ROBERT LOPEZ

CHIEF CURATOR, PROFESSOR EMERITUS, MOORPARK COLLEGE

I am a Native of Ventura County. In fact, I am a member of the fifth generation of my family to have lived in the area.

I was born and raised in El Rio and went to school in Oxnard; in college I became interested in History and Archaeology particularly that of the Mission Period.

You could not do this without becoming interested in Native People of this area. In particular, wanting to know who they were, how they had adapted to this environment and what had happened to them.

My Master’s thesis research centered on the archaeology of the Lower Piru Creek Drainage, an important location in Ventura County prehistory. I went to look for volunteers at Moorpark College and was eventually offered a chance to teach a class in archaeological Field Methods.