Join SCAS on January 12, 2017, for “Looking Backward, While Working in the Present to Prepare for the Future: The California Historical Resources Information System (CHRIS) Information Centers,” a talk by Bryan Much, M.A., RPA, of the CHRIS Northwest Information Center. The talk will be held at 7:30 pm at the Santa Cruz Live Oak Grange Hall at 1900 17th Ave, Santa Cruz, CA 95062 (click here for Google Maps directions).

Archeologists have long been submitting details of their archaeological investigations to the Northwest Information Center (NWIC), Sonoma State University. The founder of the NWIC, David Fredrickson, helped lay the foundation for this integral part of cultural resource management during the formative days of the profession. After 20-plus years of leadership from Leigh Jordan, the NWIC turned another page in its history as she retired in 2014. Based in part on his background in geographic information systems and database management, Bryan Much was chosen to run the NWIC. While now strongly integrated into the environmental review process, the research value of the database of site location information is considerable, and needs to be used by researchers more extensively for regional syntheses. This talk is meant to reconnect long valued groups, such as Santa Cruz Archaeological Society, to the offerings found at the NWIC and other information centers throughout the state. Bryan will give examples of the available data for the region, demonstrate the interface used by researchers, and provide a few anecdotes about the transition of directors at the NWIC.

Bryan grew up in near Philadelphia and attended Shippensburg University in central Pennsylvania, receiving a B.A. degree in History and Anthropology. From there, he went to work in the southeast and Mid-Atlantic States as a field archaeologist. Moving to California in 2002 to attend Sonoma State’s Master’s program Arts in Cultural Resources Management, his thesis focused on petroglyphs in north-central Sonoma County. He lives in Santa Rosa with his wife Anna, six-year-old son Zachary, and three-year-old daughter, Isabella, and he serves on the board of directors of the Historical Society of Santa Rosa and is a Sonoma County Landmarks Commissioner.