Jocelyn Pettit in Mount Rainier National Park in 2016
Jocelyn Pettit ’15 has seen some “pretty incredible places” while working for the National Park Service as an archaeological technician at various parks around the country since graduating with her B.A. in Anthropology from the College of Arts & Sciences at Ohio University with Certificates in East Asian Studies and Museum Studies.
So far, she has worked in Arizona, Utah, and Washington, usually as part of a crew that surveys for cultural resources, historic and prehistoric, using pedestrian survey or shovel testing. Sometimes the survey involves backpacking and setting up camp deep into the park’s back-country and then working from there for a few days to a week.
Pettit then compiles the collected data into a report, using GIS and other programs, and then the report gets sent to whoever has a stake in the project, like a State Historic Preservation Office, Tribal Historic Preservation Office, construction contractors, or other people within the park.
The reports she submits help create a record of the park’s history and are used to advise construction plans so there is no inadvertent destruction to cultural resources.
“I love what I do because I think being an advocate for cultural resources is so important, especially pre-European contact sites, which are often neglected and misunderstood,” says Pettit.
“And it’s a lot of fun!”
She says there are challenges that come with doing this work that she feels is so valuable.
“It can be really exhausting to move around so much and start over every six months. When I finished my last job I couldn’t find another job that really excited me, so I decided to move back to Cincinnati for the winter. Taking temporary work is necessary in order to get your foot in the door in the park service, but it can be unreliable and winter work is hard to come by.”
Comments