Featured Alumni

Daniel Pierce 1999

From the halls of St. Pius X to archaeological expeditions across the globe, Daniel Pierce ’99 has built a career around curiosity, exploration, and a willingness to take an unconventional path.

During his time at St. Pius, Daniel was constantly on the move. He balanced academics with baseball and football, trained in judo, and worked full-time off campus. His schedule was demanding, but those years helped develop the independence, resilience, time management, and work ethic that would become important throughout his career.

After graduating in 1999, Daniel attended Jefferson College before transferring to the University of Missouri–St. Louis, where he earned a bachelor's degree in Fine Arts in 2005. After a year working at a machine shop, he realized he wanted something different. That realization led him back to school and toward a completely new field.

Daniel earned bachelor's degrees in Anthropology and History in 2009 before continuing his education at the University of Missouri. He earned his master's degree in 2012 and Ph.D. in 2017, both in Anthropological Archaeology.

His career has since taken him from Missouri to France, Florida and eventually, to archaeological sites and research projects around the world. Today, Daniel is a Research Archaeologist at Missouri State University and the founder of the Terra Incognita Research Institute, a nonprofit organization dedicated to research in archaeology, anthropology, history, geology, geography, and more.

Through Terra Incognita, Daniel and his team work on projects ranging from ancient pottery and stone tools in Western Mexico to Civil War sites in Missouri, environmental research in Oklahoma, and archaeological investigations in Mongolia and Guatemala. The organization also combines modern technology with traditional research, recently using drones and photogrammetry to create a 3D model of a French-style castle and satellite imagery to study the ancient city of Karakorum in Mongolia.

One of the team's most exciting projects took place in 2026, when Daniel led Terra Incognita's first expedition into the Brazilian Amazon. Deep beneath the dense jungle canopy, the team discovered an unknown ancient city, an extraordinary achievement that perfectly reflects Daniel's passion for uncovering the stories hidden within the past.

While research remains his primary passion, Daniel has never left behind his creative roots. He continues to create art for gallery exhibitions, write music for bands based in Toulouse, France, train and coach judo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, explore filmmaking, and travel with his wife, Jasmine.

His accomplishments have earned national and international recognition. In 2026, Daniel was named a Fellow of The Explorers Club and was honored as the Missouri Academy of Sciences' Scientist of the Year.

Looking back, Daniel credits his time at St. Pius with helping prepare him for a life that would rarely follow a straight line. His experience taught him that success does not always come from following the traditional path, and that sometimes the most rewarding opportunities come from being willing to create your own.

For today's students, Daniel encourages them to think independently, stay curious, seek guidance from others, and remain open to possibilities they may not have considered. Most importantly, he believes students should not be afraid of hard work or of pursuing something different.

For Daniel Pierce, the road less traveled has led to a life of discovery, and there is clearly much more left to explore.