FARMINGTON – The University of Maine at Farmington will hold a memorial service for former professor of anthropology James B. Petersen at 4 p.m. Monday, Sept. 26, in the Old South First Congregational Church on Main Street.

Petersen, 51, who was the founding director of the Archaeology Research Center at the college, was shot during a restaurant robbery in a small town in Brazil’s Amazon rain forest in August. He was in Brazil taking part in a research field trip at the time.

He taught for 14 years at UMF before going to the University of Vermont in 1997. He also served as a graduate school professor at the University of Maine in Orono.

His interest in the tropics led him to live in the Amazon with indigenous tribes, and he was an expert in prehistoric ceramics.

Known as “a talented, dynamic teacher” by his colleagues, Petersen will be remembered Monday. A reception at the church will follow the service.