Meetings

PAS membership meetings will be held in person in the Choir Room at Trinity Presbyterian Church located at 3400 Bayou Boulevard! Lectures will run from 7 – 8 PM. Please read the follow changes to our normal procedure:

2025 Fall Speaker List:

September 09 “Nominating the Luna Archaeological District to the National Register of Historic Places:” The process and progress of this important nomination. Dr. Judy Bense founded the Anthropology and Archaeology programs at UWF including the Anthropology Dept., Archaeology Institute, and the Florida Public Archaeology Network. She served as UWF president from 2008 to 2017. Dr. Bense also chairs the Florida Historical Commission and has been inducted into the Florida Women’s Hall of Fame. 

October 14 “Anthropology of Zombies: From History to Speculation” Zombies have starred in blockbuster movies since 1932, and their origins go back much further. Zombies draw from our very real human past, and they are a representation of our present fears! While not a traditional archaeology talk this presentation will touch on all four fields of anthropology and will give the audience a greater appreciation of the zombie genre during the Halloween movie marathon! Dr. Maranda Almy Kles is a bioarchaeologist and forensic anthropologist. Maranda is the President of Archaeological Consultants, Inc a cultural resource management firm located in Sarasota, FL and is also currently the President of the Florida Anthropological Society.

November 11 “Hidden History of Miraflores Park” In 2021 remains were discovered beneath the Boy Scout building. Subsequent analyses revealed the skeletons dated to the mid-19th century. This is a look into the investigation of the forgotten burial ground beneath Miraflores Park using historical documents, ground penetrating radar, bioarchaeological and artifact analyses contextualized by ethnographic interviews with community members. Jennifer Rollins is a graduate student of anthropology at the UWF, with a focus in Bioarchaeology. She is a veteran of the United States Navy, and a graduate research assistant at the UWF Archaeology Institute, where she works on the continued preservation of St Michael’s cemetery. 

December 09 “The Rise and Fall of Old St. Andrews and the Birth of Panama City:  Historical Archaeology in Bay County, Florida” Dr. Jason Wenzel will provide an overview of archaeological research in Bay County from 2015-2025. Dr. Jason Wenzel professor at Gulf Coast State College in Panama City, former Florida Anthropological Society president, and founder of the new Bay Anthropological Society.

2026 Spring Speaker List:

January 13 “FPAN and Grad Students Projects” Dr. Mary Minkoff will present on the latest FPAN activities.  UWF grad students will present their projects. Mary Furlong Minkoff, PhD, RPA, Executive Director, FPAN, Nick Linzy UWF Graduate Student

February 10 “The Road to Campbell Town” A reporting of the results of an archaeological and historical investigation of the French Huguenot settlement of Campbell Town in British West Florida. Jen Knutson USA Archaeology Museum Assistant Director

March 10 “UWF Archaeological Field School 2025” Faculty from UWF, Dept. of Anthropology will present some results of recent fieldwork, including new excavations of EPIII, the third shipwreck of Tristan de Luna’s 1559 settlement of Pensacola. Conservation of materials from EPIII has resulted in exciting new discoveries. Dr. John Worth, Professor, Dr. John Bratten, Professor, Dr. Greg Cook, Assoc. Professor, and Dr. Ramie Gougeon, Professor and Anthropology Dept. Chair, UWF.

April 14 “The Epicenter of Escambia County Archaeology-It Ain’t All in Pensacola” Neal Collier’s interest in archaeology began after reading a Water-Powered Mill Survey by UWF’s John Phillips in the late 1980s.  Getting involved was the beginning of many a merry chase into the forests, creeks and swamps of the area. Neal Collier got involved with local history with the founding of The Alger-Sullivan Historical Society, wrote dozens of newspaper articles on local history, and was involved in publishing several books. He is a past officer and present Trustee of The Alger-Sullivan Historical Society.