Dr. Alexander Mawyer is Director of the Center for Pacific Islands Studies and Acting Chair of the Department of Pacific Islands Studies at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa. Dr. Mawyer holds a BA from Amherst College, MAs from University of Chicago and UHM, and a doctorate in Anthropology from the University of Chicago. Dr. Mawyer’s recent research interests include language and space in Oceanic linguistics, biocultural indicators, conservation and sovereignty, and marine resource governance in the Pacific. He served as editor for The Contemporary Pacific: A Journal of Island Affairs from 2016 to 2021. He sits on the Board of the University of Hawai’i Press (UHP) and is a member of the scientific committee of the Maison des sciences de l’Homme du Pacifique among other board memberships. His work with The Rāhui Center is focused on biocultural systems and indicators, and Indigenous ocean governance and marine resource management across French Polynesia and beyond.
Associate Professor