Mary C. De La Garza is a program director at the University of Iowa Office of the State Archaeologist. She develops applications that assist with archaeological research and manages all research data. Previously she was the systems administrator at Mercy Housing in Denver, Colorado. As a public affairs officer with the U.S. Navy in the 1980s and 1990s, she traveled the world, landed in Iowa, and is now its happy captive. She has a passion for archaeology and geology and wishes every little girl had a backyard full of dirt to dig in. She makes her home in Long Grove, Iowa.