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Project Staff
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Sheli O. Smith
Project Director
Dr. Sheli O. Smith brings to the PAST Foundation a strong background in
museum work and archaeological interpretation for both K-12 and public
audiences. Her particular research interests include lifeways at sea and
the ways those are reflected in the layout of ships, and trade networks
in the Pacific in the 18th and 19th centuries. For the past 20 years,
Dr. Smith has focused primarily Gold Rush-era shipwreck sites, located
in California, the South Pacific and the Indian Ocean. Among the
projects she has worked on in her career are the1779 American privateer
brig Defense (located in Maine), the c. 1710 Ronson Ship (New
York), the 1864 American clipper ship Snow Squall (Falkland
Islands), the 1859 American barque La Grange (Sacramento), the
1855 American barque Julia Ann (Tahiti), and the Emerald Bay,
California State Underwater Park.
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Andrea McAllister
Language
Arts Teacher, Metro High School
Andrea McAllister serves as a language arts teacher
at Metro High School. After graduating college she worked with
the Wright Patman Congressional Federal Credit Union, most notably as
their policy and procedures writer and eventually becoming a Branch
Assistant Manager. During her year as a facilitator in the Educational
Council's Christopher Program, she focused on exploring her philosophy
of teaching and strengthening her repertoire of instructional
strategies. Her teaching experience includes: performance-based
assessment, using a layered curriculum, project-based learning,
differentiating instruction, team teaching, co-operative learning and
teaching in block schedules. She taught English and Pre-AP English for
three years at Shaw High School in East Cleveland, Ohio. Shaw High
School was a recipient of the Bill and Melinda Gates’ Small Schools
Transformation Initiative Grant. Mrs. McAllister served as a
teacher-leader in the planning, transitioning, and first year
implementation converting Shaw High School from a large school to five
small schools. Mrs. McAllister received her B.A. from the University of
Maryland, majoring in English Language, Writing, and Rhetoric. She
completed her Master of Arts in Urban Secondary Education at Cleveland
State University, where she also obtained an endorsement to teach
English as a Second Language.
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Anne Corscadden
Summer Field School Facilitator
Anne’s research interests include the archaeology of shipwrecks,
maritime cultural landscapes and submerged cultural resources. She has
international experience in both marine and terrestrial environments,
involving G.I.S, side-scan and sub-bottom sonar. Anne has a Bsc.
Honours in Archaeology from Queens University, Belfast and a Msc. in
Maritime Archaeology from University of Ulster. She is a fully
qualified commercial diver having obtained her HSE Part 1 (surface
supplied, wet bell, diver rescue) from Fort William, Scotland. Anne was
appointed Dive Master on a previous PAST program, Frolic, in
2004, and was Assistant Project Director for the
2006 Slobodna
Project.
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Wayne Lusardi
Maritime Archaeologist,
Thunder Bay National Marine
Sanctuary and Underwater Preserve
As Sanctuary archaeologist, Mr. Lusardi is responsible for the research,
documentation, preservation, and management of as many as 100 shipwrecks
located in Thunder Bay. He is involved in all aspects of fieldwork,
research, education, and outreach. As a state employee, he is also
responsible for submerged cultural resources throughout Michigan. Mr.
Lusardi has an extensive background in underwater and terrestrial
archaeology, artifact conservation, and material culture studies. Before
arriving at Thunder Bay, Mr. Lusardi was employed as an archaeological
conservation for the Mariners’ Museum in Newport News, Virginia. He led
the museum’s excavation of the USS Monitor’s turret after its
recovery in August 2002. Prior to working on the Monitor project, he
spent four years on the Queen Anne's Revenge shipwreck project in
North Carolina. He also worked as an archaeologist for Tidewater
Atlantic Research, Texas A&M University, and the Illinois State Museum.
He received his MA degree in Maritime History and Nautical Archaeology
from East Carolina University in 1998, and a BS in Anthropology from
Illinois State.
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Devin Chambers
Dorm Counselor
Devin Chambers is a graduate of Linworth High School in Columbus. Devin
joined PAST through a sixteen-week Walkabout Program exploring possible
careers. She spent her first eight weeks in the Washington, D.C. area,
working at Mount Vernon under
Dr. Dennis Pogh. Devin was instrumental in assisting with the
organization of PAST's 2007 field school summer camp program.
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Students
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Adnane
Adnane considers himself
a regular student --
but he does speak four languages. He wants to be an engineer.
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Allen
Allen will be starting this fall at Metro High School in Columbus, and
sees this project as an opportunity to
get acquainted with
the staff and students. Allen enjoys rugby, exploring, music, games,
electronics, and exercising. He is looking forward to this project as an
opportunity to learn something about marine science.
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Allie
Allie
will be entering Metro High School in the fall, with a lot of
“adventure” overnight camping experience. She is an honor roll student
who enjoys school and academic extracurricular activities, and well as
running track, playing basketball, musical theater, playing violin and
percussion, and church youth group activities. She is a very friendly,
out-going, and a confident teen who is well liked by both kids and
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Antonio
Last summer, Antonio
volunteered for
Metro Parks to fix decks, benches, and some stages. After cleaning up
the park, the team got to go scuba diving. He was also involved with a
special volunteer camp that made artwork to decorate a home for retired
persons. They planted a garden at the home, and helped clean up trash in
a local park. Antonio got an early education on the balance of
ecosystems while fishing with his great-grandfather in Northern Indiana.
His great-grandfather taught that he should only catch the fish if your
going to eat it, and to always release fish that were too large or too
small. Antonio enjoys biking, swimming, having adventures, fishing, and
reading.
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Austin
Austin likes
to spend his days bike riding, talking with friends, watching the
Science, History, Discovery, or Military Channels on television, playing
games on the computer, trying to find situations where different
mathematical equations apply to real life, and trying to figure out what
makes the universe go (physics). He loves to go camping and to
experience the great outdoors with his fellow Boy Scouts. On the
weekends he normally gets together with a few other people and plays
Dungeons and Dragons for a while on either Saturday or Sunday. He
hopes this project will help him learn more about how we humans have
affected our environment and what we can do to help protect and take
care of it.
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Blake
From a young age, Blake
has
been interested in science. His combined interest in both science and
nature has led him to discover much about environmental science. He
discovered that his hometown, New Albany, has the eighth most-successful
artificially mitigated wetlands in the U.S. He often spends time there
examining the vernal pools and studying the wildlife in the vernal
pools. Blake volunteers to help in the wetlands as a Nature Preserve
Steward, and works with the coordinator of the wetlands project, Prof.
Resch, to help maintain the success of the wetlands. He sometimes leaves
school -- with a pass, of course -- to give tours of the wetlands to
elementary students and teach them about the wildlife they see. Some of
my other tasks have included speaking to research scientists, giving
college classes tours, and even speaking to the director of the Ohio
Department of Transportation (ODOT). Last year he took a school trip to
Crow Canyon, Colorado to study archeology. For the first few days of
that trip, the students took courses on the history and lifestyle
of the Pueblo Indians, then took courses on proper excavating
techniques. Finally they learned how to compile data from the artifacts
we found. These classes were concluded with a simulated archeological
dig. The next day they went on a real dig at a real archeological site.
Every artifact they found was sketched, and obtain various data and
measurements were taken from it. All of the data the group found as well
as the actual artifacts where it was put into a computer system so real
archeologists can continue to research their findings. Blake is a member
of his school's swimming, track and cross-country teams. He has
completed one triathlon, two half-marathons and set the school record
for both running the mile and the two mile. He also enjoys indoor rock
climbing.
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Bryan
Bryan enjoys exploring the outdoors. In 2006 he worked as a
Counselor in
Training at Indian Village Camp. He is anxious to explore wildlife and a
shipwreck -- and hopefully not get a lot of mosquito bites!
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Cassie
Cassie loves to travel. |
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Cherrelle
Cherrelle will be a sophomore at
the Metro School next year. |
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Colin
Colin
loves to play golf and hang out with his friends. His favorite class is
science; his dog’s name is Peanut. |
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Fralisia
Fralisia
is a year one student at Metro High School. |
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Hayden
Hayden likes
video games, science, technology, math, and engineering. Outdoor
activities include English horseback riding and baseball. Hayden has
taken week-long field trips to Lake Erie, and hopes this project will
provide an opportunity to learn about ecosystems and the environment.
Hayden hopes to be a veterinarian.
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Ian
Ian
enjoys playing many
outdoor sports. He has a lot of friends at the Metro School. He really
enjoys going to see action movies at Lennox.
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Kamara
Kamara is
very courageous, but occasionally am shy. |
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Keanna
Keanna will be a sophomore at the Metro
School next year. |
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Kelsie
Kelsie has a strong interest in science. She
has traveled all
over the world, and enjoys learning about different cultures. Kelsie
likes to read, write poetry, spend time outside with her friends, and
play some sports. She hopes attending this project will give her a
better understanding of ecology, science and to see if this is something
she wants to pursue later in life.
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Kristine
Kristine is
freshman at Metro High School. She's a hard worker, responsible and
mature. She enjoys being outside and playing sports. |
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Lena
Lena enjoys
science and reading, and is very interested in the environment and its
problems. During the 2006-07 school year she volunteered at the Columbus
Zoo. Two summers ago she participated in the Young Women's' Summer
Institute at Ohio State University, where the main focus was monitoring
water quality and other environmental issues. Last summer she attended
OSU's Women in Engineering camp. This past winter she took a biology
class at Columbus State, where I did a project on global warming and
pollution. She was also a home school volunteer at the Columbus Zoo this
year, going every Friday to take care of the animals used in educational
programs and helping with the enrichment and shows. She plays soccer,
the guitar, and loves to read. Lena wants to be either an environmental
or chemical engineer.
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Michael S.
Michael is
interested in math, science, and technology. His hobbies are PC gaming
and horse back riding. |
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Michael T.
Michael loves
to read and try to solve any problems thrown his way. He views nature
as a wonderful thing and wants to help to make it better. |
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Nadeem
Nadeem plays
basketball, tennis, and soccer, and has a strong interest science and
math at school. Nadeem once worked on a student team to design and
construct a roller coaster, serving as architect for the project.
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Nick
Nick enjoys
outdoor activities and working with computers. He is an avid
cross-country and track runner, and is looking to this project to get a
better understanding of the environment and how humans influence it.
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Nikki
Nikki will be a sophomore at the
Metro School next year. |
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Precious
Precious is a
very smart person.
She likes to figure out how things work and how they interact with
things around them. She likes to help people if they have problems. |
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Ronnie
Ronnie will be a sophomore at the
Metro School next year. |
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Sydney
Sydney has
always been interested in math and science. She was on the math team at
school, participated in mock trial, was a student council
representative, and represented her school at the Young Women Leadership
Conference. She has been to several summer camps at different colleges,
including a physics program at Bowling Green State University, and the
Women in Engineering program at OSU.
Sydney feels that she learns best when
she
immerses herself in a project. She loves writing and has been on her
school's Power of the Pen team for several years. She and her family
spend much of their time camping and traveling. Last summer they camped
and went canoeing at Mohican & Alum Creek State Park. This past spring
break, they traveled to Lake Hope, hiking to Ash Caves, Cedar Falls and
Old Man's Cave. Sydney likes to go creeking, looking for fossils and
animals. She likes to take pictures and explore new things. At school
she has played soccer for two years, and last year played on the
softball team. She loves math and science and hopes to be an aerospace
engineer for NASA.
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