Stephen M. Uthoff Jr. an archaeologist specializing in paleocoastal research along Southern California and the broader Pacific Coast. His foundational training focused on Paleoindian archaeology in the Mojave Desert region of Southern California. Uthoff earned his bachelor's degree from UC Santa Cruz, followed by a master's degree from CSU Fullerton, where he developed a seafaring mobility model for paleocoastal communities of the California Channel Islands. His current Ph.D. research expands on that model, using it as a predictive tool to identify potential submerged archaeological sites around the islands.