Meet Elisha, the East Central Region's New Outreach Assistant!
Hello!
I’m Elisha Tisdale, and I’ve just recently joined the team at FPAN in the
East-Central Region as an Outreach Assistant!
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| "Hi!" from Tulum - visiting the Maya site in Mexico last year. |
So,
how did I get here? I received my bachelor’s degree in Anthropology from the
University of Central Florida (UCF) in 2011 and am currently finishing up my
Master’s Degree in Anthropology at UCF as well. I have lived in East Central
Florida for over twenty years and have been fortunate to be able to participate
in local archaeological projects right here at home.
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| Hiking and Geocaching in a nature preserve in Central Florida |
I
have been in love with archaeology for as long as I can remember. I fondly
recall a pivotal career day in third grade where my timid eight-year-old self
had to painstakingly write and rewrite arch-ae-olo-gist what seemed like ten thousand times to get the spelling
right for my career day archaeologist paper doll. After all that work, imagine
my distress when my third grade teacher didn’t even know what archaeology was! I
was crushed. It has been my mission since that day to help establish an awareness
for this fantastic science!
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| Cleaning headstones during a CRPT course with FPAN |
Of
course, our interests evolve as we grow. Once I left my juice-boxes and
multiplication tables behind me, I went on to develop a keen interest in
studying human burials and human remains in an archaeological context – this
area of specialization is called bioarchaeology.
I
was thrilled to be asked to join the team here at Florida Public ArchaeologyNetwork. Where else could I gush on about archaeology with like-minded and
interested people all day? It is crucial to promote an awareness of the
importance of our history, our heritages, and of our cultural resources. Here
in Florida we are blessed with a really unique story which spans thousands and
thousands of years. By promoting archaeology and the protection of our cultural
resources we can help preserve our history and cultural resources (and maybe
inspire a few kiddos for their career
days?) for years to come!