Last updated: July 25, 2024
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MRDAM Working Group and Partners
MRDAM Information
The MRDAM Working Group is a comprehensive program for advancing knowledge of long-term historical ecology, human-environmental interactions, and resilience in the Mississippi River Delta. Partnerships are established and maintained through cooperative and participatory agreements involving routine consultation, communication, and exchanges of information for the documentation and mitigation of at-risk coastal cultural resources.
In 2017, MRDAM developed into a Working Group between the National Center for Preservation Technology and Training, the Louisiana Public Archeology Lab at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, the Tulane University Department of Anthropology, and the Louisiana State University Department of Geography and Anthropology. Funding was provided through a grant by the National Park Service’s Lower Mississippi Delta Initiative administered by the Cane River Creole National Historical Park in 2018-2020. Starting in 2022, research is supported through a grant provided by the U.S. Geological Survey South-Central Climate Change Adaptation Center (USGS South Central CASC). Past and ongoing partners include The Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana, and the Louisiana Office of Cultural Development’s Division of Archaeology.
In 2017, MRDAM developed into a Working Group between the National Center for Preservation Technology and Training, the Louisiana Public Archeology Lab at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, the Tulane University Department of Anthropology, and the Louisiana State University Department of Geography and Anthropology. Funding was provided through a grant by the National Park Service’s Lower Mississippi Delta Initiative administered by the Cane River Creole National Historical Park in 2018-2020. Starting in 2022, research is supported through a grant provided by the U.S. Geological Survey South-Central Climate Change Adaptation Center (USGS South Central CASC). Past and ongoing partners include The Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana, and the Louisiana Office of Cultural Development’s Division of Archaeology.
| National Park Service | The Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana |
University of Louisiana at Lafayette |
Tulane University | Louisiana State University |
Northwestern State University of Louisiana |
Louisiana Office of Cultural Development |
| National Center for Preservation Technology and Training | Louisiana Public Archaeology Lab | Department of Anthropology | Department of Geography and Anthropology | Creole Heritage Center | Division of Archaeology | |
| Lower Mississippi Delta Initiative | ||||||
| Cane River Creole National Historic Park |
Kory Konsoer, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Department of Geography and Anthropology, Louisiana State University
Kory is currently the Principal Investigator of MRDAM’s latest funded project, “Understanding and Managing the Impacts of Climate Change and Land Loss on Native American Archaeological Sites in Coastal Louisiana,” through the USGS South Central CASC. He specializes in field techniques and geomorphology of riverine and coastal environments.
David Watt, M.A., RPA
Ph.D. Candidate at Tulane University and Archeologist at the National Park Service
David is a Co-Investigator on the current research through the USGS South Central CASC. He has been an NPS Archeologist since 2017, starting at NCPTT and transitioned to the Midwest Archeological Center in 2022. David’s research uses GIS and cultural resource management to assess at-risk archeological sites in sequence with climate change data.
Chris Rodning, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Anthropology, Tulane University
Chris is a Co-Investigator on the current research through the USGS South Central CASC. He has been with Tulane since 2005 and his research focuses on relationships between people and place. Chris is an archeologist and his experience and interests are the archeology of cultural landscapes, resilience, and studies of built environments.
Mark Rees, Ph.D., RPA
Director of the Louisiana Public Archaeology Lab and Professor of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Mark is a Co-Investigator on the current research through the USGS South Central CASC. As an archeologist, he has conducted extensive research in Louisiana and is the Nalley–Board of Regents Support Fund Professor of Social Sciences through the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. MRDAM began as an idea of Mark’s and was first workshopped with other members of the Group in 2016.
Jill Trepanier, Ph.D.
Associate Professor and Graduate Advisor, Department of Geography and Anthropology, Louisiana State University
Jill is a Co-Investigator on the current research through the USGS South Central CASC. Her research interests involve extreme weather and phenomena, tropical cyclones, and climate change. Through her work as a climatologist, Jill studies the affects of such weather events on Louisiana’s coastal zone.
Navid Jafari, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Louisiana State University
Navid is a Co-Investigator on the current research through the USGS South Central CASC. As a civil engineer with interest in environmental hazards, He contributes his expertise regarding coastal erosion and geotechnical engineering to this project.
Tad Britt, M.A., RPA 10427
Chief of Archeology at the National Center for Preservation Technology and Training, Natchitoches, LA. Britt provides technical assistance, equipment, logistics and coordinates research efforts for MRDAM. His research focuses on the anthropological, ecological, and management of the past and present. Community engagement is key to the success for MRDAM. Britt's overall focus is on anticipating and implementing technologies, strategies, and communications with descendent communities and stakeholders.
Samuel Huey, M.A., RPA
Site File Manager, Division of Archaeology, Louisiana Office of Cultural Development
Sam has expertise in cultural resource management and southeastern archeology. His research focuses on archeology in the Mississippi River Delta. Sam pilots watercraft for MRDAM, contributes his expertise in site monitoring and reconnaissance, and serves as a liaison for attaining site access and data managed by the Louisiana Division of Archaeology.
Associate Professor, Department of Geography and Anthropology, Louisiana State University
Kory is currently the Principal Investigator of MRDAM’s latest funded project, “Understanding and Managing the Impacts of Climate Change and Land Loss on Native American Archaeological Sites in Coastal Louisiana,” through the USGS South Central CASC. He specializes in field techniques and geomorphology of riverine and coastal environments.
David Watt, M.A., RPA
Ph.D. Candidate at Tulane University and Archeologist at the National Park Service
David is a Co-Investigator on the current research through the USGS South Central CASC. He has been an NPS Archeologist since 2017, starting at NCPTT and transitioned to the Midwest Archeological Center in 2022. David’s research uses GIS and cultural resource management to assess at-risk archeological sites in sequence with climate change data.
Chris Rodning, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Anthropology, Tulane University
Chris is a Co-Investigator on the current research through the USGS South Central CASC. He has been with Tulane since 2005 and his research focuses on relationships between people and place. Chris is an archeologist and his experience and interests are the archeology of cultural landscapes, resilience, and studies of built environments.
Mark Rees, Ph.D., RPA
Director of the Louisiana Public Archaeology Lab and Professor of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Mark is a Co-Investigator on the current research through the USGS South Central CASC. As an archeologist, he has conducted extensive research in Louisiana and is the Nalley–Board of Regents Support Fund Professor of Social Sciences through the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. MRDAM began as an idea of Mark’s and was first workshopped with other members of the Group in 2016.
Jill Trepanier, Ph.D.
Associate Professor and Graduate Advisor, Department of Geography and Anthropology, Louisiana State University
Jill is a Co-Investigator on the current research through the USGS South Central CASC. Her research interests involve extreme weather and phenomena, tropical cyclones, and climate change. Through her work as a climatologist, Jill studies the affects of such weather events on Louisiana’s coastal zone.
Navid Jafari, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Louisiana State University
Navid is a Co-Investigator on the current research through the USGS South Central CASC. As a civil engineer with interest in environmental hazards, He contributes his expertise regarding coastal erosion and geotechnical engineering to this project.
Tad Britt, M.A., RPA 10427
Chief of Archeology at the National Center for Preservation Technology and Training, Natchitoches, LA. Britt provides technical assistance, equipment, logistics and coordinates research efforts for MRDAM. His research focuses on the anthropological, ecological, and management of the past and present. Community engagement is key to the success for MRDAM. Britt's overall focus is on anticipating and implementing technologies, strategies, and communications with descendent communities and stakeholders.
Samuel Huey, M.A., RPA
Site File Manager, Division of Archaeology, Louisiana Office of Cultural Development
Sam has expertise in cultural resource management and southeastern archeology. His research focuses on archeology in the Mississippi River Delta. Sam pilots watercraft for MRDAM, contributes his expertise in site monitoring and reconnaissance, and serves as a liaison for attaining site access and data managed by the Louisiana Division of Archaeology.
Aiyana Thomas
Bachelor of Science, Anthropology and Environmental Studies
Master of Arts, Anthropology
Tulane University
Aiyana is a recent master's graduate from Tulane University. Her work focuses on assessing the effects of climate change on marine populations in archaeological and contemporary contexts. She is currently working on analyzing mollusk populations within midden deposits from Sims Site Louisiana. Additionally, her work aims to acknowledge and engage communities who are disproportionately affected by climate change through archaeological and environmental programs.
Reilly Corkran, M.S.
Louisiana State University
Reilly is a PhD student in geography currently working as a research associate with the National Center for Preservation Education at NCPTT. Corkran is investigating climate induced damage on select sites to provide a detailed analysis of the distinct impacts exerted by select climatic factors. Corkran contributed as a research assistant through the USGS South Central CASC as part of her graduate studies from 2023-2024. Reilly has research interests in extreme weather events, climate change, environmental justice, and cultural heritage in coastal landscapes.
Marian Feinberg, M.S.
Marian contributed to MRDAM as a research assistant internship through NCPTT in 2018-2019. Marian was a student of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette at the time.
Macy Linton, B.S.
Macy contributed to MRDAM as an undergraduate student, Department of Geography and Anthropology, Louisiana State University, from 2019-2020. Macy also assisted with research as a 2020 Future Park Leaders of Emerging Change Intern.
Jon Oliver, M.S.
John contributed to MRDAM fieldwork as a graduate student at Louisiana State University during the 2019 field season.
Sumaiya Siddique, M.S.
Sumaiya contributed to MRDAM fieldwork as a Ph.D. candidate, Department of Geography and Anthropology, Louisiana State University, during the field season in 2019.
Caroline Watson, PhD candidate
College of William and Mary
Caroline studies in Ponce, Puerto Rico. As a research associate with NCPTT and the National Center for Preservation Education (NCPE), Watson investigates the impacts of extreme weather events and their effects to archaeological resources in tropic zones. Her ongoing project is titled "Understanding Extreme Weather Event Impacts to Archaeological Resources in Tropic/Sub-Tropic Coastal Zones." In this work, Watson also explores the mitigative actions and strategies people take to reduce the loss of cultural heritage to climate change. Her dissertation research in Puerto Rico complements the goals of her NCPTT/NCPE internship, as she focuses on the contemporary archaeology of ruination and disaster in Ponce. Watson’s research with NCPTT provides a critical analog, which augments the ongoing MRDAM research.
Bachelor of Science, Anthropology and Environmental Studies
Master of Arts, Anthropology
Tulane University
Aiyana is a recent master's graduate from Tulane University. Her work focuses on assessing the effects of climate change on marine populations in archaeological and contemporary contexts. She is currently working on analyzing mollusk populations within midden deposits from Sims Site Louisiana. Additionally, her work aims to acknowledge and engage communities who are disproportionately affected by climate change through archaeological and environmental programs.
Reilly Corkran, M.S.
Louisiana State University
Reilly is a PhD student in geography currently working as a research associate with the National Center for Preservation Education at NCPTT. Corkran is investigating climate induced damage on select sites to provide a detailed analysis of the distinct impacts exerted by select climatic factors. Corkran contributed as a research assistant through the USGS South Central CASC as part of her graduate studies from 2023-2024. Reilly has research interests in extreme weather events, climate change, environmental justice, and cultural heritage in coastal landscapes.
Marian Feinberg, M.S.
Marian contributed to MRDAM as a research assistant internship through NCPTT in 2018-2019. Marian was a student of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette at the time.
Macy Linton, B.S.
Macy contributed to MRDAM as an undergraduate student, Department of Geography and Anthropology, Louisiana State University, from 2019-2020. Macy also assisted with research as a 2020 Future Park Leaders of Emerging Change Intern.
Jon Oliver, M.S.
John contributed to MRDAM fieldwork as a graduate student at Louisiana State University during the 2019 field season.
Sumaiya Siddique, M.S.
Sumaiya contributed to MRDAM fieldwork as a Ph.D. candidate, Department of Geography and Anthropology, Louisiana State University, during the field season in 2019.
Caroline Watson, PhD candidate
College of William and Mary
Caroline studies in Ponce, Puerto Rico. As a research associate with NCPTT and the National Center for Preservation Education (NCPE), Watson investigates the impacts of extreme weather events and their effects to archaeological resources in tropic zones. Her ongoing project is titled "Understanding Extreme Weather Event Impacts to Archaeological Resources in Tropic/Sub-Tropic Coastal Zones." In this work, Watson also explores the mitigative actions and strategies people take to reduce the loss of cultural heritage to climate change. Her dissertation research in Puerto Rico complements the goals of her NCPTT/NCPE internship, as she focuses on the contemporary archaeology of ruination and disaster in Ponce. Watson’s research with NCPTT provides a critical analog, which augments the ongoing MRDAM research.
Macy Linton