Women in Archaeology / Women in Engineering and Science (PDF)

Prof. Dr. Sandra L. López Varela (Ph.D. in Archaeology, University of London, 1996) is full-time Professor at the Department of Development and Intercultural Heritage Management of the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), and a Registered Professional Archaeologist (RPA 15480).



López Varela was Secretary of the Archaeology Division of the AAA and section editor of Anthropology News (2018-2020). After serving as President and Vice President of the Society for Archaeological Sciences (SAS 2009-2011) and as President of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Alumni Club-Mexico Division (2008-2010, she was elected to the Executive Board of the American Anthropological Association (AAA), holding the Archaeology Seat (2012-2014). In between 2015 and 2017, she served as Treasurer of the Mexican Society of Anthropology (SMA). Since 2019, López Varela serves as Brain City of Berlin Ambassador.



Prof. López Varela's earlier research, focusing on the study of Maya ceramics and ethnoarchaeological investigations of pottery production technologies, led her to adopt a critical and analytical stance toward economic and development growth policies to combat poverty in Mexico. Results from her investigations received the Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel-Forschungspreis Award of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in 2012.



Since 2015, she is the principal investigator of the research project Alternative Mexico, an innovative heritage project aiming to promote the preservation of Mexico City's heritage and its metropolitan area, in collaboration with the public, by using a free mobile application (App) for iOS and Android devices, a website, and social media.

Dr. López Varela is general editor of the Encyclopedia of Archaeological Sciences published by Wiley Blackwell in 2018. Her research has been published by major international publishers, and by top ranking university presses. She has