Category: Faculty

Department of Anthropology
rolett [at] hawaii [dot] edu

Barry Rolett is Professor of Anthropology at the University of Hawaii. He specializes in the archaeology of French Polynesia and southeast China. His research investigates Polynesian origins and the role of humans in the evolution of island landscapes. Specific themes include deforestation, faunal extinctions, and arboriculture. Rolett has led or participated in more than twenty archaeological expeditions to French Polynesia and Fujian Province (China). He received his Ph.D. from Yale University and has taught at UH-Manoa since 1988 except for two years (1998-99 and 2000-2001) as Visiting Associate Professor of Pacific Archaeology at Harvard University.

Department of Botany
ticktin [at] hawaii [dot] edu

As a conservation biologist and ethnoecologist, my research centers on the links among local resource use, biodiversity conservation and resilience. Ninety percent of the world’s tropical forests lie outside of protected areas and most protected areas are used in some way by the people who live in and around them. My research questions revolve around two, interrelated themes: How can we balance human use and conservation? How can we maintain or increase the resilience of coupled natural –human systems to global environmental change? My students and I use a combination of approaches, integrating plant ecological monitoring and field experiments, population modeling, interviews with resource users, and participatory research. We collaborate with social and natural scientists, conservation and cultural practitioners and local community members. [website]