CSN Subject Matter: Springs Preserve Air date: Sunday, November 24 Welcome to this week’s edition of CSN Subject Matter, the College of Southern Nevada’s weekly radio program in conjunction with KNPR. I'm your host, Meghin Delaney from CSN’s Communications Office. CSN is Nevada's largest and most diverse higher education institution, so naturally we’ve got plenty of great stories to share. Today, I’ll talk with Dr Leilani Lucas, a faculty member in our anthropology department, and Nathan Harper who works at the Springs Preserve about how they've been strengthening the partnership between these two institutions and how that's helping provide hands-on experience for our students. In the second half of the show, we’ll talk to one of these students about her experiences so far in the program and where she plans to go from here. As always, you can learn more about CSN by visiting csn.edu. We look forward to helping you succeed. Now, onto today’s show. Thanks for being with me today, can you guys give her audience a brief introduction, a little bit of who you are and what you do for CSN. Leilani Lucas: Hi, thanks for inviting us along today. My name is Leilani Lucas and I am a faculty member in the department of human behavior at CSN. In addition, I facilitate the field school for our new cultural resource management program. Meghin: Great. And how about you, Nathan, can you tell us about your job at Springs Preserve? Nathan Harper: So I am the preserve archaeologists at the Springs Preserve, I've been there for about ten years now and since the Springs Preserve is the birthplace of Las Vegas, we have Native American remains there, we have early settlers remains there as well, as well as all the water facilities that you see as you drive by the Springs Preserve. All of that is my responsibility to take care of and present to the public. Meghin: I always love to ask folks, since we're an education institution, I want to know folks’ s educational path and their journey to how they got to where they are today. Nathan, can can you take us through yours first? Nathan: Sure. Coming out of high school, I had a wide, broad array of interest and a lot of it had to do with history or science. And when you think about history and science, one of the best combinations is archaeology, anthropology in particular. When you get into an undergrad, and you’re studying anthropology, anthropology is everything, it’s human culture, so that's really what drew me to become an anthropology student. I did my undergrad and master’s at Wichita State University in Kansas where I'm originally from. I came out to Las Vegas in 2003 to pursue a PhD at UNLV. I worked there as an intern before the Springs Preserve opened, went away for a few years for Fellowship, came back and they asked me to apply for the gig. Meghin: Leilani, how about your education and career path so far? Leilani: I've been very lucky to have completed a full circle that led me back to CSN. I started as a community college high school student at CSN where I took my first anthropology class with my predecessor Dr. Kevin Rafferty over 20 years ago. I went on to UNR for a B.A. in anthropology and returned to Vegas briefly to complete an M.A. in anthropology from UNLV. From there, my research took me to the Mediterranean and a PhD and postdoctoral fellowship at University College London. I returned to Vegas to be closer to family and have been at CSN for three years now. Meghin: Great, we're glad you guys are here. I want to also ask because I think you guys have told me that you ran into each other somewhere in your research right, out of Las Vegas and knew that you had a connection or found a connection? Nathan: Coming out of my master's program at Wichita State University, I had a Fulbright Fellowship to Cyprus, which is an island in the Mediterranean, and sort of in the middle of all this action between the near east and Greece and North Africa, and so I was working in Cyprus, had been working in several several years before I came out UNLV and met Leilani when we were both in grad school together. Leilane: And we worked on a few sites in Cyprus together. Meghin: Well I'm really glad that the two of you can bring that array of experience to our students, I think that's really great that they get the opportunity to learn from you guys, but let's start for folks who are unfamiliar, can you explain a little bit about your field in general, what it is, who might want to study it, and what a career might look like? Nathan: Well, archaeology, it's kind of like you’re detective, it's a mystery. You're trying to figure out how people used to live and how they survive in this environment and you can almost suggest that while we're studying culture, and in the culture of these people who have lived before us, we’re also studying the environment and how people lived in that environment and reacted to that environment, and that’s something very important, particularly here in Southern Nevada where we live in a very extreme environment, understanding the environment like that really helps inform us on what we can do that in the future. Meghin: And what would the career path look like or what skills are we teaching students who choose to study this at CSN? Leilani: What we offer at CSN is very unique for a community college and what we offer is their first introduction to archaeological fieldwork and cultural resource management and what they're able to do with that certificate is, first of all, decide if this is what they want to do as a career, and it also sets the foundation for when they transfer to a four-year university, they can continue their studies in anthropology and with the specializing in archaeology. So it kind of gives them the chance to explore the field. Meghin: I think that can really help students either say yes or no right by chance I said to check it out and you just mentioned it there and I want to talk a lot more about the partnership between CSN and the Springs Preserve in our field school, so can you guys take me through how you thought of working on this together and and why I thought it would be important for our students to experience? Nathan: Well, the Springs Preserve, you know, we've been open for about 10 years, well over 10 years now, we opened in 2007, and all the work that took place before that, there was quite a bit of field work that happened out there, archaeologists from UNLV worked out there in the 1970s to the 1980s and 1990s, so there was a lot of data, a lot of information left over from those projects, a lot of material has been recovered, including artifacts like projectile point, stone tools, pottery, but also things like soil samples. And knowing Leilani’s specialization in archeo botanicals, when you have soil samples and things like that, you can go back to those archives, go back to those those storage facilities and get more information out of data that’s 30, 40, 50 years old. Leilani: So that's how it pretty much started, as I started analyzing some of that material, and then when I was hired by CSN, we thought what better opportunity to work together and bring some labor force for the Springs Preserve and experience for students. Meghin: So I had the chance to come out and see this in action in the last academic year, but for folks who haven't, can you tell us a little bit about the work that the students are physically doing and how you prepare them to go out there and do this kind of work in the field, what goes into getting them ready to visit? Leilani: We have an introductory methods class at CSN in archaeology and then it's pretty much is hands-on experience, learning on the job, so we do we run through all the processes of archaeological survey excavation and we start a lab class in a month and a half, so they're pretty much getting the full range of archaeological research. Meghin: Great and for the Springs Preserve, you're pretty much a one-man band over there, right? So this help is really beneficial for you, isn't it? Nathan: Yeah, no, having any sort of help is going to be helpful for us. I do have another archaeologist that helps me there at the Springs Preserve, we're very familiar with him, and you know it's a big place. It's 180 acres, there's multiple site, multiple component, different approaches, we have prehistoric archaeology there, we have historic archaeology there, we have indigenous archaeology there, we have industrial archeology there, so there's a lot of different things we sort of have to look at and think about. And when you're an anthropology student or an archaeology student, really there is no better place to get this whole span of all the different types of science in the different ways of recording sites, excavating things and really in archaeology, experience is the key. You know, you can you can read however many articles you want to read, you can watch Indiana Jones 50 times but that doesn't really do anything for you until you actually get out in the field and put your trowel in the ground, understanding the soil, the geology, and the environment. Meghin: Are you saying that the Indian Jones, the action flick, might not be a real life portrayal of what you do everyday? Nathan: I haven’t punched a Nazi in a long time. Meghin: I know that this partnership is bigger than just CSN working with the Springs Preserve, but I don't want to mess up the particulars, so who else is involved in this project and what other groups and organizations are we exposing her students to? Leilani: In the last season, we had a graduate student at UNLV who led a crew, and we also have a lot of volunteers from the Archaeo Nevada society, which I am currently the vice president. So we have a lot of nonprofit organizations, UNLV, CSN, the Springs Preserve, so it's pretty much we're pulling resources from all over the valley. Nathan: I don't think people realize that the archaeology is an industry into itself. A lot of the work that we have to do is compliance work, so anytime there's any sort of federal money that goes into a project in times like what we call a federal nexus, there's federal money there, you have to do a whole series of of of compliance documents to make sure that we're not harming the resource, harming the archaeological site, and if we do do excavations on the site that data and information is going to be public and released to the public, published and released to the public, so there are firms, environmental firms and archeology firms here in southern Nevada that are looking for people they're looking for people to hire for jobs doing things like surveys or excavations or monitoring of construction jobs, those types of things, so there is an industry in southern Nevada for archaeology. Meghin: I think that's part of your new certificate, the cultural resource management certificate leads into that kind of work, so can you talk a little bit about what that certificate prepares students to do? Leilani: It prepares them either for careers or the field in cultural resource management and it gives them an introduction to the field, so I think initially students could obtain jobs as archaeological technicians while they're pursuing their bachelor's degree and it just gets gives them that experience to start their careers. Meghin: Let's just break it down a little further, cultural resource management, it seems like it's obvious what that means, but what does that mean? Leilani: Like Nathan was talking about compliance and it's the applied approach to archaeology. Nathan: When you're doing cultural resource management, the thing is, these are resources and resources are finite. You can excavate an archaeological site, can take out the artifacts, you can dig out the door and everything but you can't put everything back exactly the same way, so really in one way archaeology, when you're doing excavations, you’re actually destroying the site, and so we want to make sure the anytime we go out in the field and do any work like that we're falling all the protocols, following all the methods, filling out all the right paperwork, working with right organizations and institutions. Locally, the state historic preservation office here in Nevada is somebody we work very closely with and then the federal agencies as well locally, Bureau of Reclamation, Bureau of Land Management, Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife, all of those organizations, all those institutions have a cultural resource management or archaeologist required for some of their work. Leilani: And we currently have interns at the state historic preservation office, Isabel, later will talk about her internship with the park service, and we have interns starting at the Springs Preserve when school starts. So we have interns with registered in the CRM certificate program all over the valley. Meghin: I think we especially know in that field that that hands-on experience is really going to probably make it or break it for these students. Just because I find it so interesting, Nathan, can you give us a little history about the Springs Preserve site and what it means to Las Vegas? Nathan: The site itself, it encompasses a spring complex that is a set of three springs, very originally named Big, Middle and Little Spring. It was very creative back, but you know this is a place where local indigenous people gathered and some of the names they gave to the springs are like Big Water, Big Opening of Water or Boiling Sand Springs, because it was pushing up so much sand and sediment. So those Springs really gave life to that area of of Southern Nevada, a million and a half gallons of water come out of the ground, out of those springs, over 24 hours. So really it was the main source of water for the town of Las Vegas until we started putting in wells and things on that side as well, so from its earliest days through today, we have a chain of custody, we understand, you know, the railroad bought that property from Helen Stewart, the railroad sold it off to the water district when the water district was formed, and so we have, going back a hundred years, we know what was going on that property, who's owned it And it’s significant for a lot of different ways, not only because you have the site of some of the earliest archeology of Vegas, you have early settlers houses and adobes includes a dugout construction. When you look at the land records who lived there at the time, the name is John Howell and you look at the census from that time, he was of mixed-race from North Carolina and so it's very possible we have the location and the site of the first African-American landowner in Southern Nevada and so we've done some research and work on that as well, we’re pushing forward to do more with that, find out more about his life, found out more about his children that were born and raised in Southern Nevada and moved onto other places in the future. So talking about it being a multi-component site, we've got stuff going back to seven thousand years all the way up until the 1950s that is historic and part of our responsibility. Meghin: That’s amazing, if folks haven't checked it out, I would encourage you to get down to the Springs Preserve, also we always encourage folks to get involved with CSN, this is such an exciting time, I look forward to watching this partnership that helps the Springs Preserve, helps our community, helps our students, continue to grow. If you're just joining us, you're listening to CSN Subject Matter, the College of Southern Nevadas’ weekly radio program in cooperation with KNPR. I just finished chatting with our CSN faculty member Dr. Leilani Lucas and Springs Preserve employee Nathan Harper about the latest partnership between our organizations. We’re going to be welcoming a student to the show in just a second. Did you know CSN was named a national center of academic excellence in cyber defense education by both the Department of Homeland Security and the National Security Agency? Many of our cyber students are hired for jobs before they even finish their degree. CSN, now you know Now I'd like to welcome on one of our very own CSN students to the show. Isabel, would you mind introducing yourself to our audience and telling us how you got to CSN? Isabelle: Thank you for inviting me here today, my name is Isabella Picazo, I'm an anthropology major here at CSN and I'm graduating this month with my associates in anthropology, but I'll be continuing this fall semester to complete my cultural resource management certificate. I've been CSN for a few years now and soon I'll be ready to transfer to a university to complete my bachelor’s. Meghin: How did you end up in this program and working toward this certificate? Isabelle: I actually got into the archaeological program because of Dr. Lucas. A bit over a year ago, I took her biological anthropology class as part of a requirement for a different major and I fell in love with anthropology. After that class, I changed my major and even joined Archaeo Nevada society, which Dr. Lucas is vice president of. I took intro to world archeology class last year, she told me about the CRM program and I thought why not, archaeology is a really interesting subject, and I wanted to explore it further. The field school at the Springs Preserve was a really Illuminating experience where I learned how to survey and excavate an actual archaeological site so early in my studies, it's really giving me the hands-on experience that definitely solidified my decision to pursue a career in archaeology. Meghin: You're not the first student who told me they've switch their major because they've had a class in anthropology, so something they're doing in that department is working and getting students over there. I was hoping you can tell me a little bit more about an internship you just recently completed the park service, right? Isabelle: Yes, a few months ago I went on a hike with the National Park Service at the Lost City and I met Chris Nice who leads the archaeology program there, she told me about an internship and I didn't think much of it until I joined the CRM program and I remembered that she told me that day they were looking for interns, so I needed the internship for the degree and I thought maybe she'll let me join them. So after that it was a really interesting experience, I got to survey in the Lake Mead area with the archaeology crew and then I was also able to do some museum work, which really interests me as well. Meghin: There are multiple different ways, you can be doing the survey sort of in the field, there's the museum work, what do you think, do you have an idea of where your passion lies between those, what you may want to do in your career? Isabelle: Yes, actually I thought about it a lot over the summer, and I've been thinking of my first love was the biological anthropology and I think something that really fits what I like is bioarchaeology, so I think when I go on to UNLV, I’ll be going into bioarchaeology. Meghin: And can you explain how you understand that field and why that interest you to someone who might not understand what that term means? Isabelle: So, bioarchaeology is looking at the human remains at archaeological sites, looking at the bones and seeing where they've been, what kind of food they’re eating, what they've been through and like determining exactly how they lived, how they died, things like climates and stuff that lived through. Meghin:I think Nathan call that earlier detective work, right, so you're looking at these things and you're trying to figure out what life was like back then, can you give us an example of how you try to determine that, like what what is it about a bone or another resource that you might find on a site that would give you a clue into what their life was like? Isabelle: I took a physical anthropology class where we were able to look at bones and determined if they were a child or adult, female or male, and looking at the bones we are able to see if it broke out all during their lifetime and how long it has been since they broke it, to when they found the bones and that really interested me. Meghin: Right so if I broke my leg when I was a kid that's going to have someone finds my bones years and years from now after I'm dead and gone, that'll be a physical clue, a physical marker, I think that's so interesting, I want to talk more about the Springs Preserve program and what that was like for you, so do you remember when you Dr. Lucas told you about this opportunity and you know, take me through some of the work that you did out there? Isabelle: So I took her world archaeology class and that's when she told me about the CRM and program and it really interested me to be able to go out into the field so close to home and get this experience, and we were out there every Friday morning, surveying the area. And with my internship with the national parks, it was like extra experience to get to learn about all this stuff and then we went to excavation and it was like really hands-on stuff where I got to work with Dr. Lucas and Nathan Harper. Meghin: Hands-on experience is really great, I know students who might go straight into a four-year school into this program might not start getting that hands-on experience until their third or fourth year and you are going to be done with your AA, be done with the certificate, and moving into university already having this experience under your belt, so how do you feel moving forward knowing you already have a ton of hands-on experience and it's just putting you ahead of the game here, right? Isabelle: I feel more confident now that I was able to experience this really early on, it definitely solidified my decision to go on into archaeology, I've been through a lot of different majors trying to decide what I wanted and just being able to experience this was really amazing. Meghin: That's great, that's what we want for all of our students at CSN. So if you could look into a big crystal ball and predict your life 10, 15, 20 years down the road, what does it look like for you, what are you doing, are you traveling, are you on sites, are you teaching, do have an idea of what that looks like? Isabelle: Well I know that I definitely want to go on to grad school, get a master’s and maybe even a doctorate, I want to teach others and look at other sites in other places in the world to learn from there. Meghin: Is there any big place that if you could snap your fingers and go there in an instant and study there remains or their sites there, is there a place that you would go? Isabelle: I’ve always wanted to go to Italy and look at the petrified remains there, all the other sites and also in Africa to have like the first site of humans and that was really got me into archeaology at first so be able to go back to those roots. Meghin: So you might have some of those travel plans in your future. And then I wanted to ask you about your internship that you did with the park service, was there any day or moment that sticks out to you as you're really enlightening or engaging experience that you had there? Isabelle: There was one day when I was surveying with the parks where we were walking back and forth around Lake Mead and we ran into some wildlife and being able to experience all this nature and not knowing what's going to happen, it's not just the archaeology work that's interesting, it’s also being able to go out to nature that I really love. Meghin: I'm sure that in this internship, you were able to go probably to some places that aren't open to the public who are just visiting Lake Mead right, you have that behind the scenes, backstage, so to speak experiences right? Isabelle: Yeah, it’s really interesting and really cool to be able to get into all this. I never thought I'd be able to experience all this, I learned this much so early on. Meghin: And then sort of the other side of that experience I know is was working in the museum, that's not so much that the hands-on in the field work, but can you tell us a little bit about what your experience was like interning in the museum setting? What kind of work did you do with the museum? Isabelle: With the museum work, I was able to do a lot of inventory for them and I got close up looks at some projectile points and a lot of artifacts I've never seen before, and I learned how to identify some of them. Meghin: So these are artifacts that you were able to look at and do the inventory for that have been found in that site previously and you were able to get to handle them as part of your internship? Isabelle: Yes and I got to make a field guide to help the national parks, so it could help them in the future identify all the points and the different types of material, clay pots, that they might run into in their field work in the future. Meghin: So that's amazing, some of those folks are going out to do that field worker going to be looking at something that that you helps produce. I'm really excited that I have the chance to talk to you today so we could give future students an idea of what goes on in this program. I am afraid that's all the time we have for today, I want to thank you for joining me you've been listening to CSN subject matter of the College of Southern Nevada’s weekly radio program in conjunction with KNPR. I want to thank my guests today, Dr. Leilan Lucas, Nathan Harper and Isabel for sharing their stories with me. Thanks, also, as always to KNPR for helping produce this show I would not be able to do it without them. Again I'm Meghin Delaney from CSN’s Communications Office, you can learn more about CSN by visiting csn.edu or searching for us on your preferred social media site. We look forward to helping you succeed and I will see you next week.