Rich Green plans talk about his life in cemeteries at 6 p.m June 11 at the Jackson County History Center in Brownstown.

The public is invited. To help plan seating, free registration is requested by leaving a message on the center’s Facebook page or by calling the genealogy library at 812-358-2118.

The Brownstown man’s past 24 years have involved subsurface imaging of pioneer cemeteries around the midwest and elsewhere as part of his adventures with the Historic Archaeological Research firm which he and two archaeologists founded in 1993.

During his talk, Green will review some of his 47 years experience “in metal artifact detection and electronic remote sensing.”

An honors graduate of Kentucky College of Technology, Green surveys and maps site surface features such as monuments, plot markers, trees, aisles and signs before looking into those below ground and adding them to a map.

Projects have found him and research firm doing historic military sites and battlefields before focusing mainly on pioneer cemeteries the past quarter century.

“There are far too many cemeteries that have fallen into disrepair,” Green said. Poorly maintained cemeteries, he added, reflect poorly on a community that appears no longer to honor its ancestors.

“All too often, it is the repairs done by well-meaning individuals that may contribute to the problems, further the damage of delicate stone monuments, and destroy or obscure the provenance of burial locations,” Green said.

Not all the work and expense of mapping, restoring and maintaining a cemetery has to be done at one time, Green said. It likely will require years of continued support from interested parties.