Patrick Kirch

For more than four decades I have studied the archaeology, ethnography, and paleoecology of the Pacific Islands. I have carried out original field research throughout Oceania, including work in Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, the Loyalty Islands, Kingdom of Tonga, American Samoa, Yap, Belau, the Marshall Islands, the Cook Islands, French Polynesia (Mangareva, Mo'orea), and Hawai'i. My research results have been presented in more than 250 books, monographs, articles, and chapters. Among my major books are: Unearthing the Polynesian Past (U. Hawaii Press 2016), Kua'aina Kahiko (U. Hawaii Press, 2014), A Shark Going Inland is my Chief (Univ. California Press, 2012); On the Road of the Winds (Univ. California Press, 2000); How Chiefs Became Kings (Univ. California Press, 2010); Feathered Gods and Fishhooks (Univ. Hawaii Press, 1985); The Wet and the Dry (Univ. Chicago Press, 1994); The Lapita Peoples (Blackwells, 1997); and The Evolution of the Polynesian Chiefdoms (Cambridge Univ. Press, 1984). I currently have active research projects in Hawai'i and French Polynesia, both of which are focused on the reciprocal interactions between Polynesian populations their their island ecosystems.
Address: 232 Kroeber Hall
University of California
Berkeley, CA 94720 USA