In a region threatened by desertification, political upheaval, and the proposed construction of three new hydroelectric dams, archaeologists are racing to uncover and document what remains of ancient Nubia. “As an archaeologist, you are always feeling impatient and urgent,” LSA’s Geoff Emberling told The Atlantic, adding that this is especially true in southern Egypt and northern Sudan—home to countless buried Nubian artifacts.

Emberling, a research scientist with LSA’s Kelsey Museum of Archaeology and a lecturer in the LSA Department of Near Eastern Studies, told the magazine that events in Syria have taught him “you can’t take anything for granted in life. It could all change overnight.” Emberling is co-editor of the Oxford Handbook of Ancient Nubia.

Click here to read more about Geoff Emberling’s work in Egypt and Sudan.