Transcript
Speaker: You are listening to the Archaeology Podcast Network. The Archaeology Podcast Network is sponsored by Codify, a California benefit corporation. Visit codify at www .codifi .com. This is Travis Field and you're listening to Profiles at CRM.
Speaker: Welcome to Profiles in CRM, Episode 70. I'm your host, Chris Webster. Profiles in CRM asks CRM professionals nine simple questions. The answer's very wildly, depending on their experience and education. Because of the nature of contract archeology and how small this field really is, some people choose not to reveal their name or the company they work for. Stay to the end of the show to hear how you can have a chance to answer these same questions. All right, we're here on Profiles, and here's the first question. What is your name and who do you work for? My name is Travis Field, and I work for Stell Environmental.
Speaker: Nice. And what's the highest degree you've earned? I earned my master's in anthropology at the University of Nevada, Reno. That was following a bachelor's in anthropology from the University of Washington, Seattle.
Speaker: I don't usually comment on these, but that's the first time I've had so many coincidences. I'm from Seattle originally, and I currently live in Reno, so that's incredibly crazy. Anyway, we can talk about that later. How long have you been working in CRM? My first project was in 2010, so not as long as some of the other profiles I've heard for sure.
Speaker: Yeah, well, I think you've beat the cycle for people who get out early. It's usually a couple of seasons and then they're done. All right, so where have you worked? What states have you worked in? State -wise, Missouri, Georgia, Texas, Utah, Nevada, California, Oregon, and Washington. That first project in 2010 was for a mining company in South Australia though.
Speaker: Nice. Nice. Okay. What is the position you usually have on CRM projects and what is the highest position you've ever held? So, you know, from field tech to project manager type thing. Right. Uh, so, uh, through school, uh, it was a field tech all the way, um, until my, my first job outside of, um, after my master's was, it was a crew chief. And that's why currently that's my, that's my official title now. Um, unofficially I do a lot of the GIS, uh, specialist, uh, mapping and spatial analysis stuff.
Speaker: What's the best thing that's happened to you that's related to being an archeologist? And this can be personal or professional. Oh, um, there's a lot of little things, uh, you know, in terms of archeology and on the broader sense, uh, I didn't figure out, I didn't have a working knowledge of what an archeologist was until I was halfway through my undergrad and discovering it, like helping discover a lot of things about me and, uh,
Speaker: just what I have passion for. So kind of opening that window has been fantastic in terms of archaeology in general. CRM specific, I think that it's really probably been engagement with tribes locally.
Speaker: especially some recent projects trying to help tribes deal with, mitigate the effects of climate change on their coastal villages. When you can do projects like that, it's got a fulfillment component to it that's really nice. What's the biggest thing you would change that would make being a CRM archaeologist better? Only one thing.
Speaker: probably having it be a little bit, at least in my experience, if there's not as big a focus on research in terms of publishing and having a kind of a public component to it, that's something that I don't see very often. There's been a handful of projects that have that, but that's something that I think is desired.
Speaker: And I think it would improve the field a lot. Um, especially for me, somebody that is research -minded, uh, to be able to combine the CRM, just the, you know, trying to protect, uh, or mitigate damage to these sites, but also having the, inform the public and not just the client about what's out there. What's your career goal in CRM? Where do you see yourself in however many years you want to project out? Uh, short -term I'm, I am in the middle of a GIS certificate program.
Speaker: Um, so kind of knocking that out, that'll be done in June. And I've spent, you know, the last, since I finished my, my, my master's, uh, just been through four years. And, uh, I, I'm trying to get the feel of whether or not CRMs for me, or if I want to go back into academia, so that looming kind of PhD is there. Um.
Speaker: And that goes back to the research component. I'm not being exposed to that a whole lot, and I miss it. And I think that academia is really where you're exposed to that more. So potentially, the PhD, for now, just worked a little bit more on the GIS front and the technology front to improve field collection.
Speaker: All right, final question. If you could give an undergrad thinking about a career in CRM, one piece of advice, what would it be? Oh, one single piece of advice. You know, if you're coming out and you're going straight into a CRM position as an undergrad without considering an advanced degree,
Speaker: be prepared for unsetting employment and think about what it means to be unemployed for a portion of the year, what it means to have to travel to maintain stable employment. It's upsetting or unfortunate, but the trend of needing these advanced degrees to even be a field tech is a real thing. Really consider that lifestyle.
Speaker: less seriously, know how to use a compass, not the one on your phone, and know how to read a topographic map because that's going to make or break you, at least people's opinions.
Speaker: Show notes for this and all episodes can be found on the Archaeology Podcast Network website at www .archaeologypodcastnetwork .com/. At that page you'll also find a form that you can fill out so you can be interviewed on the show. Interviews take less than 30 minutes and you don't need any special equipment. Thanks for listening and I'll see you in the field.
Speaker: The show is produced by Chris Webster and Tristan Boyle and was edited by Chris Webster. This has been a presentation of the Archaeology Podcast Network. Visit us on the web for show notes and other podcasts at www .archaeologypodcastnetwork .com Contact us at chrisatarchaeologypodcastnetwork .com
