working as a Senior Archaeologist for an engineering firm. She is pursuing her doctorate at the University of Georgia in Anthropology, specifically looking at the capacity of public archaeology and critical heritage studies to strengthen local archaeological protections.
Anahid Matossian, PhD, is a cultural anthropologist whose career spans federal service, applied research, and humanitarian policy advising. She has worked across the U.S. Department of State, the Marine Corps, and the Department of Defense, specializing in Women, Peace, and Security, civilian protection, and high-stakes stakeholder engagement. She is currently consulting with Relations Research, bringing ethnographic insight and relational systems thinking to corporate and energy-sector clients.
Discussant: Elizabeth Briody, PhD, Founder and Principal, Cultural Keys LLC
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