ABOUT CHRIS WEBSTER
(Long Bio - 646 words; Medium; Short)
1993
Chris Webster went straight into the U.S. Navy out of high school in 1993. He served four years in the Navy and was deployed in the Mediterranean on the U.S.S. Enterprise as an Aviation Electronics Technician. While in the Navy Chris learned a lot of leadership and efficiency that would serve him well later.
1997
In 1997 Chris enrolled in Spartan School of Aeronautics to study commercial aviation. After earning his Private Pilot Certificate and completing the training for both instrument and commercial certificates, Chris transferred to the University of North Dakota (UND).
2005
At UND Chris explored his passion for archaeology and eventually changed from a commercial aviation major to an anthropology major. He graduate from UND in 2005 with a BA in Anthropology.
Following graduation Chris went on an expedition to the cradle of humanity - Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania. While there he participated in an excavation that was looking for nearly 2 million year old fossils that predate humanity. It was a transformative experience both educationally and culturally.
2006
By 2006 Chris was a traveling field archaeologist, known in the industry as a “shovelbum”. He traveled around the country for the next four years working in 18 different states and most of the ecological regions of the country.
2010
In 2010 Chris joined a cohort at the University of Georgia at Athens to pursue and complete a Master of Science degree in Archaeological Resource Management. It was a new, one-year program of intense study. Of the five people in his cohort Chris was one of only two that graduate in the minimum of three semesters.
2011
In 2011 Chris started the Random Acts of Science blog. Over the next four years he produced 277 blog posts related to archaeology and education in archaeology. One of the series was so popular that a major publishing company turned it into a book, “The Field Archaeologist’s Survival Guide: Getting a Job and Working in Cultural Resource Management” (Routledge 2014).
2012
Hungry for more ways to reach an audience that was thirsty for knowledge Chris started his first podcast. The CRM News Weekly was a weekly podcast started in 2012 and focused on news items related to contract archaeology. That show was revamped into the CRM Archaeology Podcast in 2013 and became a highly successful panel-style show that explored topics related to contract archaeology and educating recent graduates.
Just a couple months after starting the CRM News Weekly Chris formed Digital Technologies in Archaeological Consulting LLC (DIGTECH). Initially an archaeology firm specializing in efficient digital recording techniques never before seen in the region DIGTECH became the umbrella company for all of Chris Webster’s projects.
2014
By 2014 DIGTECH created the Archaeology Podcast Network with Tristan Boyle. Starting with just two podcasts Chris and Tristan developed 18 more shows over the next several years and grew the network into over 100,000 monthly subscribers by 2018. The APN strives to bring archaeology and history from the mouths of experts to the ears of the world.
2015
Building on the philosophy of learn - do - teach Chris Webster created an archaeological training and certification company in 2015. This company ended up as Team Black in 2017. After receiving major funding in 2018 Team Black will help train the next generation of archaeologists in ways never seen before by the field.
2018
Finally, using his experiences starting over 15 podcasts with people that had barely heard the word “podcast” Chris started Chris Webster Productions (CWP). CWP was formed in 2018, a few months after Chris graduate from the Podcast Engineering School as a podcast audio engineer. Now, CWP trains people to podcast and gives them the tools to succeed.
Chris is now branching out his outreach efforts with public speaking engagements and interviews. He really believes that we can all learn from the past as long as we know how to read it and what it means.