Alumni Jobs - Professional Archaeologists

This is the third post in the series about alumni jobs. This alumna found work soon after graduating in 2002 with MoDOT.

Brianne (Olson) Greenwood graduated from UE in 2002 with a major in Archaeology and minors in history and business. One week after graduation, Brianne started what was supposed to be a 3 month internship with the Missouri Department of Transportation. She has now been there for over 12 years. During her time with MoDOT, Brianne has excavated everything from a prehistoric village site to a portion of a 20th century African American neighborhood but also walked miles upon miles and not found a thing. She has recently taken on the role of lab coordinator, making sure that collections are processed and analyzed properly and then preparing the collection for curation. Most people don't equate archaeology and transportation, but any time federal funds are used, cultural resources must be considered. Most states use contractors to accomplish the work but Missouri is one of a few with a permanent staff of archaeologists, architectural historians and historians that complete the initial assessment and then pass it on to a contractor to complete if a Phase III is needed. However, their office successfully completed a Phase III completely in-house on 13 city blocks in downtown St. Louis in advance of a new Mississippi River crossing. Most recently, they have begun work near the Gateway Arch, looking for (and finding!) remains from the French Colonial settlement of St. Louis. Brianne has been fortunate to enjoy long term stability in a CRM setting and is looking forward to many more years in her position. She also recently learned to drive a snowplow and can be found clearing the way for drivers during snow emergencies. You just never know what you're going to do in state government!