STAFF PROFILES
Stephen R. Braund
Mr. Braund, principal of SRB&A for over 44 years, has conducted sociocultural and socioeconomic research in over 125 rural Alaska villages since 1973, participating in over 200 research projects throughout rural Alaska, Canada, and Japan. His research background includes rural subsistence studies, including documentation of harvest amounts and subsistence use areas, traditional knowledge studies, cultural resource assessments, Alaska Eskimo bowhead whale quotas, and evaluation of socioeconomic and subsistence impacts associated with petroleum exploration and development, mining and other types of development.
Education
1981 M.A. (Anthropology) University of Alaska, Fairbanks
1973 B.A. (Honors) Northern Studies/English. University of Alaska, Fairbanks
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Iris A. Hilsinger
Mrs. Hilsinger has a B.S. in Environmental Science (Alaska Pacific University 2005) and is pursuing an M.GIS (The Pennsylvania State University 2009-present). She has 18 years experience in Geographic Information Systems (GIS). As an employee at Stephen R. Braund & Associates (SRB&A) since January 2005, she has participated in multiple research projects on the North Slope and in northwest, southeast, southwest, southcentral, and interior Alaska. She has participated in subsistence, traditional knowledge, and cultural resource studies, including NEPA EIS analyses for subsistence and cultural resources. Mrs. Hilsinger is skilled in GIS analysis, cartography, and subsistence mapping.
Education
2009-present M. GIS, The Pennsylvania State University
2008 Postbaccalaureate Certificate in GIS, The Pennsylvania State University
2005 Bachelor of Science, Environmental Science, Alaska Pacific University
2002 Wilderness First Responder, Wilderness Medicine Institute of the National Outdoor Leadership School, held in Anchorage, Alaska
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Paul B. Lawrence
Mr. Lawrence has a B.A. in Anthropology (University of Alaska Anchorage 2004) specializing in cultural anthropology / archaeology with a focus on subsistence and cultural resource management. An employee at SRB&A since March 2006, Mr. Lawrence has nearly 20 years experience in anthropology and meets the Secretary of the Interior’s Historic Preservation Professional Qualification Standards for Cultural Anthropology (62 FR 33708 [June 20, 1997]). Mr. Lawrence has participated in multiple projects across all regions of Alaska. He has served as a lead or co-lead on a number of large-scale baseline and NEPA analyses for subsistence (including ANILCA 810 analyses), sociocultural, and cultural resources (including Section 106 projects). Mr. Lawrence has also participated in several projects aimed at integrating indigenous knowledge with western science.
Education
2014 Learn to Return – Wilderness Safety Training
2009 “Landscape Preservation: An Introduction,” National Preservation Institute (NPI)
2004 Bachelor of Arts, Anthropology, University of Alaska Anchorage
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Raena K. Schraer
Ms. Schraer has a B.A. in Geography and Spanish (Middlebury College, January 2002) specializing in Geographic Information Systems (GIS). As an employee at Stephen R. Braund & Associates (SRB&A) since May 2004, Ms. Schraer has conducted numerous ethnological and subsistence related interviews with residents of rural Alaskan villages, as well as assisted staff archaeologists in the field during archaeological surveys. Ms. Schraer is skilled at post-field data processing, and the production of reports, tables and maps, and has a practical knowledge of the programs necessary to make use of this type of data. Ms. Schraer’s focus is GIS and she produces or edits maps associated with the majority of projects at SRB&A.
Education
2002 Bachelor of Arts, Geography and Spanish, Middlebury College
2003/2004 Continuing education at the University of Utah and University of Alaska Anchorage
2000 Coursework in Geography, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain
1999 Coursework at Universidad Espíritu Santo, Guyaquil, Ecuador
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Elizabeth G. Sears
Ms. Sears has a B.A. in Anthropology (University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill). She has over 18 years experience in cultural anthropology and meets the Secretary of the Interior’s Historic Preservation Professional Qualification Standards for Cultural Anthropology (62 FR 33708 [June 20, 1997]). As an employee at Stephen R. Braund & Associates (SRB&A) since February 2005, she has participated in multiple research projects on across Alaska. She has participated in subsistence, traditional knowledge, and cultural resource studies, including NEPA EIS and ANILCA 810 analyses for subsistence. Ms. Sears is skilled in ethnographic fieldwork, tribal consultation, mapping, development and implementation of field methodologies, databases, and all aspects of reporting.
Education
2001 B.A. Anthropology, University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill
Minor in African Studies
2001 Roatan Island Field School, Wake Forest University, Anthropology Department
2000 Roatan Island Field School, Wake Forest University, Anthropology Department
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Randy Tedor
Mr. Tedor has a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies (University of Alaska Anchorage 2006) and a Master of Arts in Anthropology (University of Alaska Anchorage 2022) specializing in archaeology and geoarchaeology with a focus on landscape and paleoenvironmental reconstruction, site formation processes, and traditional skills and technology. He has 21 years of experience in Alaskan archaeology, and has also worked in the Russian High Arctic, Europe, and continental U.S. He has co-authored and contributed to several articles in peer-reviewed journals and presented at a number of professional conferences. Mr. Tedor has served as a lead, co-lead, and team member on numerous cultural resource projects throughout Alaska ranging from small-scale private and academic ventures to large-scale multi-year, multi-phase, Section 106 projects involving multiple Federal, State, private and local agencies and stakeholders.
Education
2022 M.A. (Anthropology) University of Alaska, Anchorage.
2013 Federal Highway Administration – DOTA Section 4(f) Training
2012 “Conflict Management and Negotiation Skills for Cultural and Natural Resource Managers” National Preservation Institute (NPI)
2011 “Section 106: An Introduction” National Preservation Institute (NPI)
2006 Bachelor of Arts, Interdisciplinary Studies, University of Alaska Anchorage
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Shannon L. Williams
Ms. Williams has a B.A. in Anthropology (University of Alaska Anchorage 2011) where she focused much of her time studying Alaska Native cultures. As an employee of SRB&A since January 2015, she has participated in multiple projects on the North Slope, Bristol Bay, and interior and southcentral Alaska. Ms. Williams has led, co-led, and/or assisted with project fieldwork including subsistence mapping interviews, traditional knowledge workshops and interviews, social indicator surveys, and archaeological surveys. She has also been involved in the logistics and coordination of field work, archival research, data analysis, report writing, and GIS analysis for various projects.
Education
2017 Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative Research Ethics & Compliance Training
2011 Bachelor of Arts, Anthropology, University of Alaska Anchorage