Archeology, Citizen Science, and the National Park Service

Part of: Society for Historical Archaeology 2020

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Archeology, Citizen Science, and the National Park Service," at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Almost 100 years after the Organic Act established the National Park Service, the U.S. Congress passed the Citizen Science and Crowdsourcing Act in 2017. The Act marks a moment in a movement championed by NPS over its history: the power of public engagement in science to support resource management and stewardship. Citizen science provides volunteers with the opportunity to assist archeologists with the collection and management of archeological data, while archeologists gain assistance in carrying out their projects. In this session, speakers will examine the possibilities, pitfalls, and potentials of NPS archeology and citizen science through thought pieces and case studies.