An IUP graduate is a lead archaeologist on the History Channel series "The Curse of Oak Island"
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Oak Island, Nova Scotia, is said to have a legendary treasure buried somewhere deep on the isle and for over 200 years, people have been searching for it.
A few years ago, the History Channel started chronicling the ongoing search with their documentary series "The Curse of Oak Island." If you've been watching the show this season, you may have noticed one of the archaeologists is digging into the past while proudly sporting a sweatshirt from her alma mater, Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
Jamie Kouba got her master's degree in anthropology from IUP and is now a lead archaeologist on both the dig for this legendary treasure and the show chronicling the adventure.
"I wanted so bad for IUP to be represented on the show," said Kouba. "Because honestly, I wouldn't be there if it wasn't for my amazing professors and the support that I got at IUP."
Kouba grew up in northcentral Pennsylvania in the town of Mansfield. She said that she fell in love with archaeology after she saw a famous film that followed the adventures of a swashbuckling archaeologist named Indiana Jones.
"So 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' came out the same year I was born," Kouba said. "I don't remember the first time I watched it, I just know that from the first time I watched it, I was pretty much hooked."
From Indiana Jones to Indiana, Pa., Kouba says that she went for her master's degree in anthropology at IUP while her daughter, Jessica, was studying biology at IUP as an undergrad. She can't say enough about the education and training she received at the school that helped make her a fixture on one of the History Channel's most popular shows.
While Kouba was not allowed to give away what the big finds were this season on the show, she did say that everyone she worked with on Oak Island was amazing and she said that she has great expectations for solving the mystery of this lost treasure and all the secrets that surround it.
"My biggest hope is that they find this incredible treasure that they've been looking for," she said. "Whether it is esoteric or actual gold or literature, or whatever it is, I hope that they find it."
You can catch Kouba and all the treasure hunters on the "Curse of Oak Island" Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on the History Channel. And if you are watching, keep an eye out for her IUP sweatshirt.
