Archaeologist Wins Department Recognition

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Historic Preservation

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ARCHAEOLOGIST WINS DEPARTMENT RECOGNITION

Debra Corbett accepting an historic preservation award from Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne.

Credit: USFWS

Debra Corbett, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service historic preservation officer for the state of Alaska, including 16 national wildlife refuges spanning more than 78 million acres, received one of four Secretary of the Interior Historic Preservation Awards from Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne. This is the first year for the annual award program. Corbett was the single winner in the Federal Preservation Office category.

As Alaska's only Service archeologist, Corbett is responsible for all aspects of the federal preservation program, including research, identification, protection, coordination with Native villages, and care of museum collections. In 2008, she partnered with more than a dozen organizations, universities, government entities, and tribes to leverage federal funds to accomplish dozens of projects.

Working on a host of projects, she helped coordinate with the Japanese government the search for remains associated with World War II on the Aleutian Islands, part of Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuges. She has also partnered with the Kenaitze Indian tribe and sponsored a youth Susten Camp for Native youngsters to connect them with their past and train them for possible careers in natural and cultural resource management. She has been involved with vast stretches of the Iditarod National Historic Trail and has assisted the research along the route and sponsored archaeological investigation through a major community on the trail.

The Secretary of the Interior historic preservation annual award program was created to recognize the outstanding contributions of the employees of federal, state, and Tribal preservation offices and certified local governments in the area of historic preservation.

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Last Updated: December 5, 2008