Beth is an expert in the emerging field of cultural heritage of Outer Space. She has chaired several international symposia and is a member of the World Archeological Congress Space Heritage Task Force. What does that mean, exactly? She is working to preserve the moon’s cultural history, including more than 100 artifacts like space boots left on the moon when astronauts on Apollo 11 had to lighten their load before they blasted off from the first lunar landing site.

“It’s fascinating and it’s historic,” Beth says of her mission as a moon historic preservationist. “Everything that is there, including the footprints, are exactly the same as when they were left there. I want to make sure it remains that way forever.”

Beth is no stranger to history. She received her Ph.D. at the University of New Mexico in 1985 and now serves as an assistant college professor in Anthropology at NMSU where she has taught both graduate and undergraduate classes since 1991. Since 1977 she has researched the Southern Tutchone culture in the Yukon Territory of Canada. Her work in cultural anthropology focuses on Northern Athapaskan peoples.

“I have many interests both in cultural anthropology and cultural resource management or applied archaeology,” Beth says. “I’ve worked most of my paid career as an anthropologist.”

While both differ in some ways, they each focus on people. By studying with material culture (artifacts) Beth works with federal and state compliance laws in areas like Mt. Taylor and White Sands Missile Range. When changes that affect lifestyle or culture are under consideration, Beth asks that the people affected be consulted.

Since working with the Southern Tutchone culture, Beth has collected stories and songs from Marge Jackson “Chuschwa” (meaning Water Feathers) who is a Champagne/Aishihik First Nations Elder. Two years ago, Beth’s book My Country is Alive: A Southern Tutchone Life was published. Following the book, Beth compiled six years worth of oral history from Marge’s narratives into a CD called “Stories and Songs from My Country.”

Beth, who is married to John Hyndman and runs her own archeology business, Archaeological Research Consultants, was appointed by Governor Bill Richardson as vice chairperson of the Cultural Properties Review Committee under the NM Historic Preservation Division. By deciding what should be on the National Register of Historic Properties, Beth maintains history through preservation and teaches her students how to do the same thing.

“Two of my students nominated prehistoric petroglyphs on the college ranch to the State and National Historic Registers which is a huge step,” Beth says. “The nomination symbolizes many of the cultures that migrated from the south and what we still see as a part of current tribal cultures.”

By providing her outlook in radio essays and interviews on preservation and archeology to a variety of media like Swiss Radio and British Broadcasting Corporation Radio, Beth is able to educate many on a history that is often not known.

“A lot of times space exploration is a topic people are interested in if they know about it,” Beth says. “Without knowing there is a history behind something, there is little interest. I want to spark that interest.”

In her book, The Handbook of Space Engineering, Archaeology and Heritage, which Beth co-wrote with Ann Garrison Darrin and a well-rounded group of professionals, the authors “illustrate how archeology offers novel historical and technological perspectives on humankind’s vast, recent and ongoing experience in space.” The book also presents unique approaches to preserving objects in space and on other celestial bodies.

With more than 27 thousand tons of material launched into space, Beth says the trail of human presence on the moon still exists, and she understands the significance of the artifacts placed there. “What some call ‘space junk’ represents the history of the space age,” she says. “The oldest artifacts are just now celebrating their 50th birthday.”

In 2000, Beth received a grant from the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium (NASA) to investigate both the archeological assemblage and the international heritage status of the Apollo 11 Tranquility Base Site on the moon 238,857 miles away. By documenting the site on the moon as LA 2,000,000 in the State of New Mexico’s Archaeological Records Management Section database, Beth became one of the first to put forth efforts to preserve the cultural heritage on the moon and the first Space Heritage site in the world while still trying to figure out who exactly owns the moon and who will be responsible for its cultural preservation in the future.