Original Natchitoches Preservation Network newspaper manuscript submitted 2009-06-04. The date represents the documented submission; newspaper issue date not recorded here. Original reporting preserved; historical network links use the revived Ning domain.
Natchitoches’ preservation population grew just a little this past week with the arrival of the summer interns at the National Center for Preservation Technology and Training.
Throughout the summer, these young professionals will update the community about their nationally significant research projects at www.natchitochespreservation.ning.com. Some will also present their research at the annual Preservation in Your Community event taking place later in the summer.
Summer Research Projects
Joseph Evans, a Heritage Resources major at NSU, will work to develop a web-based application for the planning and management of historic landscapes. Evans will create a plant inventory and assessment database for a touch-screen computer.
Megan Smith, a graduate student in the Nautical Archaeology program at Texas A&M University, will continue research she originated at NCPTT last summer. Smith will compare the effectiveness of treatments for strengthening bone in the archaeological context.
Two interns will collaborate on a study of commercially available paint removers on historic masonry. Jessica Cleaver comes to NCPTT from the Master of Preservation Studies program at Tulane University and Joshua Springer is an architecture student Ball State University in Indiana.
Eric Guidry is a liberal arts student at the Scholar’s College. He will continue research in the Center’s long-running study about the affects of pollution on cultural resources.
Local Fieldwork and Public Outreach
Curtis Desselles, a recent graduate of NSU’s masters program in Heritage Resources, will expand his efforts to develop low-cost tool for metallurgical analysis.
Molly McGath, a chemistry graduate student from the University of Arizona, is interning with NCPTT for the second consecutive year. McGath will research and apply techniques in the field for the removal of graffiti from historic structures.
Bethany Frank and Kayla Wagner, both public relations majors at NSU, will be working to promote NCPTT through strategic online communications. They will also help organize the Preservation in Your Community event.
I’ll have more details on Preservation in Your Community when the date is set. In the meantime, stop by the Natchitoches Preservation Network website to interact with the interns and learn more about their projects.
What Remains
The preservation science program that hosted these 2009 interns continues at NCPTT in Natchitoches. The National Park Service describes research and training in historic buildings, cultural landscapes, archaeology, and materials conservation as continuing parts of the center’s mission. The specific interns’ later careers and the ultimate results of each summer experiment warrant individual follow-up; the original article is an unusually useful record of early professional work and the projects that brought this group together. NCPTT research and training.
Updated October 2026
Supporting Documents & SourcesView related reporting & supporting materials
| Related article | Inside Cane River Creole National Historical Park: Conservation and Research in 2009 |
|---|---|
| Related article | Ten Years of Preservation in Your Community |
| Related article | Natchitoches Preservation Network |
Article Catalog CardView the manuscript record, provenance & surviving materials
| Artifact | Original newspaper column. |
|---|---|
| Institution | Natchitoches Times and Natchitoches Preservation Network. |
| Period | 2009-06-04 manuscript submission. |
| Role | Columnist and heritage communications practitioner. |
| Evidence | Original dated email to the newspaper; attached historical image intern pict for nat times.jpg. |
| What survives | Source manuscript and original photo attachment. |
| Status | Archival republication; print verification and photograph review pending. |
Critical Questions + Add to the Record
Application here: NCPTT’s internship projects illustrate how preservation science develops through practical experimentation, mentorship, and the careful interpretation of evidence.
Know something that adds context, documentation, correction, or firsthand knowledge to this record? Keep this page open and copy its URL into the contribution form.
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