PAR is a non-profit organization dedicated to uncovering the unknown history of the Southern Plains.

Dr. Arias is the Curator of Anthropology and Natural History at the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum. She has been involved in archaeological projects for over twenty years in the Southern Plains, American Southwest, and Pre-Columbian Andes. She received a bachelor’s degree with double majors in history and international relations from Boston University, and master’s and doctoral degrees in anthropology from the University of New Mexico. While a newcomer to the West Pasture team, Dr. Arias is an advocate for more scientific research in the region, proper conservation and curation of archaeological materials, and public outreach. She is the former president and vice-president of the Panhandle Archeological Society and is currently Adjunct Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of New Mexico and serves as Texas’s Archaeology Education Coordinator for the Society for American Archaeology.

Mr. Erickson is a Texas Panhandle rancher and award-winning author. He has written and published hundreds of article and books, and is best known as the author of the Hank the Cowdog series, now widely available as books, audio-books, and stage plays. Many of John’s nonfiction books are about ranching life in the Texas Panhandle, and Erickson has taken to writing about archeology and the prehistoric peoples who once lived on his ranch. He authored an archeological adventure novel (Discovery at Flint Springs) and a major piece in the Plains Villager section of the online Texas Beyond History website called: “Hank’s House 2: A Puzzle Wrapped in a Mystery.” His famous character, Hank the Cowdog, has even gotten into some archeological misadventures in recent years with the 2007 publication of “The Case of the Most Ancient Bone” (Hank the Cowdog series Vol. # 50). Most importantly for PAR, Erickson is a Panhandle rancher who cares deeply about the archeological resources on his ranch and has become a dedicated student of Southern Plains Archeology.

Tiffany Osburn serves as a Regional Archeologist for the Texas Historical Commission (THC) where she is focused on the preservation of historic Texas landscapes. In her current role with the state, she has the privilege of working with private landowners and communities to record and preserve important places in Texas for future generations. She started attending Texas Archeological Society field schools when she was 14 years old, and now serves as chairperson of the Field School Committee for the society. She has many years of field archeology experience, much of it in the Texas panhandle-plains and west Texas regions. Tiffany earned a Master’s in Anthropology from the University of Denver where she conducted archeological research with a specialization in the operation of geophysical equipment and in the interpretation of remote sensing data. She has conducted magnetometer and ground-penetrating radar surveys at prehistoric sites in Erickson’s West Pasture and has volunteered on several of the archeological digs there. Currently, she also serves as President of the Board of Directors for the Hill Country Land Trust, an organization that preserves open space through conservation Easements. Tiffany's career and non-profit service involves working on a variety of projects across the state with landowners and volunteer assistance, as well as educating the public about cultural and natural resources stewardship.

Mr. Rogers is a professional archeologist, long-time member of the Texas Archeological Society, and former president of the Texas Archeological Society. He has a master’s degree in history from West Texas State University, and he taught high school history in Hereford, Texas for more than 30 years. After retiring from teaching high school, Rogers became a part-time anthropology instructor at West Texas A&M University, and went back to school to earn his master’s degree in anthropology from Texas Tech University, which he was awarded June 2022. Rogers has participated in most of the West Pasture archeological digs, and he has conducted an intensive analysis of fired daub from a burned house at the Jack Allen site in Hutchinson County (architecturally, this house is very similar to the burned houses in West Pasture).

Ms. Hodges is the Helen DeVitt Jones Director of Education at the National Ranching Heritage Center on the Texas Tech University campus in Lubbock, Texas. Julie joined the center in 2014, and she manages all of the educational programming for the center. In November 2016, the university honored her with a Matador Distinguished Staff Award in recognition of her outstanding work at the National Ranching Heritage Center. She has a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Education and a master’s degree in Heritage Management from Texas Tech University. Before coming to the National Ranching Heritage Center, Julie worked with special collections in the Southwest Collections at Texas Tech, as Conservation Educator for the City of Lubbock, as Education Coordinator for Ogallala Commons (a nonprofit group), and as an education consultant in Prairie Workshop, LLC. Julie played a big role in the creation and the layout of the 7th grade lesson plans in our Porch Talk Education Activities Guide and she collaborated with our education consultant in the creation of the instructional videos.

Mr. Boyd is currently a senior archeologist at Cox|McLain Environmental Consultants in Austin, Texas. He has a bachelor’s degree in general studies-anthropology from West Texas State University and a master’s degree in anthropology from Texas A&M University. With more than 40 years’ experience as a professional archeologist, Boyd has served as project archeologist or principal investigator on hundreds of projects in Texas and surrounding states. For the West Pasture Archeological Projects, Boyd served as field director on many of the archeological digs from 2000 through 2014. Boyd has published several articles on West Pasture archeology, and created one of the Hank’s Site exhibits on the Texas Beyond History website. In his role as a professional archeologist, Boyd published an article on the Palo Duro Complex in a Texas archaeology textbook published by Texas A&M Press, and he is co-editor for of a book called The Toyah Phase of Central Texas (2012). Boyd currently serves on two advisory boards for the Texas Historical Commission—the Antiquities Advisory Board the Texas Preservation Trust Fund Advisory Board. For the past twenty years, he has been a co-director for the Youth Group excavations at the annual Texas Archeological Society field schools.

Dr. Frederick is an Independent Consulting Geoarchaeologist and a Research Fellow at the University of Texas at Austin. He has extensive geoarcheological experience in Texas, the Southwest, Central America, and around the world. From 1996 to 2003, Frederick was at the University of Sheffield in England, where he served as a Lecturer at the Department of Archaeology and Prehistory and as a Research Associate for the Sheffield Centre for International Drylands Research. Upon returning to the United States in 2003, he started doing independent geoarcheological consulting. He is the former president of the Council of Texas Archeologists and the Texas Archeological Society, and has participated in many of the West Pasture site investigations, and conducted an intensive field investigation of the geomorphology of the West Pasture Canyon. He has published professional articles on the West Pasture archeology.

An avocational archeologist and long-time panhandle resident, Mr. Wilkens has been a Texas Panhandle Regional Archeological Steward for the Texas Historical Commission since 1991. In 2020, Wilkens received the “Norman Flaigg Award for Outstanding Performance” as a Steward from the THC. He also served as the Texas Panhandle Regional Director for the Texas Archeological Society for ten years and has been a crew chief at several TAS annual field schools. Most importantly, Wilkens is the person who spurred John Erickson’s interest in archeology. He began investigating sites on the M-Cross Ranch in the 1990s, and he has been the chief organizer of all the West Pasture archeological digs since 2000. Wilkens has published more articles on M-Cross Ranch archeology, and given more public presentations on Panhandle archeology, than any other team member. Now retired from his petroleum-related career with BP, Wilkens is spending more time doing archeology. Wilkens has volunteered many thousands of hours of time doing artifact cataloguing and analyzing remains from the West Pasture digs, particularly the fired daub recovered from the burned prehistoric houses.

See bio above.

See bio above.

Mark Erickson is PAR’s legal advisor and webmaster, and he has been an active participant in many of the West Pasture digs over the past two decades. With a bachelor’s degree from Texas State University and a law degree from Texas Tech University, Erickson prepared legal documents and guided PAR through the nonprofit application process in 2017 and 2018. Mark is also the manager of HTC Productions, LLC in Amarillo, and he was one of the executive producers of the Hank the Cowdog Podcast series that made its debut in September 2020, with executive producer Matthew McConaughey as the voice of Hank.