Texas A&M PhD student Ben Ford has wrapped up his summertime work on Lake Ontario.  In his most recent post Ben candidly shares some of the lessons he learned about doing field research.  Some came from “painful experience” others from common sense, and some with a touch of humor.  Regardless of how he came by them, any student doing field work should read this post regardless of their age or subject.  From not swearing in public to letting the locals do the talking Ben reminds us that when doing this sort of research we’re “collecting their history, they should be involved.”  One of the most important things that Ben shows us through his example is the need to share what we learn and just as important how we learn it.  He has taken the time, in the midst of his field work to reach out to his colleagues and the general public through his online entries.  His dedication to preserving our past is evident and I have no doubt that comes through to the folks he meets. 

You can read his post by clicking on the “17 Sept 2007” entry in the left side menu here:

http://www.uri.edu/artsci/his/mua/project_journals/bf/bf_intro.shtml

Enjoy.

T Kurt Knoerl
Director 
The Museum of Underwater Archaeology
http://www.uri.edu/mua

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