Wednesday, November 2, 2022 3:00–3:30pm
Speaker
Amanda Grace Santos, USFS Region 2 Cultural Resources Resource Assistance (RA) for the Continental Divide Trail
My name is Amanda Grace Santos. I am from Connecticut and studied at Boston University where I received both my bachelors and masters in Archaeology in 2020. My master’s thesis discussed cultural heritage management and pedagogical approaches, specifically place-based pedagogy and conservation education. This thesis still aligns with my professional goals of conservation, outreach, and effective, respectful collaboration. My role with the FS for the next year as a Resource Assistant involves just this, specifically with tribes along the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail. I am looking forward to learning how the FS, and other agencies consider cultural landscapes. From there, I hope to improve relationships with tribes and cultivate opportunities that benefit them and allow them to connect directly with their ancestral lands.
During this next year, I hope to improve my survey skills, facilitating skills, and understanding of tribal relations. Our larger goal is to build an effective and inclusive framework to evaluate cultural landscapes, with the goals and needs of tribes at the forefront. My hope for this framework and my work with the FS, is that it can help identify climate change impacts and put indigenous knowledge at the forefront of mitigation processes, as well as conservation education.
