Sunny Greer has been appointed to the newly created position of cultural programs director within the Historic Preservation Division of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.

Greer said she intends to improve the division's cultural programs by standardizing operations.

She said she wants to work closely with ethnic organizations in identifying cultural sites that should be protected by listing them on state and national historic registers.

As administrative assistant to preservation division administrator Melanie Chinen, Greer helped develop criteria for the governor to select members for the state's island burial councils.

Greer obtained her bachelor of arts degree in American Studies from the University of Hawai'i-Manoa and has had extensive experience on the grassroots level in the area of preserving Hawaiian cultural resources.

The appointment was the second key position filled in recent months in the closely watched division.

In late September, David Lawrence Brown II was named the state's top archaeologist.