Her research interests include past hunter-gatherer societies, human ecodynamics, evolutionary theory, ceramic technologies, applied archaeology, and archaeology of the Arctic, Subarctic and Pacific Northwest. Cross-cutting these interests is a long-term commitment to community engagement and collaborative research in all aspects of her work. Over the years Anderson has worked in a variety of settings (e.g., tribal, federal, private) in Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Utah, Colorado and the Russian Far East.