ASI’s ACO NextGen 2019 Job Shadows

In February, ASI hosted three job shadows from the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario’s NextGen job shadow program. Meet Sarah Bulman, Taranjeet Grewal and Nigel Klemenčič-Puglisevich!

Sarah joined us in processing historical and pre-contact artifacts in the Burlington lab, Taranjeet learned about our Environmental Assessment and Cultural Heritage work, and Nigel helped us refurbish some legacy collections in our Toronto lab. They were all kind enough to share their thoughts on these experiences, and their future career goals.

Sarah Bulman

Sarah Bulman our Architectural Conservancy of Ontario job shadowee works in our Burlington lab
Sarah helps wash artifacts in our Burlington lab

My name is Sarah Bulman and I am a second year student at Willowbank School. Following my education, I hope to contribute to the heritage conservation field in Canada through work in cultural resource management, an interest of mine that has been gaining momentum since my summer employment on Vancouver Island with Parks Canada. During the summer, I had an opportunity help host the University of Victoria field school on the Broken Group Islands with their on-going archaeological digs. I gained exciting insight in to some techniques surrounding excavations, however wasn’t able to assist in the analysis surrounding the artifacts found.

Spending the day with ASI, thanks to ACO’s Job Shadow program, proved invaluable for two reasons: I was taught what happens after an excavation and was even given the opportunity to wash artifacts and begin to sort them for future analysis; and two, I gained a better understanding of the importance of pre-development assessments and how archaeology is playing a huge role in the documenting and understanding Ontario’s heritage. I was so impressed with the individuals working within ASI’s walls — the protection of our heritage is in the hands of hard-working, passionate and hilarious people! Thanks ASI for allowing me to spend the day!

Taranjeet Grewal

Taranjeet Grewal our Architectural Conservancy of Ontario job shadowee chat with Kristina Martens and James Neilson about Cultural Heritage work
Taranjeet (right) chats with Kristina Martens and James Neilson about Cultural Heritage work.

My name is Taranjeet Grewal and I am currently a Master of Planning Student at Ryerson University. I received my Honours Bachelors of Science degree in Environmental Science and Biology for Health Sciences from the University of Toronto. Through my environmental science courses and environmental scientist internship, I gained some knowledge of Environmental Impact Assessments from a hydrogeological point of view. I knew other types of impact assessments existed but had never really gotten the chance to explore them. During my job shadow day at ASI, I got the chance to see a different perspective on the EA process, learned a lot about how it works, and the different techniques that can be used depending on the phase of the assessment. I was captivated in how it all fit together and the parallels that existed between the two different approaches (hydrogeological vs. archeological).

As for future career aspirations, I want to pursue a career in planning but am not entirely sure what kind of planning. Considering my background in environmental science, the most logical path seemed to be an environmental planner. However, I do want to explore the different possibilities out there as even now, I am discovering there are many roles a planner can play. I found the job shadow day at ASI very fulfilling as it introduced me to the world of cultural heritage and opened my eyes to possibilities I didn’t even know existed.

Overall, my experience at ASI was an eye opening one. I am very grateful to everyone there as they took the time to explain what they do and answered all of my eager questions. I now have a better sense of archaeological consulting as well as cultural heritage.

Nigel Klemenčič-Puglisevich

Nigel Klemenčič-Puglisevich our Architectural Conservancy of Ontario job shadowee works in our Toronto lab with Field Director Alanna Martini getting collections ready for Sustainable Archaeology
Nigel and Alanna Martini work to prepare collections to be transferred to Sustainable Archaeology

I’m Nigel Klemenčič-Puglisevich and I participated in ACO NextGen’s 2019 job shadow programme at ASI. I’m currently in the midst of a gap year between high school and university. I’m using that time to get experience in the cultural heritage field, largely in museums and archives but also in libraries and archaeology where possible. I currently work at Clarington Museums & Archives and I volunteer at 3 other museums in my region doing digitization, collections work, and inventory. In September this year, I’ll be attending Carleton University to start my BA in History and Archaeology. During that time, I hope to gain knowledge that will help me become a more well-rounded and skilled professional as well as to get hands-on work through their co-op programme. From there, I hope to get my MA in Museum Studies or Archaeology and work either in Canada or internationally as an archivist or archaeologist— or another position in the cultural heritage world that I don’t know about yet!

At ASI, I learnt about many jobs I didn’t know of previously, and plenty about archaeological practices, niches, opportunities, and processes. I got the opportunity to work hands-on with sorting and cleaning archaeological artifacts, while also learning about how they were found and where they will go next. I had the pleasure of talking with a few professionals regarding their work in cultural heritage research and report making, geomatics and archaeological GIS, artifact analysis, and fieldwork. It was an experience I’m extremely grateful for and learnt an incredible amount from. I cherished my time there and I’m sure it’ll stay with me throughout my experiences and future careers.

Thanks to ACO NextGen directors for placing Sarah, Taranjeet and Nigel with ASI!