Arlen F. Chase

Arlen F. Chase (born 1953) is a Mesoamerican archaeologist and a faculty member in the Department of Comparative Cultural Studies at the University of Houston. Previously, he was a professor in the anthropology department at Pomona College, Claremont, CA and before that the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He previously served a variety of administrative roles (Departmental Chair for Anthropology; Associate Dean for the College of Sciences) at the University of Central Florida over the course of his 32 year stay at that institution. He is noted for his long-term research at the ancient Maya city of Caracol, Belize and for exploring landscape traces of Maya civilization using lidar. The system used laser beams that were projected to the ground, bounced back and were recorded. These recordings produced a detailed three dimension map of both the Forest canopy and the ruins of Caracol. The speed and precision of the system was far superior to traditional ground surveys. In a 2013 talk at the University of Minnesota, Arlen and Diane Chase talked about their most recent work at Caracol, including data generated by lidar.

Honors

2017 Presenters Excellence Award: 15 Years (2003-2017). Belize Archaeology Symposium. 2013-2015 Distinguished Lecturer for Sigma Xi. 2012 Named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. 2006-2008 Member, Board of Governors, State University System of Florida (Chair, Advisory Council of Faculty Senates). 2008 The Ben and Trudy Termini Distinguished Anthropologist Lecture, University of Texas, Arlington. 2007 Awarded the status of Pegasus Professor, UCF‟s highest faculty honor, for continued excellence inresearch, teaching, and service. 2007 Inducted into Phi Kappa Phi honor society. 1995–present Co-Beneficiary (with Diane Z. Chase) of the Trevor Colbourn Endowment (University of Central Florida). 1991 Samuel Kahn Distinguished Alumnus Award, Robert Louis Stevenson School, Pebble Beach, CA.