TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama Water Institute’s Community Oriented Nature-based Science for Ecosystem Restoration and Versatile Engineering, or CONSERVE, Research group and the U.S. Department of Defense are partnering to establish a program aimed at preserving and protecting cultural resources at military installations across the country. This partnership is funded through the Office of the Secretary of the Defense for Environment and Energy Resilience Legacy Resource Management Program.
The program, entitled DOD Partners in Preservation, or PIP, will establish a coordinated framework for addressing cultural resources management and related research across the Defense Department’s landscape. The primary objective is to support the Department of Defense’s mission while preventing potential impacts to cultural resources. Networking with public and private organizations, as well as governmental agencies, the PIP program will adopt and deliver innovative techniques and pioneering technology in cultural resource management.
Michael Fedoroff, AWI CONSERVE research group director, will serve as the program’s co-director.
“There has been a need for a program like DOD Partners in Preservation for some time within the military service branches,” Fedoroff said. “This type of program will establish relationships across a wide range of cultural resources professionals to support delivery of the best translational and applied solutions to preservation challenges that face military professionals across the nation. The University of Alabama, AWI and the CONSERVE Research Group stand ready to demonstrate how quality research professionals can help support the DOD stewardship mission while also helping sustain a mission-ready war fighter for our nation.”
As co-director, Fedoroff will serve an assignment within the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Environment and Energy Resilience. The office is responsible for worldwide DOD environmental policy planning and development, oversight of policy implementation and oversight of environmental performance.
Fedoroff’s duties include engaging with and requesting input on topics from the DOD’s military mission readiness community, as well as other military cultural resource managers and stakeholders. He is also tasked with establishing partnerships across various national and international levels of academia and research. He will also author and produce technical publications and reports, promote developed research products, provide technical advice concerning cultural resources issues to the DOD deputy federal preservation officer and participate in various duties related to the DOD’s Cultural Resources and Legacy Resource Management programs.
This initiative will not only bolster the effectiveness of limited program resources, but also significantly contribute to the preservation of cultural resources across all governments, including federal, tribal, state and local. It creates a network of experts that will act as a clearinghouse of information, connecting and supporting the mission of DOD cultural resources practitioners.
Brock Parker, Multimedia Specialist and Writer, Alabama Water Institute, brockparker@ua.edu