Our Team
A summary of qualifications for Woods Canyon's key personnel is provided below. Complete resumes are available upon request.
Vice President/ Principal Investigator/ Co-owner
Jason Chuipka
Jason Chuipka has 30 years of archaeological experience in the northern Southwest, with 12 years of management experience that includes formulating fieldwork budgets and plans, assembling crews, directing and managing projects, and completing technical reports. He has managed projects that range in size from single-day to multi-year undertakings. Mr. Chuipka has authored numerous technical reports, contributed to edited volumes and professional journals, and presented his findings at professional conferences and to the public. He is a Registered Professional Archaeologist (RPA) and holds permits for work on tribal, federal, state, and private lands in Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico. He is familiar with the full spectrum of cultural resource laws and policies on these lands.
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(970) 570-9524
President/ Archaeologist/ Co-owner
Kelly McAndrews
Kelly McAndrews has more than 30 years of cultural resource management experience in the northern Southwest, including Colorado, Utah, and Northern New Mexico. Her experience with Woods Canyon includes survey, excavation, GIS drafting, laboratory processing, artifact analysis, curation, report writing, website design, and report production. She has managed complex projects requiring field, laboratory, and administrative expertise and has authored and presented numerous reports and papers. She received certification in Section 106 training in 2012 and does much of the project management.
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(970) 759-2050
Conservation Program Director
Shanna Diederichs
Shanna Diederichs has 22 years of archaeological experience. Her experience includes all aspects of archaeological investigation -- survey, excavation, analysis, laboratory work, architectural documentation, architectural illustration, ruin stabilization, and reporting. She is a Heritage Management Specialist. She also has worked on public outreach and coordinated volunteer participants for excavations undertaken by the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center for the past 5 years. Shanna is a Registered Professional Archaeologist (RPA).
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Project Director
Cory Breternitz
Cory Breternitz has a long and distinguished career as a professional archaeologist in the American Southwest. He has worked in a supervisory capacity for archaeological projects across western Colorado, northern New Mexico, Arizona, the Navajo Nation, and the larger Four Corners region. Mr. Breternitz was the President and Owner, of Soil Systems, Inc. (SSI) in Phoenix, Arizona from 1984-2009. He was the Principal Investigator for 750 cultural resource management projects.
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Field Director
Ryan Spittler
Ryan has been with Woods Canyon intermittently since 2014. He is skilled at field survey and logistics and has run surveys leading many crews in the field in Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. Recently, he has been a key part of stabilization and documentation projects at important prehistoric sites in Southern Utah. Ryan has also been involved with excavations and is adept at keeping up with ever-changing technologies.
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GIS Specialist, Database Manager
Chris Kantner
Chris Kantner is a certified GIS professional with a background in anthropology, graphic design, and visual communications. Ms. Kantner has more than 20 years of experience in all fields of cultural resource management, with several years of experience in organizing archives, public outreach, and exhibit design.
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Field Director
Eli Lyon
Eli Lyon is a staff archaeologist with a background in the archaeolgy of the northern Colorado Plateau, Great Basin, and northern Sierra Nevada mountains. He received a BA from the University of Colorado and has over 5 years experience in working in both federal and private cultural resource management, including several years organizing project data, managing project logistics, running survey crews, and producing GIS maps. Eli has co-authored numerous reports and presented papers and posters at Pecos, UPAC, and Big MACC.
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