Elizabeth Pestana-Chandler realized an innate passion for the natural sciences and indigenous cultural
lifeways early on and began her studies in Anthropology at Leeward Community College before receiving
a Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology, focused on Pacific Islands Archaeology, from the University
of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Self-guided and academic studies include travels in North Africa (including Syria
and Egypt) where she performed in a Polynesian cultural dance review in Cairo; and Rapa Nui in
participation of an archaeological field school research project concerned with dating East Polynesian
settlement. Thus, her career in Cultural Resource Management (CRM) archaeology began in 1997 with
mentorship in qualitative and quantitative laboratory analyses and all levels of field
studies–archaeological monitoring, inventory survey, data recovery, etc.–as well as Native Hawaiian
community outreach efforts in the capacity of CRM specialist. Liz comes to the Keala Pono
Archaeological Consulting ʻohana with 27 years’ experience in Hawaiian CRM archaeology.