Sonya Lynn Atalay is an anthropological archaeologist noted for her research into Native American and Indigenous Studies (NAIS); applying community-based research, working with Indigenous Peoples in order to develop a deeper understanding into community-based protection and management of cultural sites.

[2] Atalay has contributed to her field through numerous publications and research projects and through her role as a public figure and professor of anthropology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

in Anthropology and Classical Archaeology at the University of Michigan in 1991, followed by an M.A.

in Anthropology at the University of California Berkeley in 1998.

In 2003, Atalay went on to complete her PhD in Anthropology at the same institution for work on Çatalhöyük supervised by Ruth Tringham.