David E. Pedersen

David E. Pedersen is a professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of California San Diego (UCSD). His research focuses on capitalist relations, transnational migration between El Salvador and the United States, and contemporary socio-political phenomena like the January 6, 2021 Capitol protest. He holds a joint degree from the University of Michigan (2004) and authored American Value: Migrants, Money, and Meaning in El Salvador and the United States (2014).

• Advisory board member: UCSD Center for Comparative Immigration Studies (CCIS)
• Faculty affiliate: Ethnic Studies Program
• Executive committee: Science Studies Program (SSP)
• Affiliate: Kavli Institute for Brain and Mind

Current projects include a book examining memory and capitalism (Capitol Crisis), NOAA-funded research on San Diego Bay ecotoxins and seafood consumption practices, and climate change initiatives through SIO's Program for Interdisciplinary Environmental Research. He also developed a Changemaker-funded course/internship program focused on San Diego Bay.

• Award: UCSD Changemaker Faculty Fellows Program