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Ernest S. (Skip) Lohse (1953 - 2014) was a Professor of Anthropology, Idaho State University, and Curator of Anthropology, Idaho Museum of Natural History. Skip was born and raised in northern California farming country, received his BA in Anthropology from California State University, Chico (1975), and then his MA (1977) and PhD in Anthropology from the University of Utah (1981). He worked as a research scientist at the University of Washington (1982-85) and at the Smithsonian Institution (1985-89). He came to Idaho State University in 1989 and was delighted to make his home in the Northern Intermountain West. He was married to Dotty Sammons Lohse, an Associate Professor of Education, Idaho State University, and had three children, Sam, Keith and Gretchen. The family supports two dogs, a cat, and miscellaneous other animals.

Skip's hobbies revolved around outdoor activities with his family, highlighted by an addiction to soccer as coach and referee and woodworking.

Research Interests

Skip had done archaeological fieldwork in California, the Southwest, Great Basin, Columbia Plateau and Western Samoa. He was preoccupied with developing computer applications for database building, products for informal science education, and meaningful approaches for analysis of material culture. He worked with colleagues on developing an expert classification system for North American stone projectile points and to continue to recast the DIGITAL STONES CD-ROM for training stone tool analysts.

His fantasies, other than having his soccer teams win regional championships, were to have unlimited funding and time to explore traditional woodworking techniques. When not in the field or lab as part of his day job, his attention would alternate between soccer fields and his woodworking shop.