John A. Peterson
Author
John A. Peterson, Assistant Vice President for Graduate Studies, Research and Sponsored Programs, University of Guam, earned a masters and a doctorate in Anthropology from the University of Texas at Austin. He is the former director of the Richard F. Taitano Micronesian Area Research Center, University of Guam.
Before moving to Guam in 2006 he was active in Museum Studies in Texas and in the Philippines, and was director of a Living Historical Farm and Agricultural Museum in Ohio, as well as having contributed to the initiation of the Kabilin Heritage Center at the University of San Carlos Museum in Cebu, Philippines.
Peterson served as director of the Anthropology Research Center and the Asian Studies Development Program, as well as on the Anthropology faculty at the University of Texas at El Paso. As an archeological investigator, Peterson has conducted archeological and ethnographical research projects in the American Southwest, Texas, California, northern Mexico, the Philippines, Guam and Hawai`i, along with innumerable cultural resource management projects and has contributed to projects in Jiangxi Province, China, Ecuador, and Palau. As both faculty and scholar at the University of Texas at El Paso, Peterson’s focus and accomplishments were on teaching and research of historical ecology, technology and society and archeology. His research and extensive publications include investigations and articles on the historical archeology of the Southwest and northern Mexico, Hawaiian archeology, and the history and archeology of the Philippines.
He recently conducted a marine ethnographic study for the Kaloko-Honokohau National Parkon the island of Hawai`i and has extensive experience consulting with tribal and indigenous groups on environmental and cultural resource issue. He has conducted numerous cultural resources studies and impact assessments in the Southwest US, Texas, and Hawai`i for compliance with section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
Peterson is a specialist in heritage preservation and has extensive experience in the policymaking and application of heritage and restoration projects. Peterson has served on the State Board of Review, Texas Historical Commission for six years, the State of Hawai`i Preservation Board, and on the Guam Historic Preservation Board. Peterson has been a leader in the community heritage preservation in the Spanish colonial landscapes of Socorro and San Elizario, Texas, in Cebu in the Philippines, and currently in Guam and Micronesia, and has contributed his expertise in research, grant writing, and project coordination to numerous community projects.
Peterson has authored more than 250 cultural compliance and research reports and presented at over 130 conferences and public presentations. He has more than two dozen academic articles and has been author, co-author, or editor of several books and book chapters.