Fredrik Hiebert

Dr. Fredrik Hiebert, Explorer at the National Geographic Society has worked on all seven continents of the world, and brought great stories of archaeological discovery to the pages of National Geographic for more than 20 years. A field archaeologist and explorer, Hiebert has traced ancient trade routes overland and across the seas for more than 30 years. Hiebert has led excavations at ancient Silk Road sites across Asia, from Egypt to Mongolia. His excavations at a 4,000-year-old Silk Road city in Turkmenistan made headlines around the world. He also conducts underwater archaeology projects in South America's Lake Titicaca, and in the highest lake of the Silk Road in search of submerged settlements.

Hiebert completed his doctoral dissertation at Harvard University in 1992 and held the Robert H. Dyson Endowed Chair of Near Eastern Archaeology at the University of Pennsylvania before joining the National Geographic Society in 2003. Hiebert also holds research positions with the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, and is the Director of the Anau Archaeological Project. Among other honors, Hiebert received the Chairman's Award from the National Geographic Committee for Research and Exploration in 1998.

As National Geographic's archaeologist-in-residence for several decades, until recently, he extended the enthusiasm for archaeology to the public in lectures, presentations, films, and museum exhibits. The exhibitions traveled world-wide and included: Treasures from Afghanistan, Peruvian Gold, The Greeks, Ancient Seafarers, and Indiana Jones and the Adventure of Archaeology.