Renee Post diving in water significantly clearer than in St. Augustine.
Well folks here we are again, we have two new interns, Renee Post and Mallory Valalik. Renee recently graduated from University of West Florida with a BA in Maritime Studies. Mallory is a senior at Middle Tennessee State University majoring in anthropology with a focus in bioarchaeology. Renee will be with us for a duration of three months and Mallory will be with us for a month, then to Poland to work on a medieval mortuary site, then she will be back for another month.

Renee
Renee Post is origianlly from Wichita, Kansas and recently graduated from the University of West Florida with a BA in Maritime Studies and minors in Antropology and History. She will intern at LAMP from May through August of 2008 and has been admitted to Texas A&M University Nautical Archaeology Program. Renee is interested in early Spanish ship construction as well as the maritime landscapes of early Spanish settlements from South America to Florida and the Caribbean. Her technical interests include GIS, digital photography, marine remote sensing and artifact conservation. Her fieldwork has included work with Wichita State University on the excavation of a Coronado camp site in Texas in 2003 and 2004. In 2006 she attended a a PAST Foundation field school in Key Largo that focused on recording the remains of the wood and iron composite sailing ship ‘Slobodna’ and creating a digital museum. In 2007 she attended the University of West Florida’s ten week field school in Pensacola and conducted test excavations on the second ship discovered from the Tristan de Luna colonization fleet, which was struck by a hurricane in Pensacola Bay in 1559. Also in 2007 Renee surveyed an exposed inundated mining town in Glacier National Park. She is currently an active dive master with PADI and NAUI and plans to continue her dive education with technical training and eventually become a dive instructor. Renee loves the outdoors and enjoys most water related activities including surfing, diving, snorkeling, water skiing, kayaking and anything at the beach. She also enjoys hiking, mountain biking, and camping.

Mallory
Mallory Valalik is a summer 2008 LAMP intern from Middle Tennessee State University and originally from Fort Mill, South Carolina. Her interests and passion for archaeology were inspired by her MTSU professor of archaeology, Dr. Tanya Peres. Mallory will finish a BA in Anthropology/Archaeology in December 2008 with a focus in bioarchaeology and underwater archaeology, her courses included extensive training in the archaeology of death as well as forensic anthropology. In July, Mallory will be attending a bioarchaeological field school excavating a Polish medieval mortuary site. The Slavia Foundation sponsors the field school in Giecz, Poland not far from the city of Poznan. In addition to the terrestrial excavations there will be intensive courses in human osteology based on the recovery and excavation of on site bone materials.

Geicz archaeology skeletal excavation
Mallory also plans to attend Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia for a Master’s in underwater archaeology. In 2003, Mallory attended a South Carolina art school for two-dimensional design focusing in portrait drawing, oil painting and black and white photography. She also worked as a sound engineer intern in a Charlotte, North Carolina music studio. Her interests include western horseback riding, water skiing, scuba diving and she hopes to someday earn her pilots license. In December she is moving to Sydney, Australia with her two dogs, Jones, and Buddy.