Arthur Peterson
Droughts and Hurricanes in the U.S. Caribbean
During the summer of 2018, the Southeast Climate Adaptation Science Center and the U.S. Geological Survey recorded the oral histories of resource managers attending a U.S. Caribbean drought workshop in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The oral testimonies collected here provide lessons learned from the past and solutions for the future. We hear stories of extreme storms like Hurricanes Irma and Maria, as well as stories of slower-moving chronic issues like drought and how they impact communities and ecosystems. These stories also provide insight into the scientific needs of the natural resource community in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands – and we learn what types of information could help managers effectively plan for future extreme weather events. As a whole, these individual stories — in their own native voices from U.S. Caribbean communities — give us access to a collection of experiences with the potential to help communities and researchers now and in the future.
These oral histories are held in the The Digital Library of the Caribbean (dLOC), a cooperative digital library for resources from and about the Caribbean and circum-Caribbean. The dLOC partner institutions are the core of dLOC. dLOC partners retain all rights to their materials and provide access to digitized versions of Caribbean cultural, historical, and research materials currently held in archives, libraries, and private collections. You can view the complete Caribbean oral history series here.
CastingWords
Dr. Arthur C. Petersen was born and raised in the historic waterfront town of Frederiksted, located on the western end of St. Croix, US Virgin Islands. He lived there through his childhood years until 1971, when he left for the US mainland to attend Cornell University on a full scholarship. After obtaining his PhD from the University of Minnesota in 1982, he permanently returned to the islands. Dr. Petersen has held various positions, including serving as an assistant professor at the University of the Virgin Islands and as the Agriculture Commissioner for the US Virgin Islands from 1995 to 1999. He has a background in farming, having grown up on a 100-acre farm, and is committed to providing support and encouragement to farmers to ensure the provision of healthy choices for communities.
Scope and Content Note
The interview with Dr. Arthur C. Petersen, conducted on May 30th, 2018, at the International Institute of Tropical Forestry in San Juan, Puerto Rico, focuses on experiences with and lessons from past drought and extreme weather events, including hurricanes. Dr. Petersen discusses the impact of extreme weather events on communities, emphasizing the stress and challenges faced by families, particularly those with children or elderly members. He shares his personal experiences during Hurricane Maria, describing the damage to his community, neighborhood, and agricultural land. Dr. Petersen also reflects on the loss of trees and the impact on the landscape, as well as the challenges faced by farmers due to windstorm damage, insect predation, and drought. Throughout the interview, he emphasizes the importance of information sharing and support for farmers to make informed choices and provide healthy options for communities. The interview concludes with Dr. Petersen highlighting the significance of farmers in communities and the need for financial and moral support to ensure the availability of nutritious food choices.
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