Lipo is an archaeologist studying cultural change of human populations. He uses evolutionary theory as a means of developing methods for studying cultural transmission and the process of natural selection acting on cultural systems. His work has explored community patterning among prehistoric potters of the Mississippi Valley, patterns of inheritance among stone tools producers in North America and the conditions that led the populations of Easter Island (Rapa Nui, Chile) to construct their famous monumental statues. In addition to the study of artifact variability and geochronology, he has interests in remote sensing as a means of efficiently and non-destructively studying the archaeological record. This work includes the use of magnetometry, resistivity, conductivity, thermal imagery, photogrammetry, LiDAR and ground penetrating radar.