Richard Ciolek-Torrello, Ph.D., RPA
Vice President/Chief Research Officer

With SRI since 1988, chief research officer Dr. Richard Ciolek-Torrello is responsible for ensuring that the company meets its prime mission to conduct interesting research on the human condition within the framework of global heritage resource management. Dr. Ciolek-Torrello directs a team of two regional research directors and oversees the company’s six research departments/programs to ensure that all projects conducted by SRI meet the high standard of quality demanded by government agencies and private clients. Dr. Ciolek-Torrello received a B.A. in Anthropology from the University of California and a Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Arizona.

Since 1969, Dr. Ciolek-Torrello has worked on hundreds of archaeological and historical projects in California and the U.S. Southwest and has conducted ethnoarchaeological research in India. He has received training in the implementation of Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, and the California Environmental Quality Act, as well as traditional cultural properties. He has directed numerous large, complex, and, often, controversial projects for transportation, water, forest, and private developers. As part of these projects, he has developed treatment plans and cultural-historical overviews, contributed to Environmental Impact Statements and Environmental Assessments, and completed archaeological and historical surveys, evaluation, and data recovery mitigation studies.

In the course of his many years of work in heritage resource management, Dr. Ciolek-Torrello has become an expert on the prehistoric transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture, irrigation agriculture, domestic organization, and site structure. He has investigated a diverse range of heritage resources, from coastal hunter-gatherer settlements, desert farming villages, and nineteenth-century western towns, to twentieth-century estates. The results of his extensive research are published in over 80 technical reports, many of which are distributed by the University of Arizona Press, as well articles in peer-reviewed journals, such as the Journal of Field Archaeology and Kiva, and books published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Cambridge University Press, Prehistory Press, and the University of New Mexico Press. Dr. Ciolek-Torrello also has made over 60 presentations about his research at state, national, and international archaeological and anthropological conferences. He has taught courses in archaeology at the University of Arizona Extension and has made presentations to local archaeological societies and university audiences. He has received research grants from the Arizona State Historic Preservation Office, the Archaeological Survey Association, and Earthwatch, as well as a National Defense Education Act graduate fellowship.

He is a member of various professional organizations, including the Arizona Archaeological Council, the European Association of Archaeologists, the Society for American Archeology, the Society for California Archaeology, and the Society for Historical Archaeology. He currently serves on the Standards Board of the Register of Professional Archaeologists.