Dr. Richard D. Hansen – Director of the Mirador Basin Project in Guatemala
Dr. Hansen has identified some of the largest and earliest ancient cities of the Mayan civilization in Central America with a major international archaeological research team with scholars from around the globe. His work has been featured in 36 film documentaries and he was the principal consultant for the movie Apocalypto (Mel Gibson), CBS’s Survivor Guatemala, and National Geographic’s The Story of God with Morgan Freeman. In 2013, he was named as “one of 24 individuals that changed Latin America,” by Latin Trade Magazine. Dr. Hansen has been the recipient of numerous awards including the 2005 Guatemalan National Order of Cultural Heritage, the 2012 Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in Paris, the Order of the Quetzal in 2017 (the highest civilian award in Guatemala), and the 2019 Orden de la Monja Blanca by the Guatemalan Ministry of Defense.