Mrs Catherine Foster is the Program Director for the Cultural Antiquities Task Force (CATF) in the Cultural Heritage Center, U.S. Department of State. The CATF comprises multiple federal agencies that share a common mission to combat trafficking in antiquities in the United States and abroad. She also administers several international agreements with countries in the Middle East and North Africa for protecting cultural property against looting and trafficking. Prior to joining the Department as a civil servant in 2011, Mrs. Foster contracted as its Associate Coordinator for Iraqi Cultural Heritage. Previously, she served for seven years as the Associate Curator of the Badè Museum of Biblical Archaeology (Berkeley, CA) and as an Archaeology Specialist for California State Parks. For ten years, Dr. Foster conducted archaeological excavations at several historic and prehistoric sites in Jordan, Turkey, and the United States.