Charles Stanish is Executive Director of the Institute for the Advanced Study of Culture and the Environment at USF. He earned his BA from Pennsylvania State and his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. He has worked extensively in Peru, Bolivia, and Chile, conducting archaeological research on the prehistoric societies of the region. His theoretical work focuses on the roles that trade, war, ritual, and labor organization play in the evolution of human cooperation and complex societies. His primary books include The Evolution of Human Co-operation (2017-Cambridge), Ancient Titicaca: The Evolution of Complex Society in Southern Peru and Northern Bolivia (2003-Berkeley), Ritual and Pilgrimage in the Ancient Andes (with B. Bauer, 2001-Texas) and Ancient Andean Political Economy (1992-Texas). He also works with a sustainable development group to preserve global cultural heritage through a combination of micro-lending, direct community grants, and tourist infrastructure development. He was a Senior Fellow at Dumbarton Oaks Research Library, is an External Faculty member of the Santa Fe Institute, is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and is a member of the National Academy of Sciences.