Benjamin Vargas

Background

About Benjamin Vargas

Over the past 30 years, I have had the experience of working on numerous and varied types of cultural resources projects throughout the southwestern United States, in both CRM and academic settings. My professional experience includes all phases of survey, excavation, and laboratory analysis, collections management, forensic recovery, Section 106 and CEQA regulatory compliance, Native American consultation, and project management. Throughout my career, I’ve had the opportunity to work with federal and state agencies such as the Army Corps of Engineers, the BLM, the US Air Force, the US Navy, the US Army, the Port of Los Angeles, the Alameda Corridor - East Construction Authority, the CEC, Caltrans, the University of California, and others. I have also worked closely with many different clients in the private sector such as SoCalGas, Southern California Edison, Shea Homes, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, The Irvine Company, Playa Capital LLC, Solar Millennium, CDM Smith, and many others, specializing in the operation of large-scale projects. In my role as a Senior Project Manager, I work closely with clients and fellow staff to ensure that cultural resources projects are completed in a timely and efficient manner. I use my many years of experience and knowledge of construction methods and regulatory issues as well as experience working with various stakeholders to guide successful management of projects. Through this experience, I have become adept at working under pressure, and at developing solutions to problems and logistical constraints in a timely and cost-effective manner. I have had the experience of conducting and overseeing cultural resource management projects in coastal, desert, mountain, and urban settings, and with both prehistoric and historical-period sites of all types. Having worked in such a large and varied number of archaeological circumstances, I bring an extensive knowledge base in order to manage projects effectively.