Courtney comes from Greensboro, NC and received a BS in anthropology from Western Carolina University, where she conducted field and lab work with prehistoric North Carolina collections. She joined the OSA team in 2010 as a graduate student at the Queen Anne’s Revenge Conservation Lab (QAR Lab) in Greenville, NC, a facility dedicated to preserving the remains of Blackbeard’s flagship. She graduated from East Carolina University in 2014 with an MA in anthropology with a concentration in historical archaeology. While in graduate school, she continued to gain field and lab experience with historic artifacts and sites from both terrestrial and marine contexts and realized her passion for artifact collections.
Courtney became a permanent staff member of the QAR Lab in 2013 as lab manager, where she curated lab records, managed the extensive artifact collection, and developed public outreach activities. In May 2018, she became a Staff Archaeologist and collections manager for the Office of State Archaeology Research Center in Raleigh. As collections manager, Courtney is responsible for ensuring the extensive collection of Research Center artifacts are properly treated, documented, and stored. She is also a member of the department's Cultural Resources Emergency Support Team.