A New Semester, A New Blog

For those of you who do not know me (which is probably anyone), my nickname is The Lion. I'm a non-traditional student at Lake Area Technical Institute in South Dakota, starting my second semester out of an 18-month Associates program in Environmental Technology. I'm a divorced mom and live with my boyfriend and research partner, known here as PG, who is starting mid-year at the same school going into the same program.

So why the blog? PG and I are working on a very specialized and long-term course of study, one that in our opinion is very underrealized in not only our own country but also around the world. We are pursuing an education that will prepare us to protect archaeological sites and artifacts against damage from the natural enviroment; in some cases, we may also be protecting the environment from damage from the artifacts and locations themselves. As a simple example of the types of things we would like to work on, here in the Black Hills of South Dakota are several old and abandoned gold mines. Mercury was used heavily in the mining process, and now that mercury is leeching into the Black Hills streams. Obviously something must be done about the mercury contamination, but at the same time, the mines are a major part of the Black Hills and American history, and should be preserved as well. As it stands right now, there are very few people who have the education and training to be able to work on this problem. We would like to do that.

Our dream vocation would be working for Woods Hole as researchers and advisors for preserving raised artifacts from shipwrecks and flooded civilizations, as well as preserving these sites when still left underwater. But for the meantime, we have our education to worry about, of course! We have already chosen our internship location: we will be taking an archaeological course in Mitchell over the summer under the supervision of Augustana College in Sioux Falls (and I am so thankful that my professor, Chad, was able to consider it and is as enthusiastic about our chosen career path as we are!). Technically PG does not qualify to complete an internship this summer as he is only taking his electives this semester, but no harm in getting off on the right foot.

We have also chosen and begun preliminary planning for our capstone project: mapping a flooded quarry known as the Third Avenue Pond. What makes this site interesting is that it is the optimal practice site for us to hone skills that will come in very useful in our further studies. It is small, cut off from other waterways, and is known to have in its depths everything from mining equipment to 50-gallon drums of who knows what substances. The pond construction is completely documented, and is on the private land of a watershed research facility. But there is so much unknown about the place . . . it will be amazing.

Looking forward, we're also trying to determining where we are going to go to continue our education. With PG one year behind me technically, I will have to spend an additional year at LATI, which is not enough time to receive a second AAS, so I will have to choose carefully from the available courses for choices that will suppliment my career and enhance my chances of being useful in the field. Right now I am leaning toward Robotics so that I may help with ROV maintenance, which would be backed up by PG's already completed AAS in Electrical Engineering Technology. A constant concern is that the only college who is guaranteed to accept our AAS's (as we are attending a tech school) is SDSU, South Dakota State University. They are a wonderful school, but are lacking in the courses we want to continue with. We are hoping that we can impress another college enough to get them to accept our credits even if they traditionally would not.

Tomorrow is PG's first day back at school in almost 20 years. Sleep is definitely needed right now.