Dr. Chris Begley, Archaeologist

Dr. Chris Begley is the Director of The Exploration Foundation, and a professor of Anthropology at Transylvania University in Kentucky, USA. His archaeological research for the last two decades has focused on issues of ethnicity and identity among ancient populations in the remote jungles of the Mosquito Coast of Honduras. Over the last five years, he has focused on developing zero-impact archaeological imaging technology, especially structured light 3D systems. Most recently, he has worked as an underwater archaeologist in Albania, Montenegro, and Croatia, developing underwater 3D systems. This pioneering work has been supported by several foundations and organizations. He was the recipient of a 2010 National Geographic/Waitt Foundation Grant for work in Honduras, and was named a National Geographic Explorer in 2012. He was a Fulbright scholar in El Salvador, a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellow, and the recipient of other research grants from the National Science Foundation, the Explorers Club, and Transylvania University. His recent work has been supported by the National Speleological Society grants and an Olympus Innov-X Academic Loan grant to conduct spectrographic analyses of artifacts in Honduras, Spain, Italy, and the USA. His work has been featured in documentaries on the BBC, Discovery Channel, and TLC,. He was recently featured in the New Yorker magazine and in the book ‘Jungleland’ by Christopher Stewart, which explores the lost city myth in Honduras.