Alumna Profile: Rachael G. ('03) in California



I graduated from UE in 2003, and immediately began my graduate studies in Industrial Archaeology at Michigan Technological University. I spent two summers excavating at the West Point Foundry in Cold Spring, New York, and completed my thesis in May 2005.


I became a “shovelbum” after graduate school in an effort to gain more fieldwork experience. In two years, I worked for four different companies and surveyed in New Jersey, North Carolina, Kansas, Louisiana, Ohio, Indiana, and Georgia. The locations were less than glamorous, and the projects ranged from fascinating to boring. However, I met interesting people and learned something new with each project.


Mapping a dredge tailing pile in
Merced County, CA.

In May 2007, I became an archaeologist with the Indiana Department of Transportation. My responsibilities included archaeological records searches, survey, report writing, consultation with local historical groups, and documenting archaeological sites. My office time increased, but I learned how to use ArcGIS (highly recommended!) and gained a better understanding of Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. However, I wanted to expand out of the Midwest, and began applying for jobs in the western United States.

 

In November 2009, I accepted my current position as a historical archaeologist with Garcia and Associates in Lompoc, California. In the past eighteen months, I have recorded shipwrecks along the Pacific Coast and historic farmsteads on Vandenberg Air Force Base, coordinated Phase II excavations at an oil storage facility, documented two hydroelectric power plants, and surveyed many prehistoric sites in the Owens Valley. 

Although my archaeological career is vastly different from my studies at UE, I owe my successful career to the supportive UE faculty and their high educational standards. I know the writing and presentation skills I gained as a student prepared me for the wonderful position I have today.

Alumnus Profile: Andrew R. ('94) in Princeton, NJ

I double-majored in archaeology and writing at UE, and co-founded the Archaeology Club (now SAHA) as well as the literary magazine Pendulum (now the Evansville Review). To satisfy my love of both archaeology and publications, I spent alternating summers excavating at Poggio Civitate (Murlo) and interning at Archaeology magazine. I also served as the copy editor for the University Crescent (when it was still a newspaper) and edited the English department's poetry chapbook, On Time.


 A.R. wears his pottery-reading cap at Isthmia.

After graduating in 1994 with the first class of students to complete the new four-year program in archaeology, I headed to graduate school at the University of Missouri - Columbia, where I studied under Kathleen Slane and Bill Biers, the author of the introduction to Greek archaeology textbook used at UE. During my two years at Mizzou I worked at the Museum of Art and Archaeology and had a summer internship at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City. I kept my interest in publications alive by designing and publishing the book of abstracts for the biannual graduate student symposium shared with the University of Kansas.


Graduating in 1996 with an MA in Art History and Archaeology, I excavated at the site of Isthmia, serving as a photographer, database administrator, and pottery reader. I was able to analyze the pottery and stratigraphy from under the Roman Bath's mosaic to place it in the time of Hadrian, a date that was suspected but not yet confirmed. One of my photographs of human remains from the site will be appearing in the Isthmia 9 volume to be published in 2011 by the American School of Classical Studies at Athens.



I next spent ten years as a museum software professional managing database software rollouts, documentation, and implementation in the US, Canada, and the UK. In 2007 I joined Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, specialists in Greek and Latin textbooks. My core responsibilities were to manage all digital publications and to create a long-term strategy to support our textbooks online. I designed a Latin iPhone app and created the first social network, eClassics, for exploring technology and Classics pedagogy. My obsession with online gaming and language education led to a conference paper given in Trondheim, Norway, which is to be published in 2011 as part of the conference proceedings.

In August 2010 I became the Director of Publications for the American School of Classical Studies at Athens (offices in Princeton, NJ) where I am finally able to join my love of Mediterranean archaeology, print publishing, and digital publishing into a highly satisfying career. I manage the production and publication of the Agora and Corinth excavation reports (the "blue" and "red" books) as well as for other affiliated sites like Isthmia, Lerna, Samothrace, and others. I also work with the journal Hesperia and the Hesperia Supplements. As a person with one foot squarely in traditional publication and the other in digital environments, I am discovering ways to support our print publications online while at the same time planning a future of born-digital books, articles, and tools for archaeologists and researchers. Combine all of that with a plucky office dog named Hector and a free, annual trip to Greece, and you have the recipe for a perfect job. I've never been happier or this busy.


Corinth XVIII Part II is shocking reading!



Thanks to the attention and instruction of Pat Thomas, Erik Nielsen, Allison Griffith, and Shirley Schwarz, I was fully prepared for graduate school and beyond. It's my pleasure that I get to publish some of Dr. Thomas's research, and I look forward to publishing the future work of others who are currently UE undergraduates.