Lawrence S."Larry" Coben is a recognized expert in the fields of both archaeology/cultural heritage preservation and energy. He is a University of Pennsylvania affiliated archaeologist focused upon the Inca, and the founder and Executive Director of the Sustainable Preservation Initiative. His most recent work focuses on Inca imperial strategy and the archaeology of performance. He was director of a project at the monumental site of Incallajta in Bolivia. With Takeshi Inomata, he co-authored the book Archaeology of Performance: Theater, Power and Community. He has published articles on the Inca, archaeological site museums, and the role of performance and spectacle in ancient society. He also runs the aforementioned Sustainable Preservation Initiative ("SPI), a program incubated at and supported by the Cotsen Center for Archaeology at UCLA and the Archaeological Institute of America. SPI preserves the world's cultural heritage by providing sustainable economic opportunities to poor communities where endangered archaeological sites are located. SPI believes the best way to preserve cultural heritage is creating or supporting locally-owned businesses whose success is tied to that preservation. SPI’s grants provide a TWO for ONE benefit: they provide transformative economic opportunities for local residents while saving sites for future generations to study and enjoy.
Coben is an expert member of the ICOMOS International Scientific Committee on Archaeological Heritage Management ("ICAHM"). He is Chairman of ICAHM's Nominations Assistance Committee and Vice Chairman of its Standards Board.
In addition to his academic work in archaeology, Coben has started and run numerous energy companies. He is presently Chairman and CEO of Tremisis Energy Corporation and a member of the board of NRG Energy and Rurelec PLC. He was a director of Prisma Energy and the Chilean utility SAESA.
He is also an advisor to several politicians and groups on energy policy. Ambassador Dick Swett and he wrote the national energy policy for Senator Joseph Lieberman's 2004 Presidential Campaign. He is a member of the Department of Homeland Security's Sustainability and Efficiency Task Force and Cleantech and Green Business for Obama.
Coben writes the Larry Coben energy policy and cultural heritage blog for the Huffington Post, and his own blog Energizing America, both of which discuss major energy policy and cultural heritage issues and comment on related news from around the globe.