Dr. Lees has been Executive Director of FPAN since 2005. He is a Registered Professional Archaeologist and a member of the Florida Archaeological Council. He has a Bachelor of Science in Anthropology from the University of Tulsa and a Master’s and Doctorate in Anthropology with a specialization in Historical Archaeology from Michigan State University. Dr. Lees is the current president of the Society of Historical Archaeology, is a member of the Florida Historical Commission, and sits on the Florida National Register Review Board. He has previously served as president of the Plains Anthropological Society, the Society of Professional Archaeologists, and the Register of Professional Archaeologists. Throughout his career he has focused on public archaeology and historical archaeology in the Great Plains and Southeastern US, with specialization in the Antebellum Period and the Civil War.

Cheryl is a graduate of the University of West Florida with a Bachelor's degree in Marketing. She worked 8 years in New Orleans in marketing before returning to Pensacola in 1989 to work at UWF.

Jason graduated from the University of West Florida with a Bachelor's degree in Information Technology with a minor in Computer Information Systems in 2008. He worked as Web Developer for the UWF Libraries after graduation for some time before joining FPAN in 2010.

Mike Thomin graduated with a Bachelor's degree from the University of West Florida in 2006 where he studied history and international studies. As the son of a military officer Mike moved across the country and overseas several times before relocating to his adopted home state of Florida (Arizona, Ohio, California, Colorado, Okinawa). For the past four years Mike worked for the museum division of the City of Fort Walton Beach as the Museum Program Coordinator and CRA Marketing Coordinator at Heritage Park and Cultural Center. In this role Mike developed educational and public programming, events, and exhibits to enhance awareness about the historic and archaeological resources of Northwest Florida. Mike's most recent exhibit debuted in the summer of 2010 titled Pirates: The Last Scourge of the Gulf. This exhibit is scheduled to travel to Seminole County for exhibition in the summer of 2011. Mike is interested in military history, Atlantic World studies, and southeastern Native Americans.

Dr Della Scott-Ireton graduated from the University of West Florida with a Bachelor's degree in Anthropology and a Master's degree in Historical Archaeology. She also has a Master's in International Relations from Troy University, and a Ph.D. in Anthropology from Florida State University. Della is certified as a Scuba Instructor with the National Association of Underwater Instructors (NAUI). She worked with the Pensacola Shipwreck Survey, West Florida Historic Preservation, Inc., Florida Bureau of Archaeological Research, and the government of the Cayman Islands before joining FPAN. Della is an officer and elected board member of the Advisory Council on Underwater Archaeology and is a member of the Register of Professional Archaeologists. Della's research interests include public interpretation of maritime cultural resources, both on land and under water, and training of avocationals in archaeological methods and practices. Her specialties are maritime archaeology, colonial seafaring and public archaeology.

Barbara Hines is a Registered Professional Archaeologist who specializes in historic archaeology, 19th and early 20th century. Her interests include the turpentine and lumber industry, specifically focusing on the social aspects of "camp life". She also has taken an interest in early Florida architecture, and did her thesis work on an early 1900s Folk Victorian structure in Sopchoppy, Florida. Her thesis focused on examining the relationship between architecture, societal relationships and social class perceptions. Barbara has also taken an interest in Southeastern Indian communities after European contact, specifically in the late 1800 up to the present, focusing on the mixing of cultures and how the Southeastern Indian population has survived and adapted.

Sarah Miller received her Masters degree in Anthropology from East Carolina University in 2001 where she developed archaeology education programs at Tryon Palace in New Bern, North Carolina. Upon graduation from ECU, Ms. Miller supervised field and lab projects with public involvement for the Kentucky Archaeological Survey, as well as reviewing compliance projects for the Kentucky Heritage Council. She now serves as Director for FPAN’s Northeast Regional Center, statewide coordinator for Project Archaeology, and sits on the Historic Resource Review Board for St. Johns County. Her specialties include public archaeology, historical archaeology, 19th century material culture and historic cemeteries.

Amber Grafft-Weiss earned BAs in Anthropology and English from the University of North Florida in 2004. After graduating, Mrs. Weiss spent three years working in the City of St. Augustine’s Archaeology Division, managing records and assisting in site excavation and artifact analysis. Research interests include the African-American Diaspora, Colonial St. Augustine, and Archaeology Education.

Toni has a B.A. in sociology from FSU, and an M.A. in anthropology with a specialization in archaeology and a graduate certificate in museum studies from Harvard. She has worked as a field laboratory director with the Programme for Belize and has done prehistoric and historic archaeology in Massachusetts and Florida. Her research interests are laboratory analysis, colonial Florida archaeology, Maya studies and Native American body decoration. She is currently the President of the St. Augustine Archaeological Association.

Rich Estabrook directs the FPAN Central Regional Center at the Crystal River Preserve State Park in Citrus County. Rich’s research interests include Community Archaeology, Public Archaeology, Cultural Resource Management (CRM), stone tool analysis, and remote sensing technologies. With 30 years of experience, Rich has conducted archaeological surveys and excavations throughout Florida and the Southeast. While working in the private sector he supervised several hundred archaeological site surveys, more than 40 Phase II site assessments, and nine major archeological excavation data recovery projects. Rich has worked on a variety of sites from 10,000-year-old Paleo- Indian stone tool quarries and stone tool manufacturing sites in the Panhandle to modern urban trash pits in Key West. Historic cemeteries have long been one of Florida’s most neglected historic resources. Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) is one of the best tools available to investigate and document these resources. Rich is currently working to establish a Historic Cemetery GPR program in for FPAN that will allow stakeholders to help scan historic cemeteries and complete Florida Master Site File forms to record their locations and histories. Rich holds a B.A. in Anthropology and History from Stony Brook University in New York, an M.A in Applied Anthropology (Public Archaeology), as well as a graduate certificate in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) from the University of South Florida (USF). He was recently awarded his Ph.D. in Applied Anthropology from USF.

Jason Moser is an archaeologist and historian with approximately 18 years of professional experience in the field of archaeology. Jason has a BA in History and Ancient Studies and an MA in History from the University of Maryland Baltimore County. Throughout his career Jason has worked as an archaeologist for the U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service, the Maryland State Highway Administration, Anne Arundel County and a number of private CRM firms. In 2002 Jason and his wife, moved from Maryland to Florida so that he could pursue a PhD in Anthropology at Florida State University. Prior to arriving in Florida Jason worked as a Public Archaeologist for five years for Anne Arundel County government. In this capacity he supervised professionals, volunteers, and students in the excavation of seventeenth and eighteenth century sites. This project integrated the county’s historical archaeology program into the social studies curriculum of the public and private school system.

Jason has maintained a strong research interest and focus on the historical archaeology of the Colonial Period. In addition to this interest he has an interest background in maritime and underwater archaeology. In Maryland, Jason served as volunteer SCUBA diver with the Maryland Maritime Archaeological Program and he has also worked with the Maritime Archaeological and Historical Society. His other archaeological research interests include Geographic Information Systems applications in archaeology, industrial archaeology, prehistoric ceramics, maritime history, historic architecture, video editing, photography, 3D modeling and animation for public outreach.

Jeff is the Director of the West Central Regional Center of FPAN. He earned a M.A. in History/Historical Archaeology and a B.A. in Anthropology from the University of West Florida. Jeff’s work experiences prior to FPAN include employment as a field tech and crew chief with Archaeological Consultants, Inc (Sarasota, FL), an underwater archaeologist for the FL Bureau of Archaeological Research, and museum curator at the Florida Maritime Museum at Cortez. Jeff enjoys coffee and smoked mullet, but not necessarily at the same time.

Becky O’Sullivan earned a Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology from the University of Florida and a Master’s degree in Applied Anthropology with a concentration in Cultural Resource Management from the University of South Florida. Becky’s thesis focused on a survey of Bulow Plantation, an early 19th century sugar plantation located along the east coast of Florida, near what is now Daytona. In addition to using GIS and high-tech survey techniques, another area of interest for her is the archaeology of the more recent past. Becky got her start working with FPAN as a volunteer on the West Central Region’s Driftwood Community Archaeology Project. Working in partnership with local residents, this survey of a neighborhood near St. Petersburg uncovered the remains of an early historic settlement in the area.

Dr. Wentz graduated from Florida State University with a PhD in Anthropology and specializes in the analysis of human remains with foci on ancient disease and population health. Her master’s thesis was an analysis of fracture frequencies among the Windover skeletal population, a 7,000-year-old site in Titusville, FL. Her doctoral dissertation was a bioarchaeological assessment of the same population. Dr. Wentz has also analyzed remains from Little Salt Spring and Calico Hill, both prehistoric sites in Florida. She has done skeletal work in St. Croix, England, and Ukraine. She obtained experience in forensic anthropology at the C.A. Pound Human Identification Laboratory at the University of Florida, Gainesville and has taught courses in physical anthropology, human osteology and forensic anthropology at Florida State University. She sits on the board of the Florida Archaeological Council and is a Brevard County Historical Commissioner.

Kevin Gidusko graduated from the University of Central Florida in 2011 with a bachelor’s degree in anthropology. Since 2009 he has served as the president of the Central Florida Anthropological Society and conducted ongoing excavations with the Oakland Archaeology Project at the Oakland Nature Preserve. His research interests include historical archaeology, GIS applications, public archaeology, lithic technology, and the prehistory of the Central Lakes Region and the St. Johns River.

Melissa Timo earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Anthropology and Archaeology from Mercyhurst University in Erie, Pennsylvania. She is completing a Master of Arts degree in Historic Archaeology at the University of West Florida. Melissa’s thesis examined the Gainer Historical Cemetery, one of the oldest African American cemeteries in Bay County, and how the modern descendants use and reinterpret the old ceremonial landscape. Melissa is also interested in the archaeology of frontier communities and interaction of archaeologists and descendant communities. She has worked as an archaeologist for cultural resource management firms in Pennsylvania, academic archaeology institutes at Mercyhurst University and UWF, the Westmoreland County Historical Society, and the National Park Service at Cumberland Gap NHP and Big South Fork NRRA in Kentucky and Tennessee. She got her start working at FPAN after receiving the UWF Graduate Assistantship in 2008 and is happy to continue her work in public outreach and education as an Outreach Coordinator.

Mary Buttrey is originally from Cleveland, Ohio. She resided there until 1999 when she went to study at Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama. She received a Bachelor’s Degree in Public Relations and then decided to pursue her Master’s Degree in Teaching Social Sciences. As many northerners do, she followed her retired parents down to Florida when she received a job working for Rasmussen College in Fort Myers. She was a student advisor and adjunct instructor until she decided to join FPAN at Florida Gulf Coast University. She has a passion for education and enjoys being a part of a campus culture.

Dr. Williams gradated from Washington University in St. Louis with a MA and PhD in Anthropology with a specialization in Archaeology. Dr. Williams has participated in excavations throughout the southeastern United States for the past 20 years. Her specialty within archaeology is the use of plants by prehistoric Native Americans.