Archeology at Night
An after-hours exploration of archaeology
Friday, May 4, 2018 5-8 p.m.
Mingle with professional archaeologists as they showcase local projects and artifacts.
This event is FREE to the public. Attendees may bring TWO artifacts for identification.*
*NOTE: No value appraisals or authentications will be give at this event. Artifact identification is for educational purposes only.
Jason Cooper is the Cultural Resources Lead for the Washington State Department of Transportation’s (WSDOT) Northwest Region based in Seattle. He joined WSDOT in 2017 after spending the previous 19 years working in the Pacific Northwest for “mom-and-pop” CRM shops, a regional environmental firm, and most recently a large multinational A/E firm. Mr. Cooper is a Registered Professional Archaeologist since 2005 and has 26 years of academic and applied archaeological experience in the western United States and eastern Mediterranean basin.
Mr. Cooper received his BA (1992) in History from San Diego State University (SDSU) with a minor in Anthropology. It was at this time that Jason discovered the South Coastal Information Center on campus at SDSU and learned how it was integrated with the California State Park’s Office of Historic Preservation. Shortly thereafter, he took his first job in CRM with Caltrans in 1991. Mr. Cooper went on to complete his MA (1997) in Anthropology at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) focusing on the archaeology of arid lands. While attending UNLV, he worked for the Harry Reid Center for Environmental Studies and Desert Research Institute on multiple Great Basin cultural resources projects. Jason has also had the great fortune to participate on multiple overseas archaeological expeditions/field projects in the countries of Cyprus, Jordan and Egypt. These international projects opened his eyes to the world of archaeology in remote settings and emphasized the importance of pre-field planning logistics in order for a successful field season.
In the Pacific Northwest, Mr. Cooper has conducted intensive pedestrian archaeological surveys, archaeological testing projects, and data recovery efforts on precontact and historic period archaeological sites. He has completed over 100 cultural resources report in Washington State and recently co-authored an article in the Journal of Northwest Anthropology on his work along the Green River in King County, Washington. Jason is a member of the Association for Washington Archaeology and Society for American Archaeology.
Jennifer Ferris is a Senior Archaeologist and the Pacific Northwest Cultural Resources Practice Group Leader at Cardno. She has 17 years of professional and technical experience in archaeology and cultural resource management. Her background includes directing and conducting field investigations for inventory, testing, salvage, data recovery excavation, and monitoring in the Pacific Northwest, Great Basin, California, Baja California, and Western Australia. Jen specializes in the study of lithic technological organization, stone tool macro-analyses, and geochemical stone provenance assays. She earned her BA in Anthropology at the University of Washington in Seattle and her MA in Anthropology (Archaeology) at Washington State University in Pullman. Jen enjoys spending time with her family doing many activities including cooking, biking, hiking, camping, and wearing purple to Apple Cup. She also likes to promote cultural resources protection and understanding. She has served on the Society for American Archaeology’s Nominations Committee, is a member of the Agenda Planning Committee for the Cultural Resources Protection Summit, and volunteers at local schools and events.
Kara Kanaby has always loved history and learning about the past. That love took her to the University of Montana where she studied anthropology. She then continued her education and attended Oregon State University where she completed her Master’s degree with a focus on historical archaeology. Her professional career started as an archaeological technician for the Forest Service where she was in the field recording archaeological sites every day for 6 months while enjoying the beauty of Northern California. That job was followed by a stint in the private sector working for a consulting firm helping clients with their varied and many cultural resource needs. Needing a change, she took a job as an archaeologist at the Army Corps of Engineers where she works on a wide variety of projects.
Gretchen Kaehler always wanted to be a cultural anthropologist and live in Africa until she saw Raiders of the Lost Ark and decided to become an archaeologist. Alas, she was not to spend her life chasing golden idols and the Ark of the Covenant. But she has spent 17 years doing the next best thing and working cultural resources management in Oregon, Wisconsin, Alabama and the finally the Pacific Northwest. She received her BS in history and anthropology In 1992 and her MA in anthropology with emphasis in archaeology in 2002 from Portland State University. Her research focused on glass trade beads and their relationship to social status in two plankhouses on the lower Columbia River and She had the opportunity to spend her early years in the Pacific Northwest working at the Cathlapotle Village site and the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site as well as spending three years working on a 4,000 year old village in Port Angeles, Washington.
For the last ten years she worked as at state archaeologist at the Washington State Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation (DAHP) in Olympia before relocating to Arlington to become the archaeologist for Snohomish County. She currently facilitates the Snohomish County Historic Preservation Commission, conducts archaeological surveys, reviews projects and assists county agencies in identifying and protecting archaeological and historic resources. Her favorite things are her family, large dogs, archaeology (especially fur-trade era) and coffee, in that order, and she is happy to be in Snohomish County.
Bob Kopperl has served in a managerial and principal investigator role for cultural resources consulting services in Washington State since 2003, and worked in the field of archaeology since 1992. Bob has managed numerous federal, state, and local cultural resources projects throughout Washington, Alaska, Idaho, and Oregon. His clients include local, state, and federal agencies, Tribes, and public utilities. He has directed cultural resources investigations at a variety of scales – from small surveys to large archaeological date recovery projects, long-term construction monitoring, and specialized archaeological analysis studies. Bob is also an expert in faunal analysis. In his spare time he is currently teamed with fisheries scientists, other archaeologists, and several local Tribes to investigate past and present population dynamics and human harvest of Pacific herring through study of ancient DNA preserved in archaeological herring bones. He teaches archaeology in the context of cultural resource management as a guest instructor at the University of Washington, and serves as an affiliate curator of archaeology at the Burke Museum. He is currently serving as president of the board of directors of the Association for Washington Archaeology, and has participated in other roles on the board for over 10 years.
Philippe D. LeTourneau, PhD As the King County Historic Preservation Program Archaeologist since 2007, Phil LeTourneau assists County agencies with all aspects of archaeological resources management. Prior to joining King County, Phil had 20 years of archaeology experience, including 9 years as a private-sector cultural resources management (CRM) consultant in Seattle. He received a PhD in Anthropology from the University of New Mexico in 2000, where he studied late Ice Age stone tools from the Southern Plains and Southwest.
His CRM work in the Puget Sound region focused on transportation and other public works projects in King and Snohomish Counties. Additionally, Phil has done archaeological fieldwork in the Southwest, Great Plains, Southern Rocky Mountains, Pacific Northwest, Mid-Atlantic, New England, Great Basin, Mexico, and England.
He is an Affiliate Curator of Archaeology at the University of Washington’s Burke Museum and a Research Associate at the University of New Mexico’s Maxwell Museum of Anthropology. Phil has taught college-level classes at Middlebury College, Seattle Central Community College, University of New Mexico, and Hamilton College and has given numerous lectures on general archaeology and lithic analysis to graduate, undergraduate, high school, and middle school classes, and to local archaeology societies.
Ashley Pickard has amassed diverse background, starting with a B.A. from PLU in Political Science and Historical Theology. After falling in love with integrated archaeological processes, she switched career paths and participated in several field schools throughout the United States and abroad. A background in Museum Studies and GIS helped her further in her professional archaeological career. In 2017 she complete and M.A. in archaeology at the University of Leicester in the UK. He research is eclectic but focuses on how cultures have understood natural disasters, specifically within colonial contexts, and what we can learn today to apply to how modern populations deal with disasters. She teaches Diversity Studies at Edmonds Community College, and is excited about pursuing a Ph.D. at the University of Durham.
Brandy Rinck completed dual undergraduate studies in Anthropology and Geology at SUNY Geneseo in Upstate New York, followed by an M.A. in Geoarchaeology at Boston University. In 2007, Brandy moved to the Pacific Northwest to work in Cultural Resources Management where she directed the planning, permitting, and field operations of archaeological investigations in support of government, agency, and private undertakings. She applied her knowledge of glacial geomorphology, stratigraphic analysis, and soil characterization to hundreds of archaeology projects in and around Washington State and beyond. Brandy is currently working in the government sector as the Cultural Resources Coordinator for King County Parks and Recreation. In addition to her day job, Brandy is now serving as the Treasurer of the Association for Washington Archaeology (AWA). She also belongs to other national and local organizations, such as the Archaeological Geology Division of the Geological Society of America [GSA-AGD], the Geoarchaeology Interest Group of the Society for American Archaeology [SAA-GIG], the Puget Sound Chapter of the Association of Environmental and Engineering Geologists [AEG], the Northwest Geological Society [NWGS], the Pacific Northwest Archaeological Society [PNWAS], and the Puget Lobe Chapter of the Ice Age Floods Institute [IAFI]. She served on the Board of the Pacific Northwest Chapter of the Association of Women Geoscientists [AWG-PNW] for several years as a Director at Large and as Vice President. In her spare time, Brandy does crafts, cooks elaborate meals, hangs out with her little through the Big Brothers Big Sisters Program, is an avid movie watcher, and sings in the Market Street Singers.
Alicia Valentino has been an Historical Archaeologist in the Pacific Northwest for the past 12 years. She has been doing cultural resources management for the past 15 years, living and working around the country before landing in Edmonds. Some of the local sites she’s worked on include a multi-ethnic shantytown in Seattle, the Kumasaka Gardens on the North Seattle College campus, and Japanese Gulch in Mukilteo. She received her B.A. in Anthropology from George Mason University in Virginia, an M.S. in Industrial Archeology from Michigan Technological University, and a Ph.D. focused on Historical Archaeology from the University of Arkansas. Alicia has given several lectures at the Museum of History and Industry in Seattle as part of their HistoryCafé series, and she currently teaches at Edmonds Community College and is a Technical Expert for Environmental Science Associates.