Project Team

Peter Lape is an archaeologist, professor and museum curator at the University of Washington’s Burke Museum and Department of Anthropology. His research interests include investigating the role of landscape and climate change on colonial history, conflict and trade in Island Southeast Asia. In the Puget Sound area, he has been involved with public outreach projects centered on archaeology, including public archaeology projects in Seattle’s Rainier Valley, on Vashon-Maury Island and under Lake Union, as well as education programs and exhibits in the Burke Museum, the Cedar River Watershed, Discovery Park and the Milepost 31 Visitor Center.
Amir Sheikh has been involved in interdisciplinary research spanning the ecological and earth sciences, urban planning, and cultural resource management and interpretation. He is a staff member at the Quaternary Research Center and the Urban Form Lab where he contributes to research on several projects including the Puget Sound River History Project and the River Systems Research Group. Amir has an academic background in landscape ecology, and holds a master’s degree in Environmental Anthropology. His primary interests lie at the intersections of urban studies and planning, landscape and environmental change, development studies, and public health. He is interested in collaborative projects that bridge academia and the public sphere.
Donald Fels works as a researching artist. For three decades he has been looking into and making art about the local landscape, here and much further away. He has been a Fulbright Fellow in Italy, a Fulbright Senior Scholar in India. As lead artist on the Alki/Duwamish Culture Trail, he conceived of and designed the Alki viewers. He organized Seattle's first urban archaeology dig in the Rainier Valley (with Peter Lape). With USGS geologist Brian Atwater he created the Geoslice, a sculpture along the Duwamish Waterway that interprets the extraordinary geology of the Duwamish basin. He has created art along the Williamette for the City of Portland, along the Marne River for the City of Paris, and in the Snoqualmie River Valley. His work has been shown widely, in galleries and museums in the U.S., in Asia, and in Europe.

Waterlines Collaborators:

About Nature is a partnership between multi-disciplinary artists and designers living and working in Seattle, Michael Lewis and Jordan Monez. Their approach draws upon the built and natural environment for inspiration for projects ranging from environmental signage and wayfinding to mapping and landscape design. About Nature’s work is driven by the layering of movement, meaning and memory with material, processes and kinetic experience. About Nature collaborated with the Waterlines Team to create the Waterlines Seattle print map.
Brian Atwater, U.S. Geological Survey geologist and a Research Professor at the University of Washington – Information about the Seattle fault and earthquake history.
Lesley Bain, architect and urban designer and a principal at Weinstein A|U Architects and Urban Designers. She has worked with neighborhoods and institutions to make Seattle a great place to live. Lesley led award-winning competition teams that brought ideas to life in Pioneer Square. Ideas from the How Green is My Alley competition brought 2010 World Cup soccer showings to Nord Alley. The Living Blue-Living Green entry for the Living Cities Challenge explored how Pioneer Square could be on the cutting edge of urban sustainability.
Kevin Bartoy, cultural resources specialist at the Washington State Department of Transportation. A seventh-generation Pacific Northwesterner, he primarily worked outside of the region before returning to take a position with the WSDOT team tasked with replacing the Alaskan Way Viaduct. He has worked as an archaeologist and cultural resources specialist in academia, the private sector, non-profits, and government. He is interested in archaeology and history collaboratively conducted in the public interest.
Burke Museum Tribal Advisory Board, with representatives from several Washington State Tribes – Native American content
Brian Collins, Research Scientist in the UW Department of Earth and Space Sciences – Historical ecology mapping and advice on geomorphology content
Zachary Corum is the Project and Creative Director for Miles Lost/ Miles Gained (MLMG). MLMG is a public art, web based mapping, and historic interpretation project that intersects the stories of the miles gained on the recently undammed Elwha River on the Olympic Peninsula with the miles lost on rivers tributary to Puget Sound. MLMG seeks to place a series of historic, sculptural river mile markers along the paths of the "missing rivers" to allow viewers to gather insights into the scale and pace of the transformations that have taken place and the importance of maintaining and restoring fragile ecosystems. While the meanders of the lost rivers are unlikely to reappear through the sea of asphalt that replaced them, their former majesty can be virtually restored through art and historic interpretation. Mr. Corum is a registered professional engineer by trade who has specialized in design of river restoration projects for the last 15 years. Mr Corum is also a visual artist who has been showing his work in Seattle since 2000.
HistoryLink - The Free Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History
if/then, an award-winning Web design consultancy – Web site design, Flash programming, and Web development
Perri Lynch, Seattle-based artist and owner of VMG: Velocity Made Good. Her artwork examines the relationship between human perception and sense of place. Issues of navigation, intuition, and physical proximity are key components of these investigations. Through combined techniques in sound, light, sculpture, and image, Perri explores many attributes of a place simultaneously. Her favorite instrument is a handheld compass.
Lorraine McConaghy, Historian at the Museum of History & Industry – Historical research and images of early Seattle
Northwest Archaeological Associates (now SWCA Environmental Consultants), geoarchaeology and historic maps of downtown Seattle
Aaron Raymond's interests include urban history and the application of GIS to enhancing the historic narrative. His research has included the spatial history of the Denny Regrade and topics from Seattle's urban planning past. He currently is a GIS Analyst with Environmental Science Associates in Seattle.
RMB Vivid Inc, initial graphic design of The Waterlines Project Map.
Holly Taylor, Principal of Past Forward – General project advice and the name "Waterlines"
Coll Thrush, Associate Professor of History at the University of British Columbia – Excerpts from his 2007 book, Native Seattle: Histories from the Crossing-Over Place
Cynthia Updegrave is an experienced botanist with biogeographic, ecological and cultural knowledge of the diverse ecosystems of the Pacific Northwest. Her scientific research has focused on Pacific Northwest seismic and ecosystem history, ecology and the bio-geographical aspects of regional floras. She has expertise in historical ecological research methods applied to restoration ecology. Cynthia is a lecturer in the American Indian Studies Program at the University of Washington, committed to the practice of pedagogies that bridge Native and Western Science. She is a Cosmic Serpent Fellow, on the board of Just Health Action, and has served at Tribal Canoe Journeys since 2010.
David Williams (wingate@seanet.com), Seattle-based writer and natural historian