After her PhD, Bard joined
Boston University as an assistant professor in the Department of Archaeology in 1988. She participated in excavations, directing projects at sites HG & SH in the Hu-Semaineh Region, Egypt, in 1989 and 1991, and at Ona Enda Aboi Zewgé and Ona Nagast on Bieta Giyorgis hill,
Aksum, from 1993 to 2002, co-directed with
Rodolfo Fattovich of the
University of Naples "L'Orientale". During the excavations at Aksum, Ethiopia, she and her team discovered the remains of high-status tombs and two elite residences. Among the artifacts at the Ona Enda Aboi Zewgé cemetery was a Roman wine jar from a vineyard in southern Gaul. Later, from 2001 to 2011, she and Fattovich directed excavations at Mersa/Wadi Gawasis, Egypt, uncovering eight man-made caves at the ancient harbor site. These caves preserved ancient ship parts, papyrus ropes, equipment, and food remains. The excavations at the 4,000-year-old harbor revealed materials linked to maritime activities as well as hieroglyphic texts about these expeditions, confirming sea trading to
Punt, located somewhere in the southern Red Sea region. ==Expeditions==