b'PAGE12 FPAN RETROSPECTIVE 2005-2020 PAGE13NORTHWESTREGION$Stretching across the Florida Panhandle, FPANs Northwest Region includes a diversity of environments, cultures, and heritage sites. Gulf of Mexico beaches give way to large bays and rivers, bordered to the north by lush upland forests and rich farmland. The region boasts a substantial number of natural areas, including 21 state parks, five state aquatic preserves, three state forests, and a portion of Gulf Islands National Seashore. Archaeological sites spanning all periods of Floridas history, from precontact shell mounds to colonial settlements to industrial-era mills, dot the landscape.Hosted by the University of West Florida (UWF), the Northwest Regional Center is located in Pensacola and shares offices with the FPAN Coordinating Center. Northwest Region staff works closely with Coordinating Center staff to offer a wide variety of outreach programs, training opportunities, and interpretation services to communities in the regions ten counties. To assist the UWF Archaeology Institute in rough sorting archaeological collections, the Region has welcomed volunteers to its popular Public Archaeology Lab since 2007. The Northwest Region also offers a full Graduate Student Assistantship to one incoming graduate student each year in partnership with the University of West Floridas Department of Anthropology.When I started to volunteer at FPAN, the people here took me in and treated me like family. They have taught me so much about our little piece of paradise, Pensacola. It is truly an honor for me to work with so many amazing people.Dana Jackson, Public Archaeology Lab Volunteer Top left: Public Archaeologist Nicole Grinnan conducts a student program onboard the museum ship Lettie G. Howard. Top right: Former Outreach Coordinator Mary Furlong-Minkoff provides a tour of Naval Live Oaks in Gulf Islands National Seashore during the annual Boy Scout Archaeology Merit Badge Camp. Middle left: Long-time volunteer Dana Jackson in the FPAN Public Archaeology Lab. Middle right: FPAN staff with partners and participants after a successful Heritage Awareness Diving Seminar in Key West. Bottom left: Former graduate student assistant Gregg Harding supervises Milton High School Anthropology students during excavations at the Scott Site in Milton. Bottom right: Dr. William Lees and Dr. Della Scott-Ireton with the Blackwater Pyrates following their receipt of the Stewards of Heritage Award from the Florida Archaeological Council in 2012. Opposite: Kayakers enjoy a history and archaeology tour of the Blackwater River.'