# SEARCH

> SEARCH is the largest archaeology and cultural-resources firm in the United States, a 390-person outfit based in Orlando that gets hired before a wind farm, pipeline, highway, or offshore lease can break ground. Its job is deceptively bureaucratic - make sure a project does not bulldoze a burial ground, a shipwreck, or a 10,000-year-old drowned landscape - and its marketing is anything but: SEARCH's maritime team helped identify Shackleton's Endurance, the slave ship Clotilda, and the battleship USS Nevada. Founded in 1993 as Southeastern Archaeological Research, it now works across 48 states and 39 countries, and in September 2024 was acquired by Contract Land Staff.

- **Founded:** 1993
- **Headquarters:** Orlando, Florida, United States
- **Founders:** Dr. Anne V. Stokes (CEO and Founder)
- **Team size:** ~390 employees
- **Products:** Cultural Resource Management (CRM), SEARCH2O (Maritime), Offshore Wind & Renewables Services, Architectural History & Historic Preservation, Collections, Archives & Interpretation
- **Notable:** Largest cultural-resource management firm in the United States by talent concentration, Maritime team helped identify Shackleton's Endurance in the Weddell Sea, Conclusively identified the Clotilda, the last known slave ship to reach the US

## Products & services

- **Cultural Resource Management (CRM)** — Full-spectrum archaeological survey, testing, excavation, and Section 106 / NEPA compliance for infrastructure, energy, and government projects.
- **SEARCH2O (Maritime)** — Maritime and underwater archaeology: geophysical and geospatial survey, remote sensing, scientific diving, ROV/AUV work, shipwreck and aircraft assessment, submerged pre-contact and paleolandscape reconstruction.
- **Offshore Wind & Renewables Services** — Marine archaeological surveys and cultural-resource assessments for the majority of US offshore wind lease areas.
- **Architectural History & Historic Preservation** — Architectural documentation, preservation planning, and historic-structure evaluation.
- **Collections, Archives & Interpretation** — Museum collections management, curation, exhibits, and public interpretation of recovered materials.
- **Geospatial, Remote Sensing & 3D** — GIS, geophysics, remote sensing, and 3D modeling of terrestrial and submerged sites.
- **Tribal Engagement & Ethnography** — Consultation, ethnographic study, and stakeholder engagement with Tribal Nations and descendant communities.

## Achievements

- Largest cultural-resource management firm in the United States by talent concentration
- Maritime team helped identify Shackleton's Endurance in the Weddell Sea
- Conclusively identified the Clotilda, the last known slave ship to reach the US
- Documented USS Nevada and the WWII wrecks including U-576 and the tanker Bluefields
- Led the submerged cultural-resource response to the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill and Superstorm Sandy
- Located the USS Stewart, the 'Ghost Ship of the Pacific,' in 2024
- Completed 5,000+ projects across 48 states, 6 US territories, and 39 countries
- Worked the majority of US offshore wind lease areas

## Latest updates

- **2024-10** — SEARCH2O helped locate the USS Stewart, the 'Ghost Ship of the Pacific,' largely intact off the California coast.
- **2024-09** — SEARCH was acquired by Contract Land Staff (CLS), a Sentinel Capital Partners portfolio company; 1858 Capital Partners advised on the sale.
- **2022-03** — SEARCH2O maritime team participated in the Endurance22 expedition that located Shackleton's ship in the Weddell Sea.

## Links

- Website: https://searchinc.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/search-archaeology
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/search_inc
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMt4W8qsACMx1TF13j-mXqQ
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/search_archaeology/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/searcharchaeology

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/search
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-20