Heather Irene McKillop is a Canadian-American archaeologist, academic, and Maya scholar, noted in particular for her research into ancient Maya coastal trade routes, seafaring, littoral archaeology, and the long-distance exchange of commodities in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica.
Heather McKillop has a Bachelor of Science and Master of Arts in Anthropology from Trent University, located in Peterborough, Ontario.
Heather McKillop has carried out archaeological fieldwork on the coast, cays and underwater in Belize since 1979.
Since the 2004 discovery of ancient Maya wooden architecture and a wooden canoe paddle preserved in a peat bog below the sea floor, McKillop and her team of Louisiana State University (LSU) students and colleagues have been focused on the discovery, mapping, excavation, sediment coring and analyses of the waterlogged remains.
As of 2016[update] McKillop is Thomas and Lillian Landrum Alumni Professor in the Department of Geography and Anthropology at LSU.