Our Board Members

Jammi Ladwig

Jammi Ladwig is a senior cultural resources specialist and principal investigator employed by a civil engineering firm (Bolton & Menk, Inc.). She is also currently a research affiliate in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, where she is a Doctoral Candidate.

She began her archaeological career in 2007, earning her MA in 2009. She has worked on sites of all time periods in Minnesota, from precontact to the historic period. Her specialty within archaeology is paleoethnobotany specific to microfossil remains, namely phytolith analysis. One area of significant interest is in the important role of psin/manoomin (wild rice) in the past, and present, in Minnesota.

In her current role as an archaeological consultant, she views one of the most important aspects of her job to be educating Municipalities and Counties (among other landholders and project proposers) about State and Federal laws concerning cultural resources. She considers herself to be extremely fortunate to be entrusted to work with, and be a steward of, cultural resources in the state.

Steve Katz

Steven A. Katz, currently the Principal Investigator for Percheron LLC, is a forensic archaeologist/medicolegal death scene investigator with a diverse scope of skill sets, abilities, and life experiences that allow him to adapt to innumerable circumstances quickly and successfully. As a Registered Professional Archaeologist, Steve’s current specialties include, but are not limited to, cultural resource/heritage management, lithic analysis, human osteology, and burial excavation/human remains recovery in both the domestic and international sectors. Steve has well over 20 years of experience within the archaeological community and has conducted archaeological investigations/projects in all fifty states as well as nine countries (including human remains recovery and humanitarian relief missions).

In addition to being the owner of Global Archaeological Consulting, he is an invited lecturer at McHenry County College’s Retired Adults Program where for the past decade he has presented a series of archaeology related lectures and talks to the local community. He holds graduate degrees from the University of Leicester (Archaeology) and the University of Verona (Forensic Medical Science w/ International Perspectives) and has also completed advanced forensic medical training programs with the Academy of Forensic Medical Sciences (London), Texas State University-San Marcos, Mercyhurst University, TriTech Forensics, Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office, and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. Steve is credentialed by the State of Wisconsin SHPO as an archaeologist qualified to work within the boundaries of a human burial site and is qualified to excavate human remains under Wisconsin’s Burial Sites Preservation law (Wis. Stat. 157.70). Steve can be reached with membership questions at skatz@globalarchaeology.com

Laura Koski

Laura Koski is a registered professional archaeologist with ten years experience in archaeology spanning both academic and cultural resource focuses giving her a diverse background in both historic and prehistoric sites and cultural materials. Ms. Koski currently works as a contract archaeologist, zooarchaeologist, and CRM-specific GIS specialist supporting Minnesota and the greater Midwest. She earned her MSc in Zooarchaeology at the University of York to gain expertise in completing in-depth archaeological faunal analysis. She has a special interest in providing faunal analysis for both historic and prehistoric sites to better increase our understanding of the relationship Minnesota’s past peoples had with the environment, and how this relationship impacted and shaped these cultures through time.

Her Geographic Information Systems training provides her with a skill set in map use, creation, and interpretation. Ms. Koski also trained in the Transylvania Bioarchaeology field school through Durham University giving her with the knowledge and skill set required to identify and conduct a basic analysis of human remains. As a member of the CMA, Ms. Koski is interested in fervently pursuing an increase in student members while looking for ways to increase professional development, teaching, and networking opportunities that will benefit both the region’s established archaeologists and the local field’s newest professionals. Please contact Laura Koski at ljoreenl@gmail.com for inquiries regarding due payments.

Danielle Kiesow

Danielle Kiesow is a registered professional archaeologist with eight years of experience in archaeology in a variety of settings: academic, federal, tribal, and the private sector. She is currently a cultural resources specialist for Bolton & Menk, a private engineering firm. She is also the lead editor for The Minnesota Archaeologist, a journal published annually on behalf of the Minnesota Archaeological Society.

Danielle has worked on sites throughout Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. Her specialties include the Shield Archaic, historic period ceramics, fur trade material culture and cross-cultural interaction, and GIS uses in archaeology.

As both the lead editor of The Minnesota Archaeologist and as the newsletter editor for the CMA, Danielle appreciates the importance of disseminating research findings and relaying the importance of archaeology, cultural resources management, and historic preservation to the public and to government officials. She also has a special interest in sharing and providing fieldwork and publication opportunities for archaeology students to further their careers. Please contact Danielle Kiesow for CMA newsletter and Minnesota Archaeologist inquiries via email at kiesow.danielle@gmail.com.

Jeremy Nienow

Jeremy Nienow is a passionate cultural resource preservation liaison, Cultural Resource Management consultant, and educator, actively pursuing new energies, technologies and projects within local county organizations, higher education, and the professional heritage preservation community. As an educator Dr. Nienow has taught at public and private higher education institutions throughout the Twin Cities. As a registered Principal Investigator in historic and prehistoric archaeology, he has 25 years experience in throughout the Midwest and Midatlantic. He owns and operates Nienow Cultural Consultants LLC, actively serving both the historical society and archaeological communities in all aspects of the profession including board service, conference organization, public speaking, and scholarly publication. Dr. Nienow enjoys blurring the lines between educator and professional archaeologist.

As CMA member, he has served as Editor, Vice President, President, and Chair of the Professionalization Committee. He has co-chaired the CMA Symposium for over 12 years and organized the Elden Johnson Distinguished Lecture for six years. Currently Dr. Nienow’s archaeological research has focused on the early hinterlands of the Twin Cities metro area. On the western side, he has lead cultural resource investigations of late 19th century tourism on Lake Waconia. In the eastern metro, his public-led archaeological survey centered on smaller lakes interspersed throughout northern Ramsey County. Both avenues of ongoing research have produced a wellspring of knowledge which Dr. Nienow looks forward to sharing with the general public .