Tag: Cultural Resources Management
From wilderness guide to environmental specialist: How CEMML’s early-career program helped one intern find her path
After early job experiences as a wilderness guide and ski instructor, Ellery McCaw came into CEMML’s Early-Career Development Program expecting just a part-time internship. What she found was a platform to gain career insights and build on technical skills. She left the program confident that the critical administrative and procedural skills she acquired will help her advance her career ambitions.
March 13, 2026
From journalist to archaeologist: My journey as a cultural resources technician
After a seven-year career in journalism, Lucas Chapman was looking for a change. He completed a master’s degree in archaeology and was looking for a way to gain practical experience in his new career path. After coming across CEMML’s Early-Career Development Program, he found just the opportunity he was looking for.
February 5, 2026
An intertwined ecosystem: Species monitoring helps wildlife and the military mission
What does the behavior and health of a small, roundish mammal scampering through the sandy soil at Hill Air Force Base’s Utah Test and Training Range have to do with the military mission? More than you’d think. CEMML, in partnership with the base’s Natural Resources Program, is tracking the dark kangaroo mouse and several other species to better understand the health of the local ecosystem and inform military training operations.
December 9, 2025
CEMML cultural resources team wins 2025 Secretary of the Army environmental award
CEMML professionals and U.S. Army staffers have worked together for several years to preserve archaeological and historical sites on bases located on the islands of Hawaiʻi and Oʻahu. Recently, their joint efforts earned them the Environmental Award for Cultural Resources Management, one of the Army’s highest honors for outstanding environmental stewardship and leadership.
October 27, 2025
From “shovel bum” to experienced archaeologist: A CEMML intern’s journey
For Michael D’Ottavio, the CEMML Early-Career Development Program gave him the perfect opportunity to deepen his interest in American military history. Through his job as a cultural resources technician on an Air Force base, he gained useful skills and hands-on experience. Now, he’s excited to continue his storytelling journey in archaeology.
September 24, 2025
Unearthing potential: Starting a career in archaeology with CEMML
For recent college graduate Harrison Wehmann, the detailed detective work of archaeology is exactly what he wants to be doing. After earning his bachelor’s degree with a double major in archaeology and history, and a master’s in underwater archaeology, he’s found the perfect opportunity through CEMML’s Early-career Development Program. Now, he’s building a career chasing history at Joint Base Langley-Eustis—and helping a military installation preserve its past.
July 6, 2025
History in her hands: CEMML intern’s interests piqued at Avon Park Air Force Range
As a CEMML intern, Ellie Azulay focuses on documenting historic turpentine industry sites from the early 20th century on what’s now Avon Park Air Force Range. A recent graduate from Pennsylvania’s Bryn Mawr College with a degree in political science, Ellie’s getting hands-on experience in public history, while learning from experts in her field.
June 16, 2025
Colorado State University and University of Guam sign MOU
Alonso A. Aguirre, Dean of the Warner College of Natural Resources, and the leadership team from the Center for Environmental Management of Military Lands recently traveled to Guam to sign a MOU between the University of Guam and Colorado State University. The MOU aims to provide opportunities for future collaboration and cooperation including internship placement of University of Guam students into natural and cultural resource management opportunities with Warner College/CEMML.
February 27, 2025
CEMML archaeologists unearth Wisconsin dairy history from early 1900s
A glass bottle fragment recovered from Fort McCoy, Wisconsin was found to originate from the Beaver Creek Dairy company in Sparta, WI. The company, established in the early 1910s, remained in operation through the early 1970s. It is unclear if the bottle glass fragment recovered by the CEMML archaeologists was originally delivered to a homestead or soldiers training at Fort McCoy.
February 6, 2025
CEMML executive director named as key personnel in CSU $326M award
The Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency have awarded $326 million to three Colorado State University research projects that aim to improve U.S. oil and gas operations and reduce methane emissions nationwide. The executive director of the Center for Environmental Management of Military Lands, Barker Fariss, has been named as key personnel on one of the three projects. That $300 million grant focuses on reducing methane emissions from low-producing and conventional wells.
January 18, 2025
CEMML helps preserve history of nuclear submarines and ships
In the early 1950s, the U.S. Navy was keen on developing nuclear-powered engines to propel submarines and aircraft carriers. Prototyping and testing of these reactors took place at the Nuclear Propulsion Program’s Naval Reactors Facility in Idaho. CEMML has supported the NRF in documenting and preserving the history of this landmark development site and the engineers who worked there.
November 5, 2024
CEMML archaeological survey explores early 20th century history of Fort McCoy
An archaeological survey conducted by CEMML personnel in the summer of 2022 was initially meant to investigate the creation of several hundred concrete tent pads at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin. Research into the tent pads, dating from around the early 20th century, also unearthed additional information about other possible known archaeological features and sites around what is referred to as “Old Camp McCoy.”
February 21, 2024