Cogstone's key personnel are professionals with advanced degrees and extensive experience. Each team member is experienced in local/CEQA/NEPA mitigation of effects on paleontological, archaeological, and historical resources and is well-qualified to address a wide variety of situations with practical solutions.
Sherri Gust, principal investigator / project manager
Gust is a Registered Professional Archaeologist and a Qualified Principal Paleontologist with more than 30 years experience in cultural resources management and consulting in California. She manages most company projects and has a reputation for professional work, regulatory compliance and client satisfaction. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology (Physical) from the University of California at Davis and Master’s in Anatomy (Evolutionary Morphology) from University of Southern California.
Gust meets national standards in archaeology and paleontology (Secretary of Interior and BLM), is accepted as a principal investigator for both prehistoric and historical archaeology by the State Office of Historic Preservation’s Information Centers, and is certified and/or qualified in most counties/cities that maintain lists. She has personal expertise in the identification and analysis of bone - human, animal and fossil. Gust is an associate of both the Page Museum of Rancho La Brea Discoveries and the Natural History Museum’s Vertebrate Paleontology Division and has extensive field and laboratory experience in prehistoric and historic archaeology and paleontology. She belongs to professional societies including the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, Society for Archaeological Sciences, Society for Historical Archaeology and the Society for California Archaeology. She is currently president of the Pacific Coast Archaeological Society.
Gust has been the Principal Investigator for paleontology and archaeology at Cogstone for eight years. Prior to that she was Director of Paleontology and Assistant Administrator at RMW Paleo Associates, Principal of Gust Osteological Analysis, Paleontology Museum Technician at the San Bernardino County Museum and Interpretive Specialist for California State Parks Archaeology Laboratory. She has also taught at a number of colleges in addition to employment on archaeology field projects and consulting on identification and analysis of bone.
One Page Curriculum Vitae
Nancy Sikes, principal investigator / project manager
Dr. Sikes is a Registered Professional Archaeologist with over 15 years experience as a principal investigator and project manager—completing hundreds of projects and technical reports in compliance with federal, state, and local regulations and agencies throughout California—with additional experience in the Great Basin (Nevada and Utah), Wyoming, and East Africa. She has also completed dozens of cultural resources sections for EIRs, EISs, EAs, ISs, and developed treatment plans, research designs, and significance evaluations under CEQA and Section 106 guidelines. Having earned a Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology (Archaeology) from the University of Nevada at Reno, and her Master’s and Doctorate in Anthropology (Archaeology) from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Dr. Sikes is well-respected in the field of cultural resources management for her professionalism, client satisfaction, and compliance with various regulatory standards and guidelines.
Dr. Sikes meets national standards in archaeology (Secretary of Interior and BLM), and her credentials are accepted by the California Historical Resources Information System in both prehistoric and historical archaeology. She is also a certified Orange County archaeologist. Her wide range of experience and technical knowledge in the use of archaeological prospection (remote sensing) techniques and in the application of geochemical techniques—particularly stable isotope analysis of various materials such as bone/teeth, soils and sediments to reconstruct prehistoric diets and environments—to archaeological questions places her in a unique category as an archaeologist who is an environmental specialist. Dr. Sikes specialized in the application of stable isotope analysis to reconstructing vegetation communities and climate while a member of interdisciplinary archaeology projects at Olorgesailie (Kenya) and Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania) during her tenure as a doctoral candidate in Illinois and, after earning her Ph.D., as a visiting scientist at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, for six years. Since that time, she has earned a solid reputation for her ability to apply these scientific methods as part of the mitigation efforts by complex cultural resources management projects, including those on public lands managed by the BLM.
One Page Curriculum Vitae
Kim Scott, paleontology field & lab director
Kim Scott is a qualified geologist and paleontologist with more than fourteen years of experience. She supervises all paleontology fieldwork and fossil preparation, oversees Cogstone safety programs, and has authored numerous paleontology reports. Scott earned a bachelor’s degree in Geology with a paleontology emphasis from the University of California Los Angeles. Scott is currently completing her master’s work at California State University San Bernardino on 290 million year old sharks, amphibians, and reptiles from the Valley of the Gods, Utah.
Scott has personal expertise in stratigraphy, management of and participation in paleontological salvage excavations, preparation of fossils, production of replica fossils, fossil analysis and safety procedures. She belongs to professional societies including the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology and the Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists. Scott recently received an award for fifteen years of volunteer activity at the George C. Page Museum of La Brea Discoveries.
One Page Curriculum Vitae
David Morrill, archaeology field & lab director
David Morrill is a professional archaeologist with more than 15 years of experience in California. Morrill meets the Secretary of Interior Standards for archaeology and anthropology and is certified in many counties. He earned his master’s and bachelor’s degrees in Anthropology from the University of California at Los Angeles.
Morrill is a veteran field director, capable of coordinating large crews in all phases of archaeological investigation. He spent five years as a contracted Cultural Resource Specialist for the Santa Monica National Recreation Area and has worked on large scale projects at international, federal, state, and local levels. Morrill is an expert in conducting field surveys, site recording, excavation, laboratory work, cataloging, and report preparation.
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Amy Glover, lab supervisor
Amy Glover is a qualified archaeologist and cross-trained paleontologist. She specializes in historic archaeology and artifact identification. With more than four years experience in the field, she is well-versed in record searches, monitoring, surveying, excavating, and preparing impact assessments and mitigation reports.
Glover earned a bachelor’s degree in Biological Anthropology from the University of California at Riverside and later developed her curation skills while interning at the San Diego Archaeological Center. Glover currently supervises the Cogstone Archaeological Laboratory maintaining collections and inventories. She has now worked on dozens of collections for Cogstone including the major Euro-American and Chinese American collection from the Historic Los Angeles Cemetery. Glover has completed a 40-Hour Hazwoper training certificate and the API Worksafe Training.
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Janell Mort, archaeologist / paleontologist / archaeobotanist
Janell Mort is a qualified archaeologist and cross-trained paleontologist, with more than three years experience as a dual monitor at Cogstone. Mort earned her bachelor’s degree in Anthropology with an emphasis in archaeology from California State University, Fullerton where she is also currently completing her master’s degree, specializing in archaeobotany. Her thesis research includes analysis of archaeobotanical material recovered from Honanki Pueblo, near Sedona, Arizona. Mort has also worked in the Paleoethnobotany Lab with Dr. Virginia Popper at the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, University of California, Los Angeles. In addition, she participated in field work and paleoethnobotanical analysis for the Pampa Grande Project, Peru. Mort has completed the 40-Hour Hazwoper training and the API Worksafe Training.
One Page Curriculum Vitae