Biographies
Steve E. Titus, M.A., R.P.A., President/Principal Investigator
Steve Titus received his B.S. in Elementary Education from Southern Illinois University Carbondale in 1978 and his M.A. in Anthropology (Archaeology) from Southern Illinois University Carbondale in 1993. Mr. Titus is a registered professional archaeologist (RPA) with 27 years of experience in all phases of archaeological investigations in the Midwest and the Plains, including prehistoric and historic field research and report preparation. His responsibilities include formulating and implementing research designs, directing field excavations, preparing reports, and editing finished reports for content. His research interests include prehistoric settlement patterns and lithic technology.
Cathy Loomis, Chief Financial Officer
Cathy Loomis is Chief Financial Officer at ARG. Originally from Chicago and having worked many years in the car rental/limousine service industry, she relocated to Carbondale in 1991 to pursue a degree in accounting at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Upon graduation in 1996, she decided to become a permanent resident of southern Illinois because of its laid back lifestyle and beautiful landscapes. She initially worked for a few local CPA firms before branching out and starting her own accounting and tax business, with ARG being the primary client. Cathy joined ARG full time in August 2007 but continues a small accounting business on the side during tax season. Cathy’s primary duties involve handling all aspects of the accounting operations, including billings, accounts payable, job costing, payroll, financial analysis, and corporate taxes, but she always jumps at the chance to decorate for the corporate Christmas party or plan other ARG events. Cathy’s other interests include visiting the many Southern Illinois’ wineries, decorating and remodeling, gardening, abstract painting, and raising her three rescue dogs: Cody, a Papillon, and her two Border Collies, Barney and Auggie Doggie (Auggie Doggie shown above).
Monica Shah Lomas, M.A., RPA, Supervising Archaeologist/Project Manager
Monica received her B.A. in Anthropology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and her M.A. in Anthropology from Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo. Monica came to ARG in 1998 and serves as a Project Manager and Senior Archaeologist. While her graduate studies emphasized bioarchaeological investigations at a Late Roman/Early Byzantine village and cemetery in Umm el-Jimal, Jordan, her current research interests focus on American historic-period archaeology and material cultural studies.
Two of her most interesting projects include Phase II and III excavations at Old Brownsville, an early to mid-nineteenth-century townsite, for the Union Pacific Railroad near Murphysboro, Illinois, and at Williams Fort, a War of 1812-era fortification of a rural farmstead, for White County Coal Corporation near Carmi, Illinois. Her most memorable project, however, was when she met her husband during the Phase III excavations at site 11SA510, a large multiple farmstead complex for Black Beauty Coal Company’s Wildcat Hills Mine, Cottage Grove Pit, near Harrisburg, Illinois. More recently, Monica is focused on project management such as preparing technical proposals and budgets, coordinating field crews, responding to client data requests, consulting with SHPOs, and assisting with tribal involvement. (While this may sound a little dull compared to exciting archaeological discoveries, she finds it challenging and fulfilling—and yes, even fun at times :)
Her greatest joys are her home-birthed daughter Gwendolyn and spending time with her family taking walks and playing outside. She also loves reading and knitting and admits to a weakness for excellent dark chocolate and expensive yarn.
Cally Lence, Historian/Project Manager
Cally has been employed at ARG since 1998. In the course of the past 13 years, she has performed numerous CRM-related tasks and held many positions in the company: field technician, laboratory director, editor, historic artifact analyst, historian, and project manager. She now serves as the company’s senior historian and as a project manager. Cally feels that customer support and client relationships that are formed via the roles and responsibilities of project management that culminate in successful project completion are among her greatest professional accomplishments. Cally graduated in 1996 from Southern Illinois University Carbondale with a degree in history, and received her M.A. in CRM from ARG University in 2006 :-). Her special research interests include local and regional history, archival research, and historic artifact analysis. Cally loves kitty cats, pizza, relaxing on the porch, reading, and buying stuff for her kid.
Kevin Lomas
Temporary 'picture'
James Burrow, Prehistoric Lithic Analyst/Archaeological Technician
James Burrow serves as ARG’s prehistoric lithic analyst identifying projectile point types, tool types, flake types, and chert types. James has worked at ARG for more than 25 years and has been conducting lithic analysis for 20 of them. James also fills out site forms, short reports, and assists in all capacities for all types of fieldwork. James has conducted fieldwork in Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky. James likes traveling, being outdoors, and enjoys morel hunting every spring. James is also an avid collector of vinyl records.
Bob Sadler, Archaeological Technician/Crew Chief
Bob Sadler received his Bachelor’s Degree in Anthropology from Southern Illinois University Carbondale in 1996. Once he graduated, Bob began working with ARG and other CRM firms doing fieldwork all over the midwest and plains. But for the last decade, Bob has been ARG’s Crew Chief, and he has an abundance of experience in archaeology and geoarchaeology in the midwest/plains region. Bob’s tasks at ARG are not just limited to the field, he also preps and writes reports. Before he became an archaeologist, Bob was a Sargent in the U.S. Army. He is a veteran of the Persian Gulf War as well as a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Proud of his service (and due to the commonality of his name), many in the field know him as ‘Army Bob’. Bob plays both the guitar and drums, and he writes and records his own music. As a devout Christian, Bob has also written music about his faith. Bob also loves to impersonate Elvis . . . needless to say, Bob has a fondness for karaoke. But Bob also loves the outdoors, particularly when he’s hunting and fishing.
Chip Perkins, M.A., Editor/Production Design
Chip Perkins is the editor at American Resources Group. In this capacity, Chip proofs the reports and lays them out in InDesign (by Adobe®!). Chip also works on the graphics for reports, the ARG website, public outreach, and promotional considerations. Chip has been known to do some of the report writing that goes on at ARG and most recently updated ARG’s 14-program Safety Plan along with the Environmental Manual. Chip received his bachelors degree in Anthropology in 1996 from the University of Illinois, attending both the Champaign-Urbana and Chicago campuses. Chip then received his M.A. in Cultural Anthropology from Southern Illinois University Carbondale in 1998 and attained Ph.D. candidacy in the same program in 2003. Chip is an educational anthropologist, and his dissertation research involves the enculturation of very young kids in U.S. public schools. Chip loves kids almost as much as he loves giving people with kids, particularly his co-workers, unsolicited advice about their child’s development and enculturation. Aside from this, Chip also loves games; specifically, almost any kind of card or video game (online or not). He also loves the wonders of nature and is utterly fascinated with spiders; and, no, he’s not one of those people that keeps them as pets . . . he just respects their abilities and admires their beauty, particularly jumping spiders (family Salticidae) and orb weavers (family Araneidae). Beyond this, Chip also loves ranting about all sorts of topics, with a focus on cultural politics and the human condition.
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Mike Brawley, Archaeological Technician/Faunal Analyst
Mike is the product of petroleum family that relocated every six months to three years when he was young. Born in Gillette Wyoming, Mike received his Bachelor of Science from Southern Illinois University Carbondale with major in Zoology. He has worked at ARG for seven years as a field technician and laboratory assistant. Mike enjoys the wonders of the natural world and positive attitudes.
Peggy Mayer, Administrative Assistant
When you call American Resources Group, you'll most likely talk to me, Peggy Mayer. My goal is to get you connected with one of our many professionals that can help you complete your project in a timely and cost-effective manner. I have been with ARG for almost five years but have always had an interest in archaeology. Even before I began working here, my husband and I worked on archaeological excavations; several around the midwest as well as one at the San Lazaro Site in New Mexico. I have always lived in the Carbondale area, and I enjoy the outdoors and the many scenic spaces. I have lots of interests, the main one being motorcycles. My nephew is a pro racer, and my husband and I avidly support him by traveling with him to all his races. And when we’re not busy doing that, my husband and I ride our Harley on the street. Aside from that, we also collect vintage motorcycles of all makes. Recently, my husband and I discovered geocaching. Now, our rides around beautiful southern Illinois and the rest of the country are even more adventurous. With any spare time I have left, I also enjoy crafts such as scrapbooking, sewing, and beading.