Stephen Lonsdale is full-time PhD student at the University of York (2020-2023), focusing on medieval moated sites in lowland eastern Yorkshire, and a freelance field archaeologist and historian. Born in Hull and brought up in rural East Yorkshire, Stephen studied History at the University of Lincoln (2015-2018), where he was taught by Professor Carenza Lewis and became involved with the university’s public engagement work, for which he was the first recipient of the Vice-Chancellor’s award for public engagement with research. He then completed his Master’s degree in Medieval Archaeology at York under Dr Aleks McClain (2018-2020) and barring a year out working in commercial archaeology, he has been a part of York ever since. He is also the Chair of the Howdenshire Archaeological Society, helping to organise training excavations and events for the group. His research interests include the lives of medieval churches and their relationship with local landscapes, medieval wetland landscapes and their settlements, and the history and archaeology of Ancient and medieval Yorkshire.