R. E. Burrillo

Ralph "R.E." Burrillo is an author, conservationist, and cultural resource management specialist whose primary interests are the people and places of the greater Colorado Plateau region. Born and raised in upstate New York, he moved to New Orleans at 18 to attempt to become a writer. Five years of tending bar later, he took a seasonal job at a lodge in Glacier National Park, and ultimately spent another five years working for a series of concessionaires in wilderness destinations—including two summers living and working at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, where he discovered and fell in love with the region and its various communities. That led to spend the next five years at Northern Arizona University, where he graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in Anthropology. ​ While in graduate school at University of Utah, Burrillo gradually became more involved in the archaeology and conservation of the Bears Ears area. He was subsequently hired by a consortium of groups to help write the technical portion of a lawsuit that would ultimately be brought when an executive order drastically reduced the boundaries of Bears Ears National Monument. Upon the monument's restoration, he shifted focus to his home state of Arizona and continues to be a writer, researcher, and conservation advocate there. ​ Apart from his books, Burrillo is the author of dozens of articles, both technical and mainstream, appearing in venues such as Archaeology Southwest, Kiva, Blue Mountain Shadows, Flag Live, The San Juan Record, Colorado Plateau Advocate, and The Dust. He also appears in Jonathan Bailey's 2019 book Rock Art: A Vision of a Vanishing Cultural Landscape. He currently resides in Tucson, Arizona.