How the Program Works

Below are professionals, along with their bios and contact information, who have agreed to mentor current students and new professionals in the field.  If you are a student or new professional, review the posted bios and contact the person you think might be a good fit for your needs.  Mentees work with their mentors to develop an appropriate schedule and plan to accomplish established goals. The following are some considerations mentees should think about before contacting a potential mentor:

• Know what you don’t know.   Are you in the dark about how to develop your career or what resources may be out there when you graduate? Have you defined your research goals or determined whether you should go on for an MA or PhD? If you want to further your education, do you know how to navigate that process? Perhaps  you would like to focus on a specialty but are not sure what career options are out there.
• Define your general goals. What do you want from this relationship?  Examples might be a better résumé /CV or better-defined career goals and a plan to achieve them.
• Estimate the intensity of mentoring you need. Consider how much time you have for a mentor relationship and whether you need general direction or more detailed involvement. For example, you might simply want general advice on how to  develop an effective résumé or CV, or you may need more detailed assistance on setting goals and determining how to achieve them.   

Finally, if you reach out and begin working with a mentor but feel you are not getting what you need from the relationship, it is ok to explore other options. 

What Mentoring is Not

A mentor is not your boss. Mentees are responsible for focusing the direction of the relationship by seeking advice or feedback and by asking questions. The professional conversations between Mentor and Mentee are confidential and will not be violated.

Benefits for Participants

Mentoring programs benefit both parties in the relationship. Mentors share knowledge and skills, helping others succeed. All a mentor needs is a passion for archaeology and a willingness to spend time developing a mentoring relationship. While mentoring programs are designed primarily for the benefit of mentees, mentors enjoy rewards as well. These rewards include, but are not limited to, the following:

• igniting a passion for the field
• creating a legacy of knowledge sharing
• building leadership and management skills that will benefit the archaeology community
• meeting people in the emerging talent pool
• reinvigorating personal career development
• discovering the satisfaction of sharing wisdom with others without a huge time commitment
• encountering diverse thoughts, styles, personalities, and cultures
• giving back to the discipline of archaeology
• developing a lasting career network

Mentees are encouraged to begin the relationship with specific goals and expectations. Mentees gain invaluable insight beyond education and experience, and they can gain an edge with the support and guidance of a mentor. Whether an employee needs advice or a sounding board, a mentor can inspire and guide. Benefits may extend far beyond what is expected and may include the following:

• access to a support system during critical stages of career development
• perspective on navigating a career path
• clearer understanding and enhancement of career plans
• exposure to diverse perspectives and experiences
• direct access to powerful resources
• identification of skill gaps
• greater knowledge of career success factors
• the foundation of a lasting professional network
• empowerment through experiencing professional and personal growth.

The increase in confidence, self-awareness, and skills allows mentees to look at each new opportunity with a different perspective.

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Margaret Hangan, M.A.

Forest Project Archaeologist

Originally from California, Margaret has worked as a professional archaeologist for over 30 years. She earned her B.A. in 1989 from Pitzer College and completed a Master's Thesis at California State University, Bakersfield in 2003. She started out in private industry working in the Great Basin and California for 10 years, was a graduate student intern with the BLM in the Mojave Desert for 5 years and has worked with the Forest Service for over 20 years in both California and the Southwest. Her research interests are in the area of Historic Archaeology and African American History of the West. Margaret's strongest mentoring areas will be around career development including the job application process, technical experience with land management laws and plans,  wildfire archaeology, and multiple aspects of Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act and other preservation laws.

margaret.hangan@usda.gov

Bruce G. Phillips, M.S.

President and Owner

Through BGP Consulting LLC, Bruce G. Phillips offers geoarchaeological and archaeobotanical services to the Cultural Resource Management community. For over 20 years, he has worked with more than 35 clients on more than 300 varied projects across the American Southwest. His is an expert in climate and landscape reconstructions, prehistoric canals operations, and subsistence studies. His skills include archaeology, palynology, archaeobotany, micropaleontology, Quaternary sedimentology, geomorphology, limnology, paleoclimatology, report writing and editing, project and personnel management, and data management. Frequently his investigations require coordination with additional scientific consultants, resulting in interdisciplinary syntheses. He regularly presents papers and posters at professional meetings and has authored hundreds of technical reports.

Mr. Phillips routinely visits archaeological field projects across Arizona, gathering information about the landscape. Using techniques from various earth sciences, he helps reconstruct the past landscapes of frequented by peoples of the project area. This provides contexts for archaeologists and their findings. Often his research involves interpreting the histories of Hohokam canal segments and how this technology sustained people for centuries in the Phoenix Basin. Ongoing palynological research in Tularosa Basin, New Mexico, will lead to a paleoenvironmental reconstruction of the time when the humans first entered the Southwest in the Pleistocene. Mr. Phillips is an NAU alum and current affiliate.

bgp@bgpconsultingllc.com

Caitlin Stewart, M.A., RPA

Director and Co-Owner

Caitlin received a B.A. in Anthropology from Western Kentucky University and a

M.A. from University of Mississippi. During her graduate career, she focused on

methodological approaches to determining the minimum number of individuals in

complex bioarchaeological contexts. Throughout her eighteen-year career, she has

conducted archaeological survey, testing, and data recovery efforts primarily in the

Southwest including Arizona, New Mexico, California, and Utah. Currently, Ms.

Stewart is the Director of Cornerstone Environmental Consulting, LLC, a cultural

resource management firm located in Flagstaff, Arizona.

cstewart@cornerstone-environmental.com