The National Center for Preservation Technology & Training is hosting interns in the fields of architecture and engineering, materials conservation, historic landscapes, and web development as part of its 2011 summer internship program. The interns and research projects include the following:
- Erin White, a graduate of the Heritage Resources Master’s program at Northwestern State University of Louisiana (NSU), is continuing her work on testing methods of oil removal from archaeological shell and bone.
- In a related study, Katherine Langdon, a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis, is researching on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill cleanup. She hopes to find an environmentally safe and effective cleaner to remove weathered crude oil from historic bricks and masonry.
- NSU graduate Justin Copeland is researching the impact of consolidant treatments on sulfur dioxide deposition. The results of this project will hopefully aid in the preservation of historic buildings and architecture.
- Dennis K. Gibson II, an NSU undergraduate, is developing an outdoor weathering station that will be used to test the accelerated decay of common building materials. This station will be used to determine the effect of rust converters on iron samples.
- Derek Linn, a landscape architecture graduate of the University of Arkansas, is working to develop a historic landscape documentation guide using Hodges Gardens State Park as a case study. The guide will highlight real-world experiences in landscape documentation, and explore the use of a blogging platform to relate discoveries.
- Addy Smith-Reiman, a recent graduate of the Masters programs in Landscape Architecture and City and Regional Planning at Cornell University, is developing content for Preservapedia.org, a free content wiki-style encyclopedia focused specifically on technical material for Cultural Resource Managers. She is authoring articles and case studies pertaining to historic landscape research, planning, analysis, treatment, maintenance and management.
- Jennifer Mui, a graduate student in the Preservation Studies at Tulane University, will be continuing research and testing on the durability of traditional limewash recipes for use on historic and modern bricks. Mui plans to gain experience both in the conservation lab and with fieldwork at Magnolia Plantation in Louisiana.
- Evan Cordell, an undergraduate at Tulane University, is working with NCPTT to develop historic preservation applications for iOS devices such as the iPhone and iPad. This includes an application that allows field documentation of historic landscapes.
NCPTT is also hosting interns to survey African American heritage resources in the Louisiana towns of Natchitoches and Natchez. This project is being coordinated by Donna Isaacs, coordinator of the Natchitoches Parish African American Cultural Heritage Initiative (NPAACHI). Isaacs and the interns will document and research historic resources in Natchitoches Parish to submit nominations to the National Register of Historic Places.
Summer 2011 Interns
[...] on Northwestern’s campus. The public is invited to sample light refreshments and visit with NCPTT summer intern researchers at poster stations throughout the upstairs gym [...]