From Childhood Fascination to an Archaeology Career

A childhood interest takes shape

At UMGC, her interests quickly evolved into practical experience.

One anthropology course in particular, ANTH 235: World Prehistory and Archaeology, gave Flókadóttir an early opportunity to experience the field firsthand through volunteer archaeology work. The class helped her test what professional fieldwork would actually feel like and confirmed archaeology as a path she wanted to pursue seriously.

"I took one particular class at UMGC that was really cool because the professor had us go out and do volunteer archaeology work," said Flókadóttir. "I wasn't a professional archaeologist then, so participating in archaeological fieldwork and digs for that class gave me a sense of what doing fieldwork would be like. That was really important when finding work and ultimately deciding to go to grad school."

That combination of flexibility and hands-on learning proved especially important as she began building her professional career. Since 2024, Flókadóttir has worked as an archaeologist for Chronicle Heritage, a global cultural resource management firm. Her work has included a range of fieldwork and artifact analysis, giving her practical experience while she pursued her degree.

Even while balancing demanding work in the field, she was able to stay on track academically because UMGC's online format fit around the realities of her schedule.

After completing her undergraduate studies at UMGC in 2025 as a Bachelor of Science double major in history and social science, Flókadóttir moved on to the next stage of her academic career. She is now pursuing a master's degree through a joint history and archaeology program at the University of the Highlands and Islands in Scotland, where her studies focus on Norse interaction in Scotland. She began virtual classes from her home in Maryland in fall 2026 while working full-time and hopes eventually to pursue a PhD, most likely at the University of Iceland.