Ms. Tomka has over 25 years of professional experience in the field of cultural resource management in both the private and public sector.  Ms. Tomka has completed analyses of lithic and ceramic materials, made contributions to archaeological reports, supervised archaeological lab and field crews, and served as a project manager while in the private sector. 

Joining the Center for Archaeological Research (CAR) staff in July 2000, Ms. Tomka serves in the two major roles.  As the laboratory director for contract projects she is responsible for the daily lab activities including the supervision and training of a undergraduate and graduate student employees, volunteers and interns, coordination of the efficient flow of artifacts arriving from the field through artifact processing and analyses to the final curation of the records and collections including the maintenance of computerized catalogues and database management.  In her other role as curator, Ms. Tomka has developed the collections management document, supervised the development of the Center’s repatriation policy, has been the major impetus behind the upgrades to the care of the records and collections.  Ms. Tomka has been instrumental in the receipt of several grants the Center has received enabling staff to rehabilitate its most significant collections
During Ms. Tomka’s employment in the private sector, she was a member of a national environmental consulting firm with an office in Austin, Texas.  Her duties at TRC included supervision of laboratory technicians, archaeological database management, curation, analysis of archaeological materials, and technical writing, as well as advising the senior project managers concerning artifact database design and estimating curation costs for archaeological projects. As the only junior project manager in the Austin office, Ms. Tomka frequently acted as a deputy project manager on large projects and served as project manager on smaller (<$50k) projects.  She successfully handled project management on several projects on which the project manager was transferred out-of-state for an extended period of time by negotiating a new monitoring agreement that facilitated the planned construction schedule with little delay.  Ms. Tomka also negotiated with a potential client over an 18-month period in order to obtain a contract. 

While employed for the state department responsible for historic and recreational parks, Ms. Tomka was promoted from a laboratory technician to the Curator of Archaeology under a reorganization of the agency.  She was responsible for archaeological records and collections management and the supervision of laboratory technicians participating in the processing of variety of materials from historic and prehistoric sites.  During graduate school Ms. Tomka worked at the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory (TARL), the state archaeological repository, as the laboratory supervisor for field projects.  Previously as a records technician, Ms. Tomka participated in the maintenance and updating of site files working with U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) topographic maps, the assignment of new trinomials, the curation of site data forms, slides, black and white photographs, fields notes, etc. resulting from contractors’ work across the state, as well as performing site file searches.

Previous to her employment at TARL and while an undergraduate and then graduate student, Ms. Tomka participated in archaeological analyses, collections, and records management for the WS Ranch Site, a multi-component Mogollon site in west-central New Mexico.  As a lab technician Ms. Tomka was responsible for initial sorting through in-depth analyses of lithic, ceramic, bone, and shell specimens.  Additionally, Ms. Tomka updated the catalogues and organized the excavation records.  As part of her Master's thesis research, Ms. Tomka served as a teacher's assistant and area supervisor for the University of Texas (Austin) field school.  Ms. Tomka's research focused on the great kiva complex. 
In 1982 Ms. Tomka was a co-recipient of a National Endowment for the Humanities Youthgrant for work on the WS Ranch Site Archaeological Project sponsored by the Department of Anthropology, University of Texas (Austin).  She participated in the analysis of the materials recovered during two years of excavation of a great kiva at the WS Ranch site and co-authored the final report.
Ms. Tomka's interests are primarily focused in management of archaeological records and collections within the context of state and federal laws and sound museum practice, as well as database administration.  She will be starting the University of Victoria’s Professional Specialization in Collections Management in the Fall of 2009.  She is a member of the American Association of Museums, Council of Texas Archeologists, Society for American Archaeology, Society for Historical Archaeology, the state-wide Texas Archeological Society for which she has served as treasurer since 2004, and the regional Southern Texas Archaeological Society.

EDUCATION:

M.A., Anthropology, University of Texas at Austin, 1988
The Societal Implications of the Great Kiva at the WS Ranch Site, Alma, New Mexico. Masterâs thesis, Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin.
B.A., Anthropology, University of Texas at Austin, 1981