Dr. Lane Fargher Navarro joined the PAST Foundation in 2023 as Director of Research.  He comes to PAST after a successful career in academia. Lane received a PhD in anthropology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2004 and completed a postdoc in historical anthropology at Purdue University from 2004 to 2005. He worked as an adjunct instructor at various colleges and universities from 2005-2010, and from 2010-2023 he was a researcher in the Department of Human Ecology at Cinvestav del IPN, in Merida, Mexico. Fargher Navarro’s research experience includes archaeological and historical ecological investigations in Oaxaca, Tlaxcala, and Yucatan, Mexico, as well as SW Ohio; ethnographic and ethnoecological research in Yucatan and Quintana Roo, Mexico; and environmental health and biogeochemistry in Yucatan, Mexico. This research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, National Geographic, FAMSI, Inc., Mexico’s National Council of Science and Technology (Conacyt), and Mexico’s Secretaries of Education and Health. Lane has authored or coauthored a large number of research articles in journals such as Current Anthropology, Journal of Archaeological Science, Frontiers in Political Science, Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, and various book chapters, as well as two books, including Collective Action in the Formation of Premodern States. He is also a member of the Mexican Academy of Sciences.

Lane is passionate about promoting an understanding of collective action and its role in good government. Accordingly, he believes that high quality STEM education that cross-cuts social sectors and is available to citizens regardless of geographic origin, gender, sex, ethnicity, and race is fundamental to the maintenance of democracy, individual well-being, and social development.

In his free time, Lane enjoys traveling to exotic locals with his fiancée Liliana, spending time with his daughter, Sofía Lillie, bicycling in Columbus’ parks, and playing golf and watching reruns of Seinfeld with his pal Rob (“Serenity Now!!!”).