Bridging the Gap Webinar Series

About the Series

We’re happy to announce the 2025 launch of a new webinar series funded by a grant from the Historic Preservation Education Foundation (HPEF). This series, entitled Bridging the Gap Between Theory and Practice, will provide specialized preservation training to emerging professionals entering the heritage field.

Many believe that there is a significant gap between the preservation theory learned in classrooms and the knowledge and skills needed for a successful career in preservation practice. Our training will aim to bridge this gap by addressing real-life applications that aren’t typically covered in academic settings. In a recent survey, we asked both professionals and graduate students in preservation what topics emerging professionals are not adequately familiar with when they enter the job market. Some of the most popular responses included familiarity with Section 106 and the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards, as well as skills in grant writing, technical writing, budgeting, and project management. Our webinar series will address these topics, facilitate stimulating discussions, answer questions, and provide additional resources for further study.

During each episode, preservation professionals from our partner organizations will use real-life examples to address topics that are not typically covered during classroom instruction and demonstrate practical applications of preservation theory. In this way, our webinar series will better prepare emerging professionals for success in their transition from preservation student to preservation professional.

Register to attend the next episode!

Episode 3: Heritage Documentation - An Overview of Methods, Technologies, and Uses

August 21st, 2025 | 12:00pm ET / 9:00am PT

In our third episode of the Bridging the Gap webinar series, we will introduce the fundamentals of heritage documentation. What are the primary methods used to document historic places? How has technology transformed the way we capture and analyze historic resources? What role does documentation play in preservation planning, interpretation, and advocacy?

To explore these questions and more, we will be joined by Scott Keyes, Chief of Heritage Documentation Programs at the National Parks Service and Elizabeth Lee, Vice President for Programs and Development at CyArk.

Featured Speakers

Scott Keyes

Scott Keyes is a Secretary of the Interior-qualified historian and architect. He currently serves as the Chief of the Heritage Documentation Programs within the National Park Service. The programs – consisting of the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), and Historic American Landscapes Survey (HALS) – document historic sites and structures across the United States through the creation of drawings, photographs, and historical reports. Documentation is archived in the HABS/HAER/HALS Collection at the Library of Congress.

Prior to joining the National Park Service in 2021, Scott served as the Department of the Navy’s chief technical expert on historic architecture and preservation of the built environment. He also worked as an architect at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam and as a designer at various architectural firms in Canada and the United Kingdom. His educational background includes a degree in history from the University of California, Los Angeles and a Master of Architecture from in the University of Toronto.

Elizabeth Lee

Elizabeth Lee serves as Vice President for Programs and Development for CyArk. Her expertise includes developing international partnerships in support of technology driven solutions for cultural heritage protection, education, and appreciation. Originally trained as an archaeologist with excavation experience in Turkey and Hungary, Elizabeth has been applying 3D technologies to the cultural field for two decades. She has extensive experience in working with foreign governments and local communities including cultural ministries and the United Nations Educational Cultural and Scientific Organization (UNESCO). Elizabeth is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley.  She serves as an advisory board member for the Oxford Brookes Endangered Wooden Architecture Programme and is a member of the US Chapter of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS). She is a past winner in the South by Southwest (SXSW) Eco Place by Design competition.

Recommended Resources

Heritage Doucmentation Programs Resources

HABS / HAER / HALS Collection

The HABS/HAER/HALS Collection at the Library of Congress is the nation’s largest archive of historic architectural, engineering, and cultural landscape documentation. The collection includes measured and interpretive drawings, large-format black & white and color photographs, written historical and descriptive data, and original field notes. The collection is designed to permanently record the breadth of American places, and to make this documentation available as widely as possible.

Access the collection

NPS Heritage Documentation Programs Guidelines and Resources

Heritage Documentation Programs develops guidelines and resources to facilitate the documentation of historic properties within established standards for quality, content, and archival stability. They also provide examples of typical surveys for each program and documentation level and templates for preparing documentation.

Access the guidelines and resources

Donate Documentation to the HABS / HAER / HALS Collection

A wide variety of donated documentation is submitted to the HABS/HAER/HALS Collection. Heritage Documentation Programs reviews and processes all documentation to ensure it meets the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards and Guidelines for Architectural and Engineering Documentation.

Learn more about donating documentation

Documentation Competitions

Heritage Documentation Programs sponsors several annual documentation competitions focused on measured drawings and short-format historical documentation of cultural landscapes.

Learn more about the competitions

Heritage Documentation Programs Internships and Fellowships

Every year, Heritage Documentation Programs offers students employment and professional training opportunities. Participants take with them a greater awareness and knowledge of historic buildings, structures, and sites, as well as the importance of “preservation through documentation.”

Learn more about internships and fellowships

Resources for New Technologies and Heritage Interpretation

CyArk Photogrammetry Courses

CyArk periodically offers virtual Photogrammetry courses focused on data capture, processing, and modelling.

Learn more about Photogrammetry courses

CyArk Reality Capture Tutorials

CyArk has created a number of RealityCapture Tutorials for processing documentation data of cultural heritage sites and made them available on YouTube.

Access Reality Capture tutorials

Example Data Sets

Open Heritage 3D is an initiative to provide free access to high resolution 3D data of cultural heritage sites across the world. It is a joint project between CyArk, Historic Environment Scotland and the University of South Florida Libraries.

Access example data sets

Tapestry 3D Virtual Tours by CyArk

Explore ancient ruins, historic sites and cultural heritage with Tapestry 3D virtual tours by CyArk.

Access virtual 3D tours

Interpreting Our Heritage By Freeman Tilden

Every year millions of Americans visit national parks and monuments, state and municipal parks, battlefields, historic houses, and museums. By means of guided walks and talks, tours, exhibits, and signs, visitors experience these areas through a very special kind of communication technique known as “interpretation.” For fifty years, Freeman Tilden’s Interpreting Our Heritage has been an indispensable sourcebook for those who are responsible for developing and delivering interpretive programs.

Learn more about the book

Episode 2: Section 106

June 26th, 2025 | 12:00pm ET / 9:00am PT

In our second episode of the Bridging the Gap webinar series, we will cover the basics of the Section 106 process. What is an undertaking? What triggers a Section 106 review? What steps are involved? Who are consulting parties in a Section 106 process?

To explore these questions and more, we will be joined by Blythe Semmer, Assistant Director for Special Initiatives at the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, and Krista Horrocks, Education and Support Services Department Manager at Ohio History Connection.

Featured Speakers

Blythe Semmer

Blythe Semmer, Assistant Director for Special Initiatives at the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, is a planner and historian. She focuses on improving federal preservation and interagency coordination through policy and guidance development and by educating Section 106 review participants about the requirements of the process. She previously coordinated the ACHP’s Section 106 training program and has assisted a range of federal agencies with National Historic Preservation Act compliance. Prior to joining the ACHP, Blythe worked in a State Historic Preservation Office and for Nashville’s Metropolitan Historical Commission. She holds a Ph.D. in Urban and Regional Planning and Design from the University of Maryland.

Krista Horrocks

Krista Horrocks works as Department Manager of Education & Support Services for Ohio’s State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) at the Ohio History Connection (OHC), where she manages a team of administrators, grant managers, GIS coordinators, and database managers in the support of all program areas for the SHPO. She also serves as OHC’s cemetery preservationist, where she works providing research support, guidance, and presentations on all-things-Ohio-cemetery-related. Krista previously spent 8 years as an Archaeological Project Reviews Manager for the Section 106 review team and 10 years in cultural resource management as a Principal Investigator and Project Manager. She holds an Associate of Applied Science (AAS) in Archaeology from Hocking College (Nelsonville, Ohio), Bachelor of Specialized Studies (BSS) in Historic Anthropology from Ohio University (Athens, Ohio), and a Master of Arts (MA) in American Studies, focus in Public History, from Youngstown State University (Youngstown, Ohio). She is a 6th generation native Ohioan originally from the Village of Fredericktown, Knox County, Ohio.

Recommended Resources

ACHP Section 106 Resources

ACHP Digital Library

The ACHP has a Digital Library containing a wide selection of Section 106 resources, publications, and guidance.

Access the library

Section 106 Webinar Series

The ACHP hosts a bi-annual webinar series on Section 106. The series is scheduled each spring and fall and taught live by ACHP staff instructors with practical experience in Section 106 review and development of program alternatives.

Learn more about the series

Section 106 Classroom Courses

The ACHP offers in-person courses where you can learn about Section 106 essentials, how to manage consultations, and build skills in the application of the Section 106 review process to federal undertakings.

Learn more about classroom courses

Section 106 e-Learning Courses

The ACHP offers courses on Section 106 and other related topics that fit your schedule and budget with on-demand distance learning options.

Learn more about e-Learning courses

Section 106 in Practice

Brown Harris Cemetary

The Brown Harris Cemetary is an example of a Section 106 success story that led to the documentation of a lost African American cemetery with the involvement of interested parties and descendant communities.

Learn more about the site

Section 106 Success Stories

Learn about other Section 106 success stories throughout the country.

Learn more about other success stories

Episode 1: Heritage Legislation in the United States

March 27th, 2025 | 12:00pm ET / 9:00am PT

In our first episode of the Bridging the Gap webinar series, we covered the basics of heritage legislation in the United States. How is our heritage system organized and governed at the federal and stste levels? What key laws should every preservationist be familiar with? Where does tribal heritage fit in?

To explore these questions and more, we were joined by Chris Cody, Associate General Counsel for the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and Shannon O’Loughlin, Chief Executive and Attorney of the Association on American Indian Affairs and citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.

Featured Speakers

Chris Cody

Shannon O'Loughlin

Chris Cody is Associate General Counsel for the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Mr. Cody specializes in legal advocacy, including federal administrative processes like Section 106 and NEPA, local and state historic preservation laws, and litigation. Mr. Cody previously served as the Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer for the State of Arizona and as Manager of Advocacy and Staff Attorney for Historic Charleston Foundation in Charleston, South Carolina. Mr. Cody holds a B.A. in History from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a J.D. from the University of South Carolina, and a M.A. in Preservation Studies from Tulane University. A native of McLean, VA, Mr. Cody lives in Madison, IN with his wife Kathryn and daughter Genevieve.

Shannon O’Loughlin is a citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and serves the Association on American Indian Affairs as its Chief Executive and Attorney. The Association is the longest serving national Native non-profit, since 1922. Shannon has been practicing law for more than 24 years and is a lecturer at Johns Hopkins University. Shannon serves as Vice Chair of the Board at Native Ways Federation, which educates about informed giving to Native-led nonprofits. She also serves on the Board of Potawatomi Ventures, the economic development corporation of the Forest County Potawatomi Nation, and serves as their Governance Committee Chair. She is a former Chief of Staff to the National Indian Gaming Commission, where she assisted in the development and implementation of national gaming policy, and oversaw the agency’s public affairs, technology, compliance and finance divisions. Shannon has also served Native Country in the private sector​ as an attorney​, leading a large national firm’s Native Nations law practice group that worked to strengthen, maintain and protect sovereignty, self-determination and culture. Shannon was appointed by Secretary​ of the Department of the Interior, Sally Jewell to the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act Review Committee in 2013; and was appointed by President Barack Obama as the first Native American to the Cultural Property Advisory Committee within the State Department in 2015. ​Shannon received a B.A.​in American Indian Studies​ from California State University, Long Beach and joint M.A. and J.D. degrees from the University of Arizona​ in Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy​.

Recommended Resources

U.S. Heritage Legilsation Resources

Advisory Council on Historic Preservation

The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation provides access to a PDF of the National Historic Preservation Act.

Access the NHPA

The National Parks Service

The National Parks Service provides a summary of the National Historic Preservation Act and information about related concepts such as the National Register of Historic Places, the Historic Preservation Fund, the Secretary’s Standards for Archeology and Historic Preservation, amendments to the Historic Preservation Act, and recommended readings.

Access resources

Department of the Interior

The Department of the Interior provides an overview of Historic Preservation in the United States and links to information on the historic preservation programs within the Department, such as the Bureau of Land Management, the National Parks Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs Environmental and Cultural Resources, and the Tribal Historic Preservation Program.

Access resources

Native American Cultural Heritage Protection Resources

Association on American Indian Affairs

The Association on American Indian Affairs provides resources on cultural heritage laws such as NGPRA, NMAI, the STOP Act, and the Indian Arts & Crafts Act. They also have a podcast and offer virtual and in-person trainings on Native heritage protection.

Access resources

The National Parks Service

The NPS provides resources for NAGPRA consultations, inventories, summaries, and establishing NAGPRA Data Management Systems in museums.

Access resources

NAGPRA Community of Practice

The NAGPRA Community of Practice hosts webinars twice a month to share the latest developments in NAGPRA implementation and connect practitioners and has an email list that allows NAGPRA community members to share their resources and seek insight from experts across many fields and levels of expertise.

Access resources