Meet
The Team

Jessica DeBusk is a paleontologist with nearly 20 years of experience in environmental consulting, focusing on program/business development, multidisciplinary project management, CEQA/NEPA analysis and compliance, and paleontology. She has completed hundreds of inventory and monitoring projects throughout California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, Colorado, and Texas, and managed large, diverse projects and teams. As Regional Principal – California, Jessica oversees PaleoWest’s California operations while collaborating with other Regional Principals and our corporate leadership to develop strategic business targets and promote long-term growth, ensuring high-performing operations and a successful expansion of PaleoWest’s business services in the Golden State.

Contact Jessica: 760.271.6943 | jdebusk@paleowest.com

Ben DiBiase, M.A. is an historian who brings over a decade of professional historic research and business management experience in the southeast and northeast regions to PaleoWest. Ben has broad experience managing an archive and research library in Florida, as well working on large-scale historic research studies for PaleoWest. His research interests include colonial American history, specifically the early fur trade in the southeastern United States, and the intersection of public history and archival science. In addition to his professional work as an archivist and manager, Ben was associate producer and host of a popular NPR-affiliate history-based radio program and podcast that aired throughout Florida.

Contact Ben: 321.258.0274 | bdibiase@paleowest.com

Shawn Fackler has nearly 20 years of experience in cultural resource management, business development, and archaeological investigations, having successfully supervised or managed projects, personnel, and programs domestically and internationally. As Regional Principal – Northwest and Intermountain West, Shawn manages staff and operations in PaleoWest’s Las Vegas, Portland, Reno, and Salt Lake City offices while leading growth initiatives and providing technical knowledge and leadership to ensure successful project delivery for our valued clients in the region.

Contact Shawn: 971.533.4114 | sfackler@paleowest.com

Kevin Hunt has more than 30 years of experience as a cultural resources management consultant in California. His experience spans diverse sectors such as private land development, affordable housing, water conveyance, desalination, and energy generation and transmission projects. Kevin serves as Office Principal for PaleoWest’s San Diego office coordinating projects throughout Southern California. In addition, he continues to serve on the City of Oceanside’s Historic Preservation Advisory Commission.

Contact Kevin: 760.207.9736 | khunt@paleowest.com

Merry Keane brings 15 years of experience to her role as Director of Revenue Operations, having successfully leveraged strategic and operational tactics to drive company growth and enable successful scaling. As Director, she uses her expertise in sales, marketing, and revenue operations to provide resources and foster cross-department collaboration to enable higher performance across the firm while optimizing the PaleoWest experience for all our clients and staff.

Contact Merry: 667.299.7029 | mkeane@paleowest.com

With PaleoWest since 2009, Kye Miller, M.A., RPA, was promoted to Director of Operations in early 2022. Kye has over 14 years of professional experience in cultural resources consulting in the American Southwest and Midwest. Kye is one of PaleoWest’s longest-tenured employees and has managed some of PaleoWest’s largest projects. In recent years, he has managed the Phoenix Office operations, and moved into a Regional Principal role. As Director of Operations, Kye operates firm-wide to streamline our workflow processes. He also works closely with support teams to ensure that they are prepared to meet the needs of our clients.

Contact Kye: 618.580.0701 | kmiller@paleowest.com

Dr. Potter has over 20 years of experience overseeing large, complex archaeology projects throughout the American West, many of which have involved working closely with tribal communities. This depth of experience informs all aspects of his archaeological practice and his role as Director of Quality Assurance, where he focuses on ensuring efficiencies at every stage of project execution and the consistent quality of PaleoWest’s deliverables.

Contact James: 720.339.4313 | jpotter@paleowest.com

Chris Sims formerly served as Office Principal in Portland, Oregon before being promoted in 2022 to Account Executive. As Office Principal, Chris leveraged nearly 15 years of domestic and international archaeology experience to significantly expand PaleoWest’s services within Oregon and the surrounding area, with work in major renewable energy, infrastructure, and wetlands reclamation projects. In his current role, he works to forge mutual connections with new stakeholders within the Pacific Northwest, Great Basin, and Rocky Mountain regions and collaborates with subject matter experts on projects for existing clients.

Contact Chris: 971.801.0677 | csims@paleowest.com

Matt Tennyson has more than 20 years’ experience in historical and prehistoric archaeology in California, Nevada, and Arizona. Since 2009, Matt’s work has focused on the renewable energy sector, serving as principal investigator, project manager, and client services manager on major projects. He expertly helps clients navigate the complexities involved in permitting and compliance on multi-year and multi-phase projects. Matt is an expert in building and managing teams that complete projects with a creative and efficient approach to cultural resources management.

Contact Matt: 949.981.5862 | mtennyson@paleowest.com

Dr. John Williams is an archaeologist and cultural and heritage resources principal investigator and project manager with over 20 years of research and consultancy spanning the Rocky Mountain region, High Plains, Great Basin, Four Corners, American Bottom, Eastern Woodlands, Middle East, and Europe. His areas of interest and expertise include prehistoric and historic archaeology, hunter-gatherer interaction with ancient environments, human population expansions and colonization events of foragers and early horticulturalists/pastoralists, social and economic changes from hunting and gathering to early farming/pastoralism, lithic and ceramic technologies, historic archaeology, regional systems, and public archaeology. John has ample experience as a project manager and principal investigator, successfully obtaining contracts and grants to perform archaeological fieldwork for various agencies and successfully managing over 30 projects from start to finish.

Contact John: 720.980.1933 | jwilliams@paleowest.com

Ben DiBiase, M.A. is an historian who brings over a decade of professional historic research and business management experience in the southeast and northeast regions to PaleoWest. Ben has broad experience managing an archive and research library in Florida, as well working on large-scale historic research studies for PaleoWest. His research interests include colonial American history, specifically the early fur trade in the southeastern United States, and the intersection of public history and archival science. In addition to his professional work as an archivist and manager, Ben was associate producer and host of a popular NPR-affiliate history-based radio program and podcast that aired throughout Florida.

Contact Ben: bdibiase@paleowest.com

Steve Karacic, Ph.D., RPA has 15 years of experience practicing archaeology and has worked throughout the southeastern United States, Europe, and the Middle East. As Director of PaleoWest’s International Heritage Program, Steve leverages his experience in international archaeology and heritage preservation work with a vast partner network to create robust service solutions for key international geographies. Steve leverages creative technological solutions to increase efficiency and provide clients with high-quality, digital deliverables. Having contributed to over 100 reports for State Historic Preservation Offices throughout the Southeast, he specializes in guiding clients through the regulatory processes of Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act as well as state statutes and local ordinances.

Contact Steve: skaracic@paleowest.com

Kate Zubin-Stathopoulos is a paleontologist with over a decade of experience in environmental consulting, focusing in paleontological mitigation with an emphasis on Federal projects in the Rocky Mountains. She has completed hundreds of desktop evaluations, survey, and monitoring projects throughout Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico, California, Nevada, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas, and is currently managing large, diverse projects and actively building field teams to include permitted paleontologists with varied knowledge and experience. As Program Leader, Kate oversees PaleoWest’s Paleontology Program nation-wide and serves as the Project Manager for paleontology projects in the Rocky Mountains.

Contact Kate: 716.261.6461 | kateZS@paleowest.com