Archaeological Science on Haida Gwaii.
So I’ve never posted job ads here before and I may never do so again, but there are two ones posted right now with a lot of potential for readers of this blog: one is an archaeological position with the Council of the Haida Nation (PDF), the other a tenure track position in archaeological sciences at Washington State University.
The Haida Nation position is intriguing. There is a huge opportunity here to help achieve Haida goals of management of the archaeological and heritage record of Haida Gwaii, and I suspect the right candidate could also help encourage and facilitate research oriented projects, including focused inventory. I’m posting the job here because I know they have had some trouble filling this position and I truly hope they can find the right person – you need to be an experienced archaeologist with a minimum B.A., able to hold a permit, etc. The bar is actually quite low in many ways.
Believe me I am tempted to apply for this job myself. It even is rumoured to pay pretty well! I hope they find someone with great experience but here, perhaps, is the kicker — you must be willing to move to Haida Gwaii.
In some ways I wish that moving wasn’t a requirement, that they were willing to accept hiring someone on retainer, say, who would work on the islands for 4 months a year or something. It may be an impediment to find successful mid-career professionals who can relocate. On the other hand, I can fully understand a desire to have the professional position be on the islands, as a form of economic development if nothing else. Maybe there is a constructive compromise — I can think of some absolutely awesome people who could do the job on island as needed, and be on retainer the rest of the time. The CHN might even save some money or be able to reallocate money if it was less than full-time. Well, that’s my two cents. I’d move to Haida Gwaii tomorrow if I didn’t have some serious obligations on the home front. Read the ad and consider the amazing potential of such a job!
The other job, at WSU, is not limited by geographic area. They are seeking an archaeological sciences type, so “molecular, earth or environmental sciences, archaeometry, geochemistry, remote sensing methods or quantitative/spatial analysis (GIS)”.
I really hope they hire a NW Coast specialist to complement Colin Grier and carry on the long tradition of WSU excellence in NW Coast archaeology. Probably they should hire a zooarchaeologist (“environmental sciences”) since that is so core to NW Coast archaeology, and would balance nicely with Colin. I’d love to have a WSU zooarchaeology colleague who was interested in Haida Gwaii, for example – so much potential to keep working in Gwaii Haanas despite the Parks Canada staff reductions. Pullman is a great town*, and jobs like this are increasingly scarce.
* Variable definitions of “great” may apply.
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