Job Details
Sector(s)
Project Development; Construction
Median Pay
$61,910 per year
$29.76 per hour
Job Type
Mid-Level
Typical Entry-Level
Education and Work
Experience
Requirements
Bachelor's degree, 5 years of relevant experience
Position Title
Cultural Resource Specialist
Alternate Titles
Archaeologist, tribal consultation specialist, historic research specialist, tribal liaison, and maritime cultural resource specialist.
Brief Job Description
Cultural resource specialists are responsible for identifying and recording cultural resources in the field and conducting activities under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966.
Education and Training Level Description
Cultural resource specialists typically need a bachelor’s degree in anthropology, archaeology, or any related discipline, such as cultural and heritage resource management, environmental policy/regulation, law, or history. Employers typically prefer to hire candidates with at least five years of work experience with the National Historic Preservation Act and familiarity with the National Environmental Policy Act, the National Register of Historic Places properties, shipwrecks and archaeological sites, traditional cultural properties, and National Historic Landmarks.
Job Profile
Cultural Resource Specialists are responsible for identifying and recording cultural resources in the field and conducting activities under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. Section 106 requires federal agencies to assess the impact of projects they carry out, license, approve, or fund on historic properties and provide impacted parties an opportunity to comment before making decisions.
To assess the impact of projects on historic properties, cultural resource specialists often perform desk and field-based research. Field-based work in the marine energy industry could include researching and identifying cultural resources, such as ship or aircraft wrecks in the ocean; inundated or eroding coastal structures, like forts or lighthouses; coastal religious sites; indigenous fish traps; traditional fish ponds; and other land-based resources, including ports, harbors, docks, warehouses, or fish-processing plants to name a few.
Cultural resource specialists often solicit and assess feedback from different impacted or involved groups (local communities, indigenous communities, local organizations, environmental advocacy groups, and others) to provide parties with an opportunity to comment on marine energy projects. Cultural resource specialists may host public meetings and information sessions, or collect feedback through forums. They also assess this feedback and relay this information between government organizations and marine energy developers to inform how projects should change to address impacts on cultural resources.
Cultural resource specialists typically:
- Conduct field inventories and surveys, historical research, and cultural resource analysis to document historic properties and assess project effects pursuant to Section 106 and 110 of the National Historic Preservation Act and the National Environmental Policy Act
- Negotiate permits and memoranda of agreement for mitigation measures under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management permitting process
- Lead Section 106 activities, including public meetings, coordination with state and federal agencies and consulting parties, and alignment in approach across projects
- Provide expertise on (onshore and offshore) federal and state archaeological survey protocols, effects assessments, mitigation development, and unanticipated discoveries plans
- Provide technical oversight of permitting, technical, and legal consultants that provide services related to Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act as part of federal and state permitting processes
- Identify opportunities to improve consultation with tribes and tribal historic preservation officers, state historic preservation officers, and historic societies
- Conduct field archeological surveys and identify historic and prehistoric artifacts
- Monitor construction activities for the presence of cultural resources
- Develop potential mitigation measures to protect historic properties.
Job Skills
Cultural resource specialists typically need:
- Analytical skills. Cultural resource specialists must possess knowledge of scientific methods and data, which are often used in their research.
- Critical-thinking skills. Cultural resource specialists must be able to draw conclusions from observations, reports, and other methods of research. They must be able to combine various sources of information to try to solve problems and answer research questions.
- Communication skills. Cultural resource specialists often must write reports or papers and present their research and findings to their peers and to general audiences. These activities require strong writing, speaking, and listening skills.
More Information, Job Opportunities, etc.
For more information on cultural resource specialist jobs, see: