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Felicia Beardsley

Assistant Professor of Anthropology

Dr. Beardsley received her Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Oregon. Over the last two decades, she has directed or co-directed important archaeological projects on Easter Island, Guam, Hawaii, Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Marshall Islands. Her research, particularly in the Western Pacific, has led to better models for understanding the migration of people into and through the Western Pacific, interpreting spatial relationships in monumental architecture, providing the first tangible evidence of coral fishhooks in the toolkits of early island settlers, identifying what may prove to be the earliest pottery-making site in Yap, establishing a more complete picture of early village organization and communication in Kosrae, and developing a more complete view of the history and relationship of the important stone complexes at Nan Madol and Leluh in Micronesia. Her published field reports and papers have become models for others working in the region.

She has served as a consultant to federal and local governmental agencies in Republic of Palau and Federated States of Micronesia, private organizations doing business in the Western Pacific, and the U.S. Park Service in connection with their support of government archaeology programs in former trust territories. She crafted the first historic preservation and conservation legislation for Pohnpei State, drafted policy guidelines and procedures for Kosrae and Yap state historic preservation offices, prepared nominations to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places for important cultural sites in Kosrae and Yap, and is part of a group of conservation scientists developing a preservation plan for the Leluh, Kosrae, in advance of its nomination for listing by the World Heritage Center, UNESCO. She has received commendations for her work from the governments of Japan, Yap and Kosrae, and from U.S. agencies. To many Pacific Islanders, she is the woman who knows how to "see," use a machete like a man, has no fear of ghosts, and in one instance received the title of "fine gentleman."

Dr. Beardsley teaches courses in archaeology, internship, forensics, cultural anthropology, ethnobotany, sex and gender issues, and issues in anthropology. For the past several years she has served as Secretary/Treasurer of the Society for Archaeological Sciences and is a member of several scholarly societies, including the Indo-Pacific Pre-History Association.

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