Curriculum Vita

Steve Swanson

 


Department of Anthropology

Arizona State University

Tempe, AZ 85281

 (480) 965-7545 office

 (602) 253-6461 home

sswanson@asu.edu


 

 

Education

Arizona State University, PhD Anthropology (expected graduation 12/2004)

University of Oklahoma, MA Anthropology 1997

University of Washington, BA Anthropology 1995

Professional and Research Positions

7/02 – Present  Senior Fellow, NSF Urban Ecology IGERT, ASU Center for Environmental Studies.

Supervisors: Dr. Charles Redman and Dr. Stuart Fisher

Student co-director/co-organizer of NSF IGERT urban ecology program at ASU.  Responsible for facilitating collaboration, organizing and leading annual urban ecology seminars, planning and evaluating group activities, including brown bags, workshops, and field trips.

9/01–7/02  Fellow, NSF Urban Ecology IGERT, ASU Center for Environmental Studies.

Supervisors: Dr. Charles Redman and Dr. Stuart Fisher

Senior member of interdisciplinary group researching urban ecology in the Phoenix Basin, building collaborative skills along with members of 5 other disciplinary departments.

9/00–9-01  Associate, NSF Urban Ecology IGERT, ASU Center for Environmental Studies.

Supervisors: Dr. Charles Redman and Dr. Stuart Fisher

Junior member of interdisciplinary group researching urban ecology in the Phoenix Basin.

7/00-12/03  PI, Blue River Archaeological Project.

Principle Investigator with Dr. Michael Barton of ASU, designed and organized a field research project in the Blue River area of Eastern Arizona.  I write grant proposals, get permits, design and organize project, and project members, direct field operations, and teach archaeological techniques while students learn about Mogollon culture history. 

8/99-Present  GIS Administrator, ASU Archaeological Research Institute.

Supervisor: Dr. Arleyn Simon

Responsible for upgrading, maintaining and repairing a heterogeneous network of 15 Windows 95, 98, NT and Linux PC’s, and for maintaining access of workers to MS Access database maintained by SQL Server.  Initiator and coordinator of project to convert legacy, CAD-based regional, site, and feature maps into GIS coverages for spatial analysis and data serving and management.  Established a GIS and Visualization lab area at ARI to facilitate communication between researchers learning and using GIS for archaeological research.

8/99  Crew Chief, OSU Project investigating Terry Canyon Village.

PI:  Dr. Barb Roth

Responsible for mapping extensive pithouse site, including surface collections, locations of depressions and detailed elevation values, and tying local datum into the UTM grid, using GPS units and a transit.

8/98-5/99  Fellow, ASU Archaeological Research Institute and Central Arizona Project Long Term Ecological Research Program.

Supervisors: Dr. Charles Redman, Dr. Arleyn Simon and Dr. Peter McCartney

Developed methods for reconstructing prehistoric ecological landscapes for the Phoenix Basin using remotely sensed satellite data, a suite of landscape based GIS data, and GPS collected vegetation data, in conjunction with climatic and paleoclimatic data.  Provided training in the use of Trimble mapping quality GPS for field data recording to LTER faculty and student researchers, and developed a tutorial for getting data from the GPS into GIS coverages and databases.

5/98-7/98  Lab Director & Head Teaching Assistant Eastern Mimbres Archaeology Project.

Supervisors: Dr. Michelle Hegmon and Dr. Margaret Nelson

Organized and directed field laboratory during excavations as lab director; oversaw student education needs as head teaching assistant; excavated and directed students in excavation of room in a Classic Mimbres roomblock.

8/97-5/98  Research Associate, ASU Archaeological Research Institute.

Supervisors: Dr. Arleyn Simon and Dr. Peter McCartney

Wrote scripts to automate updating AZSITE GIS database; started development of WWW-based GIS interface to archaeological (RPMS) data. Converted legacy (1980s era) archaeological data from La Ciudad into contemporary MS Access database and GIS coverages.

8/97-12/97  Student Intern, Arizona Department of Environmental Quality.

Supervisor: Richard Schiller

Volunteer in GIS department at ADEQ, worked on ArcView GIS interface to ORACLE groundwater contamination database for the department’s hydrologists.

8/96-5/97  Staff Archaeologist, Oklahoma Archaeological Survey.

Supervisor: Dr. Robert Brooks, Oklahoma State Archaeologist

Staff member of the Community Assistance Program, assisting companies and individuals in Section 106 compliance. Analyzed existing documents and performed numerous pedestrian surveys (including shovel testing) to assess impact of public and private projects on the state's cultural resources. Responsible for entry of archaeological site data into SAS database and National Archaeological Database (NADB).

6/96-8/96  Crew Chief, Reconocimiento Regional Paquimé.

PI's: Dr. Paul Minnis and Dr. Michael Whalen

Organized research project to investigate one of RRP's three research questions for the summer. Duties included leading survey crew in locating and recording prehistoric communication and other archaeological features near Casas Grandes, Mexico, as well as planning for logistical needs of a crew operating independently in remote areas.

10/95-6/96  Research Assistant, Oklahoma Department of Transportation.

Supervisor: Robert Bartlett

Assessed significance of recorded archaeological sites along highway right-of-ways, prepared forms and maps of those sites for entry into statewide GIS database.

5/95-8/95  Crew Member, Reconocimiento Regional Paquimé.

PI's: Dr. Paul Minnis and Dr. Michael Whalen

Located and recorded archaeological sites funded by an NSF grant as a member of a four person survey crew in northern Chihuahua, Mexico.

9/94-5/95  Archaeology Lab Supervisor, University of Washington.

Supervisor: Angela Linse

Organized and supervised student volunteers in analysis and write-up of excavated materials from summer field season for inclusion in report submitted to US Forest Service.

6/94-9/94  Assistant Crew Chief, University of Washington Field School.

Director: Angela Linse

Supervised student crews in survey and excavation of Mogollon habitation and agricultural activity sites near Mogollon Village (Glenwood, New Mexico).

11/93-2/94  Crew Member, Argonne National Laboratories Survey Project.

Director: Dr. John Hoffecker

Member of survey crew, examining, recording and assessing importance of historic and prehistoric archaeological resources on McChord Air Force Base under contract from the Department of Defense.

6/93-9/93  Crew Member, University of Washington Field School.

Director: Angela Linse

Member of crew excavating at Mogollon Village, surveying surrounding USFS properties, and performing lab analysis of excavated faunal, lithic, groundstone and ceramic materials.

 

Grants and Fellowships

2003-04 NSF Dissertation Improvement Grant:  $11,800

2003 NSF IGERT International Travel Grant:  $11,500

2001-04 ASU IGERT Fellow, CES:  $67,000

2000-02  Co-PI, ASU-USFS Blue River Archaeological Project: $14,995.00

1998-99  Arizona State University, ARI/CAP-LTER Fellowship: $9000.00

 

Senior Author Publications and Presentations

Legacy Effects of Prehistoric Farming: Isotopic Analysis of Maize Grown in Sediments from Hohokam Fields. Paper presented at the 6th Annual CAP LTER Poster Symposium, Arizona State University, 2004, with Rebecca Calonico.

              

Documenting Prehistoric Communication Networks: A Case Study in the Paquimé Polity. American Antiquity 68(3):753-767. 2003.

 

Mimbres Pithouse Dwellers. Archaeology Southwest 17(4):3.  2003, with Mike Diehl.

 

Time, Space and Stability: Investigating Landscape Responses to Climate Variability in the Southwest, poster presented at the Third Annual CAP LTER Research Symposium, Arizona State University, 2002.

 

Where are the Villagers?  Contesting the Scale and Organization of Mogollon Pithouse Settlements, paper presented at the Sixty-Fifth Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, 2001.

 

Land Use History and Environmental Impact in the Blue River Watershed, Arizona:  Report of the 2000 Blue River Archaeological Project, submitted to the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest, 2002.

GIS as a Tool for Integrating and Rejuvenating Archaeological Databases in Spatial Contexts, poster presented at the Sixty-Fifth Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, 2000.

Community Occupation and Abandonment During the Mogollon Pithouse Periods, poster presented at the Southwest Symposium, Santa Fe, January 2000.

Rio Salado in 1000 AD, poster presented at the City of Tempe Rio Salado Town Lake, 1999.

A GIS Analysis of Fire Signaling Features in Chihuahua, Mexico, poster presented at the Sixty-Fourth Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, 1999.

Investigating Vegetation in the Southwest Phoenix Basin, poster presented at the First Annual CAP LTER Research Symposium, Arizona State University, 1999.

EMAP 1998 Field Report: Classic Mimbres Occupation and Abandonment at Unit 31, LA 37767, document on file at Arizona State University, submitted to Eastern Mimbres Archaeological Project, 1998.

EMAP 1998 Field Report: "Other" Artifacts Laboratory Report, document on file at Arizona State University, submitted to Eastern Mimbres Archaeological Project, 1998.

Atalayas of Paquimé: A GIS Analysis of Prehistoric Communication Features, MA Thesis, Department of Anthropology, University of Oklahoma, 1997.

Cerro a Cerro: A Regional Fire Communication System at Casas Grandes.  Paper Presented at the Ninth Mogollon Conference, Silver City, New Mexico. October 1996

Mogollon Village Field School Report: Previous Research. Chapter Two in "1993 Excavations at Mogollon Village and Survey of Surrounding Areas," edited by Angela R. Linse, Report submitted to USDA Forest Service, Gila National Forest, Silver City, New Mexico. August 1994.

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Service

ASU Association of Anthropology Graduate Students, Co-President 2000-2001

ASU Archaeology Subdiscipline Representative 1999-2000

AAA National Association of Student Anthropologists, Treasurer 1999

ASU Association of Anthropology Graduate Students, President 1998-1999

ASU Association of Anthropology Graduate Students, Secretary 1997-1998

OU Anthropological Library, Founder and Chair 1996-1997

OU Anthropology Graduate Student Association, Parliamentarian 1996-1997

OU Graduate Student Senate, Anthropology Representative 1995-1996

UW Roy Webb Anthropological Library, Secretary 1993-1995

UW Student Government Representative for Anthropology 1993-1994

Research Interests

My dissertation research examines the social and ecological consequences of village formation and the development of agriculture in the greater Southwest US.  My research uses a landscape approach that provides a framework for integrating diverse kinds and sources of data, explicitly considering natural and social systems as consisting of coupled and interacting processes.  I am interested in developing methods for investigating prehistoric landscape ecology and anthropogenic environmental change to better understand the process of agricultural intensification and community land use patterns in the evolution of village and urban life.

Skills & Training

Laboratory: Primary training in archaeological palynology, geoarchaeology and faunal analysis, with a minor in Plant Biology through the IGERT program.

 

Analytical:  Proficient in statistics, with an emphasis on applying multivariate, time-series, and spatial analytical techniques to archaeological, ecological, and climatic data.

 

GIS and Remote Sensing: I have several years of experience with the application of geographical information systems and remotely sensed satellite data to archaeological research, including the development and maintenance of a GIS lab at ASU, and the maintenance of related hardware and software.  I have had extensive coursework in the analysis, application, and theory of GIS and remotely sensed data, which have been important tools in my thesis and dissertation research.