Dr. Henrikson received her B.A. (1986) and M.A. (1991) degrees from Idaho State University (ISU) and her Ph.D. from the University of Oregon (2002).
Her research interests include hunter-gatherer subsistence in the Great Basin, with particular emphasis on prehistoric bison utilization in southern Idaho. Dr. Henrikson began accumulating her field experience in 1983 by attending an archaeological field school in northern New Mexico under the direction of Dr. Cynthia Erwin-Williams. However, her strong desire to conduct archaeological research in her native Idaho led to excavation experiences in the Salmon River Mountains and seasonal employment in cultural resource management with the Bureau of Land Management on the Snake River Plain.
The BLM provided Dr. Henrikson with the topic of her graduate research by funding archaeological investigations at Bobcat Cave, the first known cold storage cave in North America. Upon finishing her M.A. degree at ISU, she was hired as a district archaeologist for the BLM and continued to investigate cold storage caves in the region over the next seven years. By the late 1990s, she and co-workers had discovered six more "meat lockers". In order to explore this phenomenon further, she resigned from the BLM in 1998 and entered the Ph.D. program at the University of Oregon. Her doctoral dissertation, Ponds, Rivers and Bison Freezers: A Behavioral Ecological Model of Hunter-Gatherer Mobility on the Snake River Plain, written under the direction of Dr. C. Melvin Aikens, is the outcome of her extensive investigations.
Following completion of her Ph.D., she was hired as a Research Archaeologist with the State Museum of Anthropology at the University of Oregon and served as Principal Investigator for the Oregon Bridges Project and the Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve Archaeological Overview. She has recently authored several publications related to her dissertation research, including "Bison Freezers and Hunter-Gatherer Mobility: Archaeological Analysis of Cold Lava Tube Caves on Idaho's Snake River Plain" in Plains Anthropologist and "Frozen Bison and Fur Trappers Journals: Building a Prey Choice Model for Idaho's Snake River Plain" in the Journal of Archaeological Science.
Dr. Henrikson has a strong record of conducting field research with students. She served as a teaching assistant for ISU's archaeological field school in 1988 and directed a three week session in 1989. In 2000 and 2001, she instructed UO students in cave excavation techniques and survey methods while pursuing her dissertation research. In 1999 and 2002, Dr. Henrikson assisted at the UO field school in the Fort Rock Basin, directed the 2004 UO field school at Kelvin's Cave in southern Idaho and the 2005 UO field school at the Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve. She greatly enjoys working with students in the field and looks forward to conducting research in the Mojave Desert.
Matt earned his B.A. in Anthropology from the University of California, Irvine in 2006. He is currently employed as an archaeological technician with the CSUB Center for Archaeological Research (CAR).
After two years as an undergraduate at UCI, Matt took a break from cultural anthropology to study archaeology at CSU Bakersfield. At CSUB, he studied various archaeological techniques such as faunal and lithic analysis. After a year of field and lab studies, Matt returned to Irvine, received his degree, and promptly returned to Bakersfield. He gained additional experience working for the private CRM firm of Jones & Stokes before being invited to join the CAR staff.
Matt will begin the graduate program in Anthropology at CSUB in the fall of 2007 under the direction of Dr. Robert Yohe. His particular interest in the Mojave Desert and the Seep Springs Site rests in the proto-historic period and culture contact with peoples of the Southwest.
Marissa received her B.A. in Anthropology from the University of Oregon in 2005, where she is currently employed as a research assistant and field technician in the Research Division of the Museum of Natural and Cultural History. She is also currently assisting Dr. Madonna Moss with a coastal faunal analysis.
Marissa began accumulating her field experience in 2005 by attending a historic archaeological field school in the Willamette Valley under the direction of Dr. Julie Schablitsky and University of Oregon graduate student, Montana Long. She continues to gather field experience on various projects in Oregon including the Oregon Culverts Project, the Caldera Springs Data Recovery and State Parks Survey Project.
Marissa will enter the graduate program at California State University, Bakersfield in the fall of 2007 to pursue Great Basin zooarchaeological studies under the guidance of Dr. Robert Yohe. Her thesis research will focus on the paleoecology of the western Mojave Desert and the Holocene faunal assemblage at Seep Springs.
Dr. Mark Sutton, Dr. Robert Yohe, Dr. Jill Gardner, Russell Kaldenberg, Rebecca Orfila, and Alexander Rogers are scheduled as guest lecturers for the 2007 field school. These experts will provide insights on regional prehistory and history, zooarchaeology, lithic analysis, historical archaeology, and cultural resource management. Reading assignments, lectures and exams will cover both technical and research issues. Weekends will be left free for travel.