Professional Archaeologist Profile: Christian A. Driver

Cultural Resource Coordinator, City of Boulder, Colorado

The City of Boulder is one of two Colorado municipalities to have hired an archaeologist to identify and manage cultural resources on city lands. Christian Driver was hired in 2018 to serve as Principal Investigator and Program Coordinator for Boulder’s Open Space and Mountain Parks Department. An archaeologist, he earned his undergraduate degree in Archaeological Studies at the University of Wisconsin La Crosse Campus, and his master’s degree at the University of Denver, where he studied historical archaeology with Dr. Bonnie Clark, director of the DU Amache Project.

Boulder’s Cultural Resources Program is currently engaged in long range planning to assess the nearly 1,300 known cultural resources on Open Space and Mountain Parks (OSMP) land. Chris’s role is to work with OSMP staff to identify and manage cultural resources. Among the many tools he uses are ArcGIS 10 and photogrammetry. He also is part of the team that designs and implements plans to mitigate project impacts on resources – including archaeological sites, buildings, structures, historic transportation and recreational features, cultural landscapes, and historic districts.

Chris also conducts outreach to the public, descendant groups, cultural resource professionals, and avocational archaeological societies by participating in city information events, leading hikes, and participating in conferences. Chris has taken a lead role in tribal consultation with fourteen Native American tribes that have an agreement with the City of Boulder, and is stewarding name changes and other projects that are important to the descendants of the original inhabitants of Boulder. He has also built a successful, volunteer-driven stewardship program in the city to help preserve sensitive archaeological and historic sites.