Francisco Estrada Belli (Ph.D., Boston University), specializes in Maya archaeology, Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems. He is a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London and a National Geographic Explorer. He is the author of “The First Maya Civilization. Ritual and Power before the Classic Period” (Routledge, 2011) the first book on the origins of Maya civilization since 1977. He directs a multi-disciplinary archaeological project in the Holmul region of Peten, Guatemala, focusing on early developments of Maya civilization, human-environmental dynamics and Classic period political organization. He co-founded the Maya Archaeological Initiative, a non-profit organization that promotes research and youth education on Maya heritage. He is one of the co-directors of Guatemala’s Pacunam Lidar Initiative, the largest archaeological survey ever undertaken in the Maya lowlands.