PAST Foundation

PAST Foundation, whose name refers to Partnering Anthropology with Science and Technology, is a United States-based educational and research nonprofit focused on making scientific and cultural research accessible to students, teachers, professionals, and the wider public. The organization operates at the intersection of anthropology, archaeology, environmental science, marine research, documentary filmmaking, and STEM education. Rather than functioning primarily as a conventional school, museum, or research institute, PAST develops partnerships around authentic projects and turns those projects into classroom programs, field schools, publications, documentary work, and digital resources. The foundation was established in 2000 by an informal group of anthropologists and scientists who wanted ongoing research to have a broader public and educational impact. Its early model joined active field research with structured learning. One of its first major initiatives, begun in 2001 with the Zoo School in Lincoln, Nebraska and Yellowstone National Park, used an archaeological investigation of the Marshall Hotel site near the Firehole River as the basis for a year-long educational program. The work culminated in a published archaeological volume and earned recognition from the National Park Service through the John L. Cotter Award for Excellence in American Archaeology. During its early years, PAST built programs with public agencies, universities, schools, and private organizations. Projects included Riverboatin' on the Red, developed with the Oklahoma Department of Education around the study of an early nineteenth-century shipwreck in the Red River, and SCRUNCH, which used an autonomous underwater vehicle and deep-water World War II shipwreck research to explore the effects of pressure on Styrofoam cups. These projects established the foundation's characteristic approach: students investigate real questions, work with researchers and community partners, and produce tangible outcomes such as reports, databases, books, films, or public-facing websites. In 2005, a startup donation enabled PAST to move from a loosely organized project network into a more formal program-based nonprofit. The organization also relocated its principal office to Columbus, Ohio. In 2006 it formed the PAST/Metro Program Design Center with Ohio State University, Battelle Memorial Institute, the Central Ohio Educational Council, and Metro Early College and Demonstration High School. The center became a significant platform for designing interdisciplinary STEM programs tied to global issues. Its Garbology program, influenced by the work of archaeologist William Rathje, used waste management as the organizing problem and received the Emerald Award for Excellence in Environmental Education. PAST's educational portfolio has included programs such as Forensics in the Classroom, The Cultural Landscape of a Michigan Ghost Town, The Web of Life, Get Real, Marine Ecology of the Florida Keys, and Growing America. Its field schools have covered cultural landscapes, underwater archaeology, marine ecology, entomology, forensic anthropology, urban gardening, and documentary filmmaking. Participants may receive high-school or college credit, while partner organizations benefit from research, interpretation, documentation, and community engagement. The foundation also supports adult field study, ethnographic research on STEM-school systems, documentary production, and small-scale academic publishing. PAST Publications, launched in 2006, was created to help students, researchers, universities, cultural-resource-management firms, and public agencies disseminate theses, archaeological reports, manuals, journals, proceedings, and educational materials through print-on-demand production. Its research and education work has involved organizations including Ohio State University, California State Parks, the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, Nebraska Wesleyan University, the Oklahoma Historical Society, Indiana University, and East Carolina University. PAST's public-facing identity is therefore based on partnership rather than a consumer product line. Its principal offerings are educational programs, field schools, research collaborations, documentary and digital projects, and publications. Recognition listed for the organization includes National Park Service, documentary-film, conservation, ocean-partnership, environmental-education, and experiential-learning awards. The available reference material documents the foundation's development through the late 2000s; specific current officers, financial information, and present program activity are not established here.

PAST Foundation was created in 2000 by an ad hoc group of anthropologists and scientists seeking to connect active research with public education. Its founding premise was that scientific work should not remain confined to specialist institutions: students and communities could participate in authentic investigations if research was organized into accessible programs, field experiences, publications, films, and digital resources. The organization’s first documented work began in 2001 through a partnership involving the Zoo School in Lincoln, Nebraska and Yellowstone National Park. Students participated in a year-long program centered on archaeological work at the Marshall Hotel site near the Firehole River. The project produced a published book and brought the foundation National Park Service recognition through the John L. Cotter Award for Excellence in American Archaeology. Over the following years, PAST developed projects with educational institutions, government agencies, universities, businesses, and research partners. Riverboatin' on the Red, created with the Oklahoma Department of Education, used the investigation of an early nineteenth-century Red River shipwreck to teach history, archaeology, and science. SCRUNCH connected classroom learning to autonomous-underwater-vehicle research on deep-water World War II shipwrecks in the Gulf of Mexico, including experiments involving the effects of pressure on Styrofoam cups. These projects helped establish PAST’s program-based learning model, in which students engage with real research questions and produce useful outputs for partner organizations. PAST also expanded into adult field education and applied cultural research. Its field programs worked with organizations including Ohio State University, California State Parks, the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, Nebraska Wesleyan University, the Oklahoma Historical Society, Indiana University, and East Carolina University. Projects addressed maritime heritage, underwater archaeology, marine ecology, cultural landscapes, and related anthropological questions. Work on the California shipwreck Frolic contributed to efforts to interpret and protect the site and supported consideration of its inclusion in California’s State Underwater Parks. Field schools in the Florida Keys examined nineteenth-century sanctuary shipwrecks including Slobodna, Tonawanda, and Memamon Sanford. A major organizational transition occurred in 2005. With support from a startup donation, PAST moved from a loosely connected, project-led structure to a formal program-based nonprofit. Its main office was moved to Columbus, Ohio, providing a more central base for national partnerships and growth. In 2006, the foundation helped establish the PAST/Metro Program Design Center with Ohio State University, Battelle Memorial Institute, the Central Ohio Educational Council, and Metro Early College and Demonstration High School. The center focused on STEM education reform and on building interdisciplinary programs around broad social and environmental issues. The center’s first major program was Garbology, which drew on archaeological research associated with William Rathje and used waste management as a framework for studying science, society, and global environmental problems. The program attracted national attention and received the Emerald Award for Excellence in Environmental Education. Other programs developed during this period included Forensics in the Classroom, The Cultural Landscape of a Michigan Ghost Town, The Web of Life, Get Real, Marine Ecology of the Florida Keys, and Growing America. PAST also offered summer activities in forensic anthropology and documentary filmmaking, including work with Montana State University’s documentary program. The foundation’s research agenda extended beyond individual classroom projects. It supported ethnographic studies of STEM schools and investigated the organizational networks, partnerships, and community structures that help such schools operate. Graduate research could be adapted into educational programs and then shared with a wider audience. In underwater archaeology, PAST pursued web-based approaches for comparing information about historic ship construction and deep-water wrecks. A planned project called VirtualVessel.com was described as a potential database for international research exchange, although the available material does not establish its eventual launch or current status. PAST Publications began in 2006 to address the difficulty of distributing specialized anthropological and educational research. Using print-on-demand methods, it supported small-production runs of theses, dissertations, archaeological reports, cultural-resource-management documents, manuals, journals, proceedings, and field-study results. The publishing initiative was designed to reduce the cost and delay associated with conventional academic printing while preserving formal bibliographic practices such as ISBN registration. By the end of the 2000s, PAST described itself as a national partner for emerging STEM schools and as a developer of programs for K–20 learners, adults, teachers, researchers, and community organizations. Its work had received recognition in archaeology, environmental education, documentary film, conservation, ocean partnerships, and experiential learning. The available reference material does not provide verified current leadership, financial data, or a detailed account of activity after this growth period.

• 2007

  Garbology receives environmental education recognition

  [1]PAST Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  The interdisciplinary waste-management program received the Emerald Award for Excellence in Environmental Education.

• 2006

  PAST/Metro Program Design Center begins

  [1]PAST Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  PAST and institutional partners created a center for interdisciplinary STEM program design at Metro Early College and Demonstration High School.

• 2006

  PAST Publications is launched

  [1]PAST Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  The foundation began a print-on-demand publishing initiative for specialized research and educational works.

• 2005

  Organizational formalization and Columbus relocation

  [1]PAST Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  A startup donation helped PAST become a program-based nonprofit, and its main office moved to Columbus, Ohio.

• 2001

  Early Yellowstone and Zoo School partnership

  [1]PAST Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  A year-long archaeological education program investigated the Marshall Hotel site near the Firehole River and produced a published work.

• 2001

  National Park Service archaeology recognition

  [1]PAST Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  PAST received the John L. Cotter Award for Excellence in American Archaeology.

• 2000

  PAST Foundation is established

  [1]PAST Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  An informal group of anthropologists and scientists founded the organization to make scientific research more accessible through partnerships and education.

A partnership-driven nonprofit that converts active scientific, archaeological, environmental, and anthropological research into accessible learning experiences and public resources.

• STEM and environmental education program · 2006

  Garbology

  An interdisciplinary learning program built around waste, consumption, and environmental systems. Drawing on archaeological approaches to studying refuse, it used a real global issue to connect science, social analysis, and project-based learning. The program was associated with the PAST/Metro Program Design Center and received the Emerald Award for Excellence in Environmental Education.

• Science education program

  Forensics in the Classroom

  A classroom program that adapts forensic anthropology and related scientific methods for student learning. It reflects PAST’s practice of converting ongoing doctoral or professional research into structured educational experiences connected to real investigative questions.

• Archaeology and history education program

  Riverboatin' on the Red

  A partnership with the Oklahoma Department of Education centered on research into a shipwreck in the Red River dating from the region’s early nineteenth-century settlement period. The project used archaeology and local history as the basis for cross-disciplinary student learning.

• Marine science education program

  SCRUNCH

  A program linked to deep-water research using an autonomous underwater vehicle to study World War II shipwrecks in the Gulf of Mexico. Its classroom investigation of how pressure affects Styrofoam cups provided a tangible way to connect ocean technology and physical science.

• Academic and educational publishing · 2006

  PAST Publications

  A print-on-demand publishing operation intended for theses, dissertations, archaeological reports, educational programs, field studies, journals, manuals, and other specialized works. It served students, researchers, universities, cultural-resource-management firms, and public agencies seeking relatively small and timely print runs.

• 2006PAST/Metro STEM program design

  United States

  PAST worked with Ohio State University, Battelle, the Central Ohio Educational Council, and Metro Early College and Demonstration High School to build interdisciplinary STEM programs.

  Outcome. The initiative produced programs including Garbology and strengthened PAST’s role in transdisciplinary STEM education.

  Source
• 2005Florida Keys maritime heritage field schools

  United States

  Field schools conducted with the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary examined nineteenth-century shipwrecks including Slobodna, Tonawanda, and Memamon Sanford.

  Outcome. The programs supplied field experience and research intended to improve understanding and interpretation of sanctuary resources.

  Source
• 2001Marshall Hotel archaeological education project

  United States

  PAST partnered with the Zoo School and Yellowstone National Park to turn an archaeological investigation into a year-long student learning program.

  Outcome. The project produced a published book and received National Park Service recognition.

  Source

• 2006

  Expansion into print-on-demand publishingStrategy

  Background

  PAST identified a gap in public access to specialized anthropological and educational research.

  Action taken

  The foundation created PAST Publications to support economical small-run publication of research and educational materials.

  Aftermath

  The publishing activity broadened the foundation’s public-access model beyond classrooms and field schools.

  Source

• 2005

  Transition to a formal program-based nonprofitStrategy

  Background

  PAST had operated as a loosely organized, project-driven network during its early years.

  Action taken

  After receiving a startup donation, the organization formalized its nonprofit structure and moved its main office to Columbus, Ohio.

  Aftermath

  The transition supported broader partnership development and the creation of more sustained educational programs.

  Source

1. 1PAST Foundationen.wikipedia.org
2. 2PAST Foundation official websitepastfoundation.org