Rick Peterson, Ph.D.


petersonAssociate Professor of Environmental Studies
Phone: (207) 602-2862
Email: rpeterson@une.edu

Courses Taught

  • ENV 100, 101-Introduction to Environmental Issues (Green Learning Community)
  • ENV 104-Introduction to Environmental Issues (Westbrook Campus)
  • ENV 321-Environmental Policy in Comparative Perspective
  • ENV 322-Environmental Movements and Social Change
  • ENV 341-Indigenous Ecology, Conservation Biology, and the Politics of Knowledge
  • ENV 342-Globalization, Locality, and the Environment
  • ENV 343-Environmental Racism and the Environmental Justice Movement
  • ENV 398-Ecology, Economy, and Ethics


Education

    B.A. International Studies, Michigan State University
     
    M.S. Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison
     
    Ph.D. Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison



Research Interests

    Ecological Anthropology
     
    Indigenous Ecological Knowledge Systems
     
    Community Based Environmental Management
     
    Co-Management of Protected Areas
     
    International Educational Exchange and Study Abroad
     
    East and Central Africa


Selected Publications

    Richard B. Peterson. 2006. Why Mami Wata Matter: Local Considerations for Sustainable Waterpower Development Policy in Central Africa. Local Environment: The International Journal of Justice and Sustainability (Special Issue : Africa, A Continent of Hope?) 11 (1): 109-125.
   
    Richard B. Peterson. 2000. Conversations in the Rainforest: Culture, Values, and the Environment in Central Africa. Boulder, CO: Westview Press. (Book)
     
   

Richard B. Peterson. Forthcoming. Of Micro-hydros and Mami Wata: Rural Development Meets Mythological Reality. In Sacred Waters: Mami Wata and Other Water Spirits of the Afro-Atlantic World, ed. Henry Drewel. Los Angeles: Fowler Museum of Cultural History. (Book chapter)

     
    Richard B. Peterson. 2003. Central African Voices on the Human/Environment Relationship. In This Sacred Earth: Religion, Nature, and Environment, 2nd Edition, ed. Roger S. Gottlieb. New York: Routledge. (Book chapter
     
    Richard B. Peterson. 2002. Review of Heading Towards Extinction? Indigenous Rights in Africa: The Case of the Twa of the Kahuzi-Biega National Park, Democratic Republic of Congo by Albert Kwokwo Barume. Copenhagen: IWGIA. 2000. African Affairs 101 (403): 267-270.
     
    Richard B. Peterson. 2001. Community, Culture, and Values in Congo's Rainforests. In East Africa in Transition: Communities, Cultures, and Change, eds. Judith M. Bahemuka and Joseph L. Brockington, 99-128. Nairobi: Acton Publishers. (Book chapter)
     
    Richard B. Peterson. 2001. Conservation-for Whom? A Study of Immigration onto DR Congo's Ituri Forest Frontier. In African Rain Forest Ecology and Conservation, eds. William Weber, Lee J. T. White, Amy Vedder, and Lisa Naughton-Treves, 355-368. New Haven: Yale University Press. (Book chapter)
     
    Richard B. Peterson. 1992. Kutafuta Maisha: Searching for Life on Zaire's Ituri Forest Frontier. In Conservation of West and Central African Rainforests, World Bank Environment Paper no. 1, eds. Kevin Cleaver et al, 193-201. Washington D.C.: The World Bank.
     
     
Selected Presentations
    Crisis, Community, Conservation, and Courage: Recent Research in Congo. Department of Environmental Studies Seminar Series in Sustainability, University of New England, November, 2005.
     
    Seeing (and Doing) Conservation Through Cultural Lenses. Conference on Conservation Without Borders: The Impact of Conservation on Human Communities, Antioch New England Graduate School, October, 2004.
     
    "Looking to the Side: Lessons for Sustainability from Congo's Forest Peoples." Maseno University Institute for Research and Post-Graduate Studies Seminar Series. July 2003.
     
    "Why Mami Wata Matter: Anthropological Contributions to Water Power Development Policies in Central Africa." University of New England Life Sciences Speaker Series, September, 2002.
     
    "'The Animals Have Gotten Their Independence'": Biodiversity Conservation and Human Rights in Congo's Rainforests." Denison University International Studies Invited Lecturer Series, February, 2001.
     
    "'The Forest is our Pantry'": Conservation Quandaries in Congo's Rainforests." Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies Seminar Series, Harvard University, May, 2000.
     
    "Health and Environment in Northern Zaire." (Joint presentation with Dr. Debra Rothenberg). Department of Family and Community Health International Health Group Seminar, Marshall University, November, 1995.
     
    "Settlement and Land Use in Zaire's Ituri Forest." New York Zoological Society Friday Luncheon Lecture Series, Bronx Zoo, December, 1991.



Personal Interests

   

As a teacher, I seek to create opportunities for students to actively engage in their own learning, through active discussion and debate in the classroom and by getting their hands dirty in the field, whether though volunteering on an organic farm, touring the local incinerator and seeing where their garbage goes, helping out at local food shelters, or taking part in a work weekend at an eco-village. 

I have spent a lot of time in Central Africa and bring my research experiences working with indigenous peoples and rainforest conservation into my courses.  I live in Portland with my wife Debra, sons Benjamin and Jonah, and chocolate lab Polo on the edge of the 85-acre Fore River Sanctuary, a place in which you can often find me hiking, skiing, or, in the near future, kayaking.

    
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