Dr. Sterling is working on two related projects in northern Washington; coring for evidence of tsunamis from several locations along the northern Washington coast, and collaborating with a team of faunal analysts to assess whether earthquakes and tsunamis impacted resource availability over time at the Lower Elwha Klallam village, Tse-whit-zen. She also continues to lecture and publish on aspects of Old Kingdom Egyptian pottery, the focus of her dissertation research.
Dr. Sterling's research interests include Predynastic and Old Kingdom Egypt, North American prehistory, geoarchaeology, general method and theory, evolutionary theory, ceramic analysis, and quantitative analysis.