Staff

 

Dr. Tommy Ike Hailey Demonstrating The Use of a Dual Sensor Gradiometer

Dr. Tommy Ike Hailey 

  

Assistant Professor of Anthropology
Director, Cultural Resources Office
Ph.D. Anthropology, Texas A&M University
 

Hailey is director of the Northwestern State University Cultural Resource Office (CRO). Hailey’s primary research interests are in the application of new technologies and methods in archaeological field and laboratory research. The most recent development of this interest has led to the use of a powered parachute for low-altitude, large-scale aerial imaging of archaeological sites with digital still cameras, digital video, and thermal imaging cameras. Hailey, working with colleagues from a number of other institutions and agencies, has conducted aerial surveys of prehistoric and historic sites in North Dakota, Kansas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Mississippi, and Louisiana. 

  

Publications:   

  

Dr. Hailey’s publications include “The Powered Parachute as an Archaeological Aerial Reconnaissance Vehicle” (submitted to Archaeological Prospecting).  Other research efforts have resulted in “An Unlikely Endeavor: The Construction of Seagoing Vessels on the Western Rivers, 1792-1817,” “Lead Poisoning in the English New World Colonies of the 17th and 18th Centuries: An Analysis of Lead-Glazed Ceramics from Port Royal, Jamaica, “and numerous archaeological reports from projects in Texas and Louisiana. 

   

 

W. Ryan Smith Taking Notes Following a Shovel Test Excavation

  

W. Ryan Smith 

  

Cultural Resource Manager, NSU Cultural Resource Office
M.A Heritage Resources, Northwestern State University

 

Smith began working for NSU CRO in 2008. He has field and archival research experience concerning historic sites from the perspective of the field archaeologist, a cultural landscapes surveyor and a project historian. Smith’s educational background spans the fields of cultural resource management, historic preservation and the interpretation of cultural landscapes. Smith recently attended the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Preservation Leadership Training (PLT) in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in June 2010 where he received his PLT certificate.

  

Smith also serves as a Historic District Commissioner for the Natchitoches National Historic Landmark District in Natchitoches, Louisiana. Smith serves as the Principle Investigator on CROs current project investigating the historic military sites of the Cane River National Heritage Area. In June 2010 Smith completed a National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) nomination for Gum Springs Recreation Area, a historical landscape, for the August 17, 2010 Louisiana NRHP review committee agenda. 

  

NSU Heritage Resource Program Graduate Assistants  

 

NSU Graduate Assistants who work with CRO are required to accomplish field and laboratory experience within the realm of cultural resource management, historical research and cultural studies. The Cultural Resource Office provides students with real-world opportunities to gain experience within their related fields of study which typically include anthropology, geography, history and historic preservation.