Last Friday, September 22, I gave my final presentation of my work to several staff at Cuyahoga Valley National Park covering all of the deliverables I have produced in my eleven weeks with NPS. To review some of my “stats” during my service, I completed a National Register of Historic Places nomination form, created a spreadsheet of archaeological data for Cuyahoga Valley National Parks prehistoric sites, drafted a new site discovery form, wrote a summary of the various prehistoric and historic Outstanding Remarkable Values (ORVs), discovered and documented four new sites within the park, updated five archaeological site forms, and cataloged eleven newly discovered artifacts. Needless to say, I was very busy during my internship!

My 11 weeks with Cuyahoga Valley National Park was a very special time for me. I learned a lot about the application of archaeology within the National Park Service, how sites are managed and preserved from a federal perspective, and saw the various facets of archaeology and historic preservation at work. Bill Hunter, my site supervisor, was amazing and very attentive to my project progress. I would not have been able to do my work as efficiently without his help every step of the way. I enjoyed going into the office, going into the field, and every minute I was serving NPS, and I’ve taken many lessons from this experience, from erosion control to conducting meetings.

Now that I’ve completed my American Conservation Experience, I’ve been busy analyzing potsherds and lithics from the Fort Ancient and Newark earthworks as part of the Ohio History Fund grant that the University of Akron received this past March. I’ve also been busy coordinating events and program for the non-profit Stewards of Historical Preservation, of which I am now president. Now, every time I go for a hike, I take each step with a new perspective thanks to ACE and my experience at Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

ericpic

 

Skip to content