Alex is the director of the Central Mediterranean Penal Heritage Project and a doctoral candidate with a focus in the archaeology of the modern world. His primary research is on the influences of prison reform movements and ideology on the human and spatial/material dimensions and experiences of incarceration from the post-Medieval period through the early 20th century in the Central Mediterranean.

He holds an M.S. in anthropology from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. His M.S. thesis is an analysis of the material medical waste interred with individuals at the Milwaukee County Poor Farm Cemetery in an attempt to narrow down from which county medical institution the waste, and thus the human remains, originated.

Alex's archaeological field and lab experience extend over a decade and include projects in the Midwest, Great Plains, Pacific Northwest, and the Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. Additionally, his most recent field experience has included archaeological and remote sensing projects in Ireland, Malta and Sicily.