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![Preparing to Direct Your First Field Project or Field School [Foundational Skills]](https://images.saa.org/container/images/default-source/img-careerpractice/fieldsurvey_overlay.tmb-seminar.png?sfvrsn=f2c58c39_1)
Preparing to Direct Your First Field Project or Field School [Foundational Skills]
When: November 05, 2025 3:00-4:00 PM ET
Duration: 1 hour
Certification: RPA-Certified
Pricing
Individual Registration: Free to SAA members; $69 for non-members
Group Registration: Free to SAA members; $89 for non-members
Kaitlyn Davis, RPA, Ph.D., Northern Arizona University
Dr. Kaitlyn Davis was the lead author on a publication in Advances in Archaeological Practice’s 2021 special issue on Health and Wellness in Archaeology, specifically focusing on safety considerations for first time field directors (such as graduate students). She also co-led a well-attended SAA seminar in 2022 on safety and logistical considerations for preparing a first field project. She teaches one of Northern Arizona University's archaeological field schools.
Dr. Davis is an archaeologist with over 10 years of experience including cultural resource management, community collaboration, public lands management, and academic research. She is interested in community-based archaeology, public archaeology, artifact sourcing, paleoethnobotany, geoarchaeology, and landscape archaeology. She especially values community-based collaborative archaeology, having worked in cooperation with community members from the Confederated Salish-Kootenai Tribes, the Nez Perce (Nimiipuu) Tribe, the Santa Fe South Cooperative Association, the Friends of Fort Owen, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, and Ute Indian Tribe, and collaborating for 11 years with the Pueblo of Pojoaque. She has completed archaeological projects for the Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, National Parks Service, New Mexico State Land Office, Archaeological Conservancy, and Montana State Parks. She has previously worked in several midwestern and western states and Ireland, and at archaeological sites ranging in date from the early archaic period through the early twentieth century. She has supervised the crews and planned the logistics for multiple of the projects previously described. These crews have ranged from volunteers of all ages and experience levels to university and federal employees. She earned her PhD from the University of Colorado in 2022 and is currently an Assistant Professor of Archaeology at Northern Arizona University and a Senior Archaeologist at Chronicle Heritage.
Dr. Kaitlyn Davis was the lead author on a publication in Advances in Archaeological Practice’s 2021 special issue on Health and Wellness in Archaeology, specifically focusing on safety considerations for first time field directors (such as graduate students). She also co-led a well-attended SAA seminar in 2022 on safety and logistical considerations for preparing a first field project. She teaches one of Northern Arizona University's archaeological field schools.
Dr. Davis is an archaeologist with over 10 years of experience including cultural resource management, community collaboration, public lands management, and academic research. She is interested in community-based archaeology, public archaeology, artifact sourcing, paleoethnobotany, geoarchaeology, and landscape archaeology. She especially values community-based collaborative archaeology, having worked in cooperation with community members from the Confederated Salish-Kootenai Tribes, the Nez Perce (Nimiipuu) Tribe, the Santa Fe South Cooperative Association, the Friends of Fort Owen, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, and Ute Indian Tribe, and collaborating for 11 years with the Pueblo of Pojoaque. She has completed archaeological projects for the Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, National Parks Service, New Mexico State Land Office, Archaeological Conservancy, and Montana State Parks. She has previously worked in several midwestern and western states and Ireland, and at archaeological sites ranging in date from the early archaic period through the early twentieth century. She has supervised the crews and planned the logistics for multiple of the projects previously described. These crews have ranged from volunteers of all ages and experience levels to university and federal employees. She earned her PhD from the University of Colorado in 2022 and is currently an Assistant Professor of Archaeology at Northern Arizona University and a Senior Archaeologist at Chronicle Heritage.
Graduate schools provide students opportunities for fieldwork and training in archaeological methods and theory, but can sometimes overlook instruction in field safety and well-being. More explicit guidance on organizational considerations for projects and how to conduct safe fieldwork will improve the overall success of student-led projects and prepare students to direct safe and successful fieldwork programs as professionals. This guidance can also be instilled during field school, and so a portion of this course will be dedicated to considerations for organizing and directing field schools to meet the needs of today’s workforce and to emphasize crew safety and training scaffolding. In this seminar, we will draw on the experiences of current and recent graduate students as well as professors who have overseen fieldwork to outline key considerations in improving field safety and well-being and to offer recommendations for specific training and safety protocols. While discussing these considerations and recommendations, we will use primarily domestic field project examples, particularly those involving community collaboration, but will briefly touch on international projects.
The resources and recommendations provided in this seminar will be especially useful for projects whose crews are comprised at least partially of students, interns, or volunteers (such as Passport in Time, university, or nonprofit-sponsored projects).
The resources and recommendations provided in this seminar will be especially useful for projects whose crews are comprised at least partially of students, interns, or volunteers (such as Passport in Time, university, or nonprofit-sponsored projects).
1. Learning how to protect and register your project.
2. Provide information to share with your crew (e.g. acknowledgement of risk form, code of conduct agreement, info packet).
3. Learning things to keep in mind when structuring your project (i.e. structuring a safe project).
2. Provide information to share with your crew (e.g. acknowledgement of risk form, code of conduct agreement, info packet).
3. Learning things to keep in mind when structuring your project (i.e. structuring a safe project).