CAT Mentors

Name E-Mail Location Speciality
Jason Coffey paleoindian77@hotmail.com Frederick I'm a Lithic Analyst, I specialize in prehistoric Archaeology. I'm a big advocate of using Experimental archaeology to interpret assemblages as well. I'm also part of the Underwater Archaeology program at work. I'm the operator for the Side Scan Sonar unit, as well as the Sub-Bottom profiler, and the Magnetometer.
Kate Dinnel kate.dinnel@maryland.gov St. Leonard, Calvert County
Richard Ervin rervin@sha.state.md.us Queen Anne's County Historic period cemetery that may date as early as the mid 17th century.
James Gibb jamesggibb@verizon.net Annapolis Southwestern US ceramics, Trade, Art as communication, Material Culture, Maryland cemetery research, Instrument survey, archival research, drafting, faunal analysis, historic period ceramics, professional ethics.
Joseph W. Hopkins jhopkins@towson.edu Baltimore Cultural Resources, prehistoric and historic archeology, as well as historic preservation.
Stephen Israel stephenisrael2701@comcast.net Baltimore, Central Maryland Prehistory of Eastern North America, Ecology, Geoarchaeology, Cultural Resources, Archival Search, Industrial Archaeology.
Kristen Montaperto Kristin.Montaperto@pgparks.com Prince George's County Historic archaeology of the Middle Atlantic, public outreach and education, African diaspora archaeology, historic preservation, Cultural Resources Management, and human skeletal biology.
Zachary Singer ZacLSinger@gmail.com Anne Arundel County Prehistoric Archaeology of Eastern North America; Paleoindian Lithic Technology; Prehistoric Quarries; Public Archaeology.
Stephanie Sperling Stephanie.Sperling@pgparks.com Prince George's County Prehistory of the Patuxent River, climate change-related archaeology, pedestrian and STP survey, feature excavation, plantation landscapes, and lab processing.
Bruce Thompson bthompson@mdp.state.md.us Crowsnville
Bob Wall rdwall@towson.edu Catonsville
Drew Webster pzwebs00@aacounty.org Anne Arundel County Historical archaeology of Eastern North America, Ireland and the Irish diaspora, archaeology and heritage education, public archaeology, identity, cultural landscapes.
Howard Wellman wellmanconservation@comcast.net St Leonard, Calvert County Artifact conservation, materials science, collections survey and maintenance.


BE A MENTOR!

Mentor Responsibilities


To be a Certified Archaeological Technician (CAT) mentor you must be knowledgeable in archaeology or related field. Your responsibilities as a mentor are as follows:


  • This must be fun for you and the people you are mentoring.
  • You are to encourage those in the program too further their knowledge of the field.
  • You must be willing to share your knowledge with any person in the program. (This usually takes the form of answering questions like how do I find a reference?)
  • You must be willing to answer questions quickly and in a professional manor. If you cannot answer the questions, you need to forward the question to a colleague who can.
  • You should try to attend as many workshops as you can.
  • You must stay in contact with those people you are mentoring. This can be done in writing, phone or email. You must do this a minimum of once a month. This information will then be condense and forwarded to the CAT committee. This will help the committee plan upcoming events and workshops.
  • When the people you are mentoring get close to finishing the program, you must inform the CAT committee. The Committee will have further instructions for you to forward onto the soon- to- be- graduate.
  • When the people you are mentoring complete the program, you must attend their final defense.
  • Upon graduation you are responsible for putting a small biographical sketch of the recent graduate including highlights of archaeological interest. This will be forwarded to the ASM president.
  • You must stand with the graduate when they receive their award and may be asked to say a few words.
  • Your commitment per candidate is likely to last 2 to 3 years.
  • The benefit to you is the satisfaction of mentoring.


This is a rewarding opportunity to do public outreach and demonstrate the importance of public archaeology. If you are interested in being a mentor please contact the CAT committee chairperson at your earliest convenience.