Dr. Leigh-Ann Bedal received her B.A. in anthropology in 1986 from California State University, Northridge, her M.A. (1992) in Near Eastern Studies-Mesopotamian archaeology from University of California, Berkeley, and her Ph.D. (2000) in anthropology from University of Pennsylvania. She has participated in archaeological excavations in California, Israel, Iraq, Syria and Jordan, and is the Director of the Petra Garden and Pool Complex excavation project in Petra, Jordan, a World Heritage Site. Her research interests are the archaeology of the Ancient Near East, garden archaeology, urbanization, and the archaeology of power. Dr. Bedal has been teaching at Penn State Behrend since 2002, and was the recipient of the 2006 Penn State Behrend Council of Fellows Excellence in Teaching Award.