Class of 2026

Reese Waters graduated summa cum laude and First Honors from the College of William and Mary and the University of St Andrews Joint Degree Program in 2022, earning a Bachelor of Arts International Honors degree in Classical Studies. While studying classical archaeology during the pandemic, Reese founded OdysseyBrittania — a travel website that used virtual reality technologies to make exploration of the classical world accessible amidst the lockdown. Reese continued to combine his passion for technology with his interests in archaeology in the summer of 2019 while working as a team member of the American Excavation of Samothrace. Here Reese helped to restructure the team’s artifact database, using digital object handling software to organize artifacts from almost a century of excavation. In 2022, Reese worked as a member of the Chesapeake Archaeology Lab where he used statistical analysis of archaeological shell to improve modern sustainability through analysis of pre-colonial indigenous oystering practices.

Following this project, Reese attended the University of Cambridge where he received a Master of Philosophy in Assyriology. While studying the archaeology of ancient Mesopotamia, Reese again used technology to better understand human interactions with the environment, completing a dissertation analyzing water resource management throughout the Old Babylonian Period. During this project, Reese discovered that disinformation about the environment is not a novel issue. The Mesopotamian kings were notorious for claiming that their canal projects boosted the productivity of the land when in reality, these projects often contributed to catastrophic environmental decline. Using R to analyze data from previously untranslated cuneiform texts, Reese was able to quantitatively demonstrate a trend in decreased land value which accompanied anthropogenic alteration of the region’s watercourses, thus disproving the claims of the Old Babylonian kings. Reese is interested in technology’s potential to help us understand the environment and hopes to pursue a career in the law which combines his interests in technology and sustainability.

In addition to enjoying computer languages, Reese loves studying ancient languages including Greek, Latin, and Akkadian. Outside of his studies, Reese runs a YouTube channel, Learn Akkadian, teaching the Old Babylonian dialect of Akkadian cuneiform. Reese is also a member of the Archaeological Institute of America and was invited to present his research last year in New Orleans during the 2023 national convention.