Suzanne Boles Parker

BLM Anasazi Heritage Center, 27501 Highway 184, Dolores, Colorado 81323, 970-882-5619, suzanne_parker@co.blm.gov

Description of past and current involvement in public education and outreach

I am employed by the Bureau of Land Management as the archaeologist/heritage education specialist for BLM’s national Heritage Education program. Currently, I am the National Network Coordinator for Project Archaeology, a program jointly sponsored by BLM and The Watercourse, a not-for-profit educational organization administered by Montana State University. I have recently accepted a new position as the national coordinator for the BLM’s 2006 centennial celebration of the Antiquities Act.  Within the next six months, I will turn my job as Project Archaeology National Network Coordinator over to a new employee at Montana State.

Previously I worked as a corporate art consultant in the southeastern U.S. and as a contract archaeologist for the University of Alabama. I have held an array of museum education and outreach positions at an art gallery, two archaeological museums, and an historic house museum. 

Interest in PEC Membership

I am encouraged by the amount of collaboration between the members of the PEC, and I hope to further the interests of Project Archaeology through my interactions with the PEC.  The SAA PEC also appears to be the place where all of the “movers and shakers” of heritage education congregate. I can offer occasional bursts of very hard work as time allows.  I am able to do a lot of cross-promotion about the PEC and the SAA in my business travel.  I send out lots of SAA/PEC brochures during the course of the average week, and often refer teachers and students to the SAA website.  I am also able to talk with many teachers in such forums as the National Council for the Social Studies, and often talk about PEC programs and products.  I am able to serve at exhibit hall booths as a representative of both the BLM and the SAA at various national conferences.

Area of Interest and Target Audience: I am particularly interested in working with teachers and students, but in the course of my job, I work with a variety of audiences.