{"id":148975,"date":"2025-10-14T13:08:20","date_gmt":"2025-10-14T18:08:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/?p=148975"},"modified":"2025-10-14T13:08:20","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T18:08:20","slug":"uwm-associate-professor-dives-into-the-great-lakes-secrets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/uwm-associate-professor-dives-into-the-great-lakes-secrets\/","title":{"rendered":"51ÁÔÆæ associate professor dives into the Great Lakes\u2019 secrets\u202f\u202f"},"content":{"rendered":"

Associate professor Ashley Lemke has long been familiar with the Great Lakes region. She\u2019s spent many summers visiting Lake Huron \u2014 but not to hike along the shore or relax on its beaches.\u202fLemke was exploring prehistoric hunter-gatherer sites long submerged in the depths of the Great Lakes.<\/p>\n

Underwater archaeology \u2014 especially with a focus on hunter-gatherers \u2014 is a relatively new discipline, and UW-Milwaukee\u2019s position on Lake Michigan is perfect for Lemke\u2019s research. When she joined 51ÁÔÆæ\u2019s anthropology department in 2023, Lemke jumped at the chance to start 51ÁÔÆæ\u2019s underwater archaeology program<\/a> \u2014 one of a small handful in the country. Lemke and her students are the first to study prehistoric, submerged sites in Lake Michigan.<\/p>\n

Tapping into underwater archaeology<\/h2>\n

\u201cI do what\u2019s called submerged landscape research, where you\u2019re trying to find evidence of ancient people,\u201d Lemke said. \u201cBecause of sea level rise, there are entire landscapes that used to be dry land. People were living on the shoreline which is now in the middle of the lake.\u201d<\/p>\n

She says underwater archaeology appealed for a number of reasons:\u202f\u201cI really like being outside, I really like being on a boat, and I really like doing research,\u201d Lemke said. \u201cAll of that combining into a job was not something I ever imagined happening.\u201d<\/p>\n

Research days mean boarding a 25-foot fishing boat with a small crew and piloting a remotely operated vehicle (ROV). The ROV sends a live video feed back to the boat, along with GPS coordinates and samples. And when she\u2019s out in the field, Lemke said, she still has the same sense of wonder she had as a student.<\/p>\n

On recent research trips to Lake Huron, her team found a 9,000-year-old caribou hunting site under 100 feet of water and stone structures Lemke describes as hunting blinds. They also discovered perfectly preserved trees and seeds.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like a treasure chest for archeologists,\u201d Lemke said.<\/p>\n

Another notable discovery was obsidian tools in Lake Huron. Geoarchaeologists traced the rock tools to Oregon, suggesting that hunter-gatherers \u200b\u200bin the Midwest had vast trading networks.<\/p>\n

Teaching the next generation of underwater pioneers<\/h2>\n

Lemke, a first-generation college graduate, found navigating academia challenging at times. As a professor, she wants to empower students to succeed in higher education, and to demonstrate that archeology is a real pathway to a career.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople have been scuba diving since the 1970s, but people haven\u2019t been doing this kind of older, prehistoric underwater archeology that long \u2014 it\u2019s a new field,\u201d says Lemke. \u201cStudents can specialize in something different and really launch their careers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many archaeologists work for federal, tribal and state government agencies as well as cultural resource management companies. They research and preserve important historical sites as well as educate the public so that everyone can connect with and learn from our world\u2019s shared past \u2014 whether underwater or on land.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ashley Lemke helped launch 51ÁÔÆæ’s underwater archeology program. Her work explores prehistoric, submerged sites in Lake Michigan and beyond. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38221,"featured_media":148976,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","uwm_wg_additional_authors":[]},"categories":[361],"tags":[],"section":[],"display_categories":[],"related-coverage":[362],"uwmnews-feed":[],"class_list":["post-148975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-waves-stories","related-coverage-make-new-waves"],"yoast_head":"\nExploring lost landscapes beneath the Great Lakes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"51ÁÔÆæ associate professor Ashley Lemke explores ancient submerged landscapes and teaches students the emerging field of underwater archaeology.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link 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