Mark Castro, RPA

Co-Director and Co-PI

Biography: 

Mark meets the Secretary of Interior’s Standards for Archaeology and History, is a Registered Professional Archaeologist, and is HAZWOPER (40-hours) certified pursuant to C.C.R Title 8 §5192 and 29 CRF 1910.120. He holds a Master’s degree in Cultural Resources Management from Sonoma State University and has over a decade of experience in California Archaeology and heritage management. Mark began his career volunteering with CRF at the historic Falk town site near Eureka, CA where he cultivated his love for the history of California’s North Coast. He furthered his career conducting archaeological fieldwork and collections management with BLM’s El Centro field office and the Eldorado National Forest. As a graduate student at Sonoma State, he worked at the Northwest Information Center where he became adept with data management and the environmental review process by completing CHRIS letters for planning agencies and other clients. His Master’s thesis, There's Salt in Them Thar Hills!: The History and Role of Salt Exploitation and Conveyance in the North-Central Sierra Nevada, examined indigenous salt exploitation and exchange in the north-central Sierra Nevada.

While working for CRF, he has managed numerous Federal and State contracts for clients across coastal and northern California from Del Norte County to Santa Barbara County to meet their regulatory obligations under the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA), and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). He has served as primary author on numerous technical reports, research designs, treatment plans, and other technical documents. He has produced numerous National Register (NRHP) and California Register (CRHR) eligibility nominations for both prehistoric and historic-period cultural resources, and have worked with other CRF staff in constructing eligibly nominations for both registries. Mark is also proficient in historical archaeology, architectural history, lithic and groundstone analysis, GIS, forensic methods and human remains identification, geomorphology, construction monitoring, curation, and the management of archaeological records.

Outside of CRF, he is a co-lead for the newly formed Pride (LGBTQ+) Taskforce on the Coalition for Diversity of the California of the Society for California Archaeology. He acts as a co-organizer and Humboldt liaison for the State of Jefferson Historical Group hosted with Chico State University and Southern Oregon University. He was recently elected to the Board of Directors of the Humboldt County Historical Society

Research: 

Mark’s ongoing research interests include looking at exchange networks in California Prehistory; Culture Contact in Northern California, Native Resistance to outside encroachment of their way of life and altercations with the US Military; Gold Rush and Late 19th Century Transportation Systems; Boom and Bust economies of the 19th and 20th centuries in Northern California; and using new technologies for public engagement and teaching purposes.

Currently, Mark is working on a project titled "Filling in the Gaps: The Untold History of Latinx and Portuguese People in California's Most Northerly Counties."

Degrees: 
Master of Arts in Cultural Resources Management, Sonoma State University
Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology, Humboldt State University
Publications: 
March 2022: The August Complex: Following the investigations of HSU CRF across two field seasons in the Six Rivers and Shasta-Trinity National Forests at the Society for California Archaeology Annual Meeting
March 2022: Hoys and McKnights: Historic-Period Findings in Six Rivers and Shasta-Trinity National Forests at the Society for California Archaeology Annual Meeting
April 23, 2021: The Trinidad Trail: Recent Work following the Gold Rush Trails in Redwood National Park at the CSU Council of Archaeologists Virtual Symposium.
November 9, 2019: The Trinidad Trail: Recent Work following the Gold Rush Trails in Redwood National Park at the Humboldt History Symposium, Eureka, CA
April 9, 2019: The Trinidad Trail: Recent Work following the Gold Rush Trails in Redwood National Park At the State of Jefferson Historical Group Annual Datashare, Fort Jones, CA.
March 15, 2015: Trans-Sierran Salt Conveyance: The History and Role of Salt Exploitation in the North-Central Sierra Nevada Poster At the Society for California Archaeology Annual Meeting
March 22, 2014: Trans-Sierran Salt Trade of the North-Central Sierra Nevada At the Society for California Archaeology Annual Meeting, Visalia, CA
April 24, 2010: Falk's Pianos at State of Jefferson Historical Group Annual Datashare, Mount Shatsa, CA.
Mark Castro
(707) 826-4334
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