Donald K. Grayson is a professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Washington. His prime interests lie in understanding the interrelationships between people and the biotic landscapes with which they interact. The bulk of his work has involved the latest Pleistocene and Holocene of the Great Basin, as well as the Pleistocene of southwestern France. His most popular courses taught at the University of Washington include Ground Sloths and Sabertooth Cats: The Archaeology of Extinction (ARCHY 369) and Zooarchaeology (ARCHY 481). I sat down with Dr. Grayson — albeit virtually — to ask him some questions.

FRANCISCO: I noticed that in a lot of your books, while archaeologists are your primary audience, you still seem to present information in a way that can be read and followed by anyone remotely interested in archaeology or natural history. Is that deliberate?

DR. GRAYSON: I’ve written six books — all of them have been written in exactly the same way. While they’re written primarily for archaeologists, I’ve also written them for the general public so anyone can access the information that’s in them. I think reaching the general public is really important. What we do is really cool, it’s really interesting, and it’s really fun. I think a lot of it is really important, and the more you reach the general public, the more you’re doing the right thing — the more you’re getting the broad audience interested in what it is we do. I’ve written about the Great Basin and I used to get letters from ranchers in Nevada telling me how much they enjoyed the book. That is really rewarding.

F: In 2016, you were given the honor of doing the UW Faculty Lecture, where you later mentioned that it was one of the scariest things you’ve ever done in your career. How were you able to overcome your nerves and did your tailor that specific talk to your audience?

G: I’ve talked about that topic literally around the world in multiple countries. I tailor my talk to the general audience, so I didn’t change my approach at all. What was scary about that audience was that it included a lot of my colleagues here. Even my neighbors were there… I didn’t invite them. If you were to give a bad talk in, say, France, you would go away and never see these people again. But if you blew it here, it would be disastrous. I’m always nervous before I talk in front of an audience. Always. Bigger audiences are almost easier with the exception of the university lecture, where I knew so many people in that audience. Bigger rooms are almost easier because you don’t focus on any single individual. With smaller venues, you’re making eye contact with a lot of people so that can be scarier. But once you start, it just goes away. And the other nice thing is that the adrenaline you get from being scared comes across as enthusiasm so you have this energy that you might not otherwise have.

F: Do you have any words of encouragement for anthropology students in the era of coronavirus?

G: I have never second-guessed my career. I love what I do. The interesting thing is that I got into it because of the research portion, but the most rewarding thing has been the teaching. That’s what has kept me going for so long. It is an absolutely great career. For times of COVID, it’s going to be hard if you’re interested in graduate school. So many schools are in financially hard times, including us. But stick with it. It is an absolutely great career.