2018 Expedition
ECU Team Leaders
Dr. Lynn Harris has a background in nautical archaeology, terrestrial archaeology, submerged cultural resource management and maritime history. She teaches courses in underwater archaeology methods, maritime material culture, watercraft recording, and European maritime history with an inter-disciplinary Atlantic World perspective. Teaching assignments have included offering summer abroad study programs in Africa. Harris has also directed and co-directed underwater archaeology field schools for graduate students in a variety of locations. She has published on vernacular watercraft, colonial period shipwrecks, public outreach, maritime heritage tourism, and international collaboration in underwater archaeology initiatives.
Dr. Nathan Richards specializes in nautical archaeology, archaeological theory and is a specialist in watercraft discard and cultural site formation processes of the archaeological record. He has an interest in non-traditional subjects in maritime archaeology focusing on non-shipwreck sites such as ship graveyards, the archaeology of harbor infrastructure, and maritime terrestrial sites. He has been involved in a number of field schools run by Departments of Archaeology at Flinders University (South Australia), and James Cook University (Queensland), and has been employed in cultural resource management work by the State Governments of South Australia and Tasmania. Currently he is working in three main themes within the theme of cultural site formation; shipboard incarceration, ferrous shipbuilding traditions (iron, steel and steam shipbuilding), and ship abandonment.
Dr. Jason Raupp is the Staff Archaeologist for the Program in Maritime Studies. Over the past twenty years he has been involved with maritime and terrestrial archaeological research projects in the US, West Africa, Australia, Asia, and the Pacific region. He has extensive experience in public and private sector cultural heritage management, as well as diving and boating safety. His research interests include historical and maritime archaeology of the Pacific Ocean, culture contact, historic fisheries, military technologies, battlefield studies, and contact-period rock art. His current research focuses on early to mid-nineteenth century pelagic whaling and the industrial aspects of the ships employed in the Pacific whale fishery.
Jeremy Borrelli is the Assistant Staff Maritime Archaeologist for the Program in Maritime Studies. He has experience in terrestrial and maritime archaeology, maritime history and artifact conservation. Over the past eight years Jeremy has been involved with archaeological projects in North Carolina, New York’s Hudson Valley, the Great Lakes, Africa and the Caribbean. Before joining ECU, he worked as a maritime archaeologist for the Queen Anne’s Revenge Shipwreck Project with the State of NC. His research interests include 18th and 19th century maritime history, the archaeology of landing sites and harbor infrastructure, digital and 3D documentation methods, public archaeology and material culture analysis.
2018 TEAM
Aleck Tan is a graduate student in the Maritime Studies program. Originally from the Philippines, she has moved around the US since she was young, but feels at home anytime she is in the water. Aleck received her B.A. in Anthropology from Humboldt State University in Arcata, California, where she gained experience in archaeology, mapping, and SCUBA diving. Her background includes conducting GIS research projects, conducting fieldwork in Belize, and working in cultural resource management in northern California. Aleck is interested in mapping techniques and the management of underwater cultural heritage in Southeast Asia.
Ryan Miranda is a graduate student in the Maritime Studies program. He is originally from Farmington, Connecticut. Ryan received his B.A. in Anthropology from Washington College in Chestertown, MD. Ryan’s interests include Naval weaponry and maritime histories of the ancient world, Vikings and the US and Royal navy. His thesis will examine American naval officer swords from the Revolutionary war to the Civil war and how the symbolism of the sword was affected. Outside of archaeology, Ryan enjoys reading, music, playing sports, and being on the water as a rower and under the water as a diver. Ryan is certified as an AAUS Scientific Diver.
Joel Cook is a native of Fayetteville, North Carolina and graduated from Fayetteville State University with a double major in History and Intelligence Studies. His thesis will discuss the construction, history, and future preservation of the Bowling Farm Wreck, a 17th or 18th century colonial trading vessel. Joel is also heavily involved in research regarding the Transatlantic Slave Trade and has worked with the US National Park Service’s Submerged Resources Center as an intern on fieldwork for the Slave Wrecks Project. Joel’s hobbies include hiking, playing video games, and working as a volunteer football coach. He is also a living historian with the Sons and Daughters of Ham and Hannibal Guards reenactor groups.
Emily DiBiase is a M.A student in the Maritime Studies program at ECU. She grew up in York, Pennsylvania and earned a B.A. in Archaeology from Lycoming College in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. There, Emily trained in terrestrial archaeology. She dug at the site of Idalion in Cyprus for two seasons, one as a supervisor. She has also worked for the York County Heritage Trust cataloging and organizing documents and for the Charlotte Museum of History doing a study of mid-century modern architecture. For her thesis, Emily is researching maritime exchange networks in the Bronze Age Mediterranean.
Luke LeBras received his bachelor’s degree in anthropology from the University of Connecticut and is second-year graduate student in ECU’s Program in Maritime Studies. At the University of Connecticut, Luke’s undergraduate studies primarily focused on archaeology and history. He has participated in terrestrial excavations and research projects in New England, including Paleoamerican lithic analyses, colonial battlefield surveys, and cultural resource management surveys of Archaic and Woodland period sites. In addition to his work on terrestrial projects, Luke was a volunteer scientific diver and archaeologist in the 2017 season of the Black Sea Maritime Archaeology Project and the 2016 season of the Rockley Bay Research Project. Luke’s thesis research centers around early 19th century American Whaleship construction.
Jack “Gus” Adamson is originally from Hickman County, Tennessee. Jack pursued his Bachelor’s degree in History from Austin Peay State University. While there, he interned at the Pratt Museum of the 101st Airborne and later spent a summer studying abroad in France, Germany, and Austria focusing of the Holocaust and European studies. Following graduation in 2013, he was employed in the cattle industry and later the construction industry, specifically in special inspections, where he developed numerous technical, managerial, and operational skills. He eventually decided to return to academia to pursue his Master’s Degree and enrolled in ECU’s Maritime Studies program. He has a passion for all facets of military history from ancient to modern but is especially interested in the World Wars. In the future, Jack hopes to become a successful conflict/battlefield archaeologist and, in later years, return to academia as a professor.
Kendra Lawrence is a second year Maritime Studies student. Kendra spent her formative years sailing on the Great Lakes and inland waters of the Midwest. Her research interests include the Age of Sail, material culture, and modern educational sailing vessels. Her ultimate goal is to find ways that maritime archaeology and tall ship programs can work together for mutually beneficial means.
Joshua Vestal is a Masters Student in the Maritime Studies Program at East Carolina University. His research interests include WWII in the Pacific and conservation of steel hulled ships. He is originally from Kingsport, TN, and attended Lincoln Memorial University where he obtained a BA in History.
Molly Trivelpiece is a second year Maritime Studies student from Virginia and received her undergraduate degree in Anthropology from Longwood University. For the past few years Molly has participated in and supervised an underwater archaeology field school in Florida and has worked on-site in North Carolina as well. After dabbling in terrestrial cultural resource management work, she decided to continue with her love of maritime-themed projects and further her education at ECU.
2017 Expedition
2017 TEAM
Anna D’Jernes is a Master’s student in the Maritime Studies Program at East Carolina University. She originates from Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Anna completed her Bachelor’s degrees in English and Women’s Studies at Appalachian State University, in Boone, North Carolina. Her research focuses on gender, identity, and sexuality in seafaring communities. Her other research interests include cultural resource management, North Carolina’s history, conservation studies, arctic exploration, and confinement archaeology. In her free time, she enjoys swimming, hiking, diving, and being outdoors.
Ian Harrison is a Master’s student in the Maritime Studies Program at East Carolina University. Ian originally hails from Ann Arbor, Michigan. He completed his undergraduate studies at Michigan State University obtaining a BS in Anthropology and a BA in Geography and GIS. His research interest is propulsion transitions from sail to steam and iron shipbuilding. Ian hopes to continue his future research with a focus on community engagement and public archaeology.
Sara Parkin is a Master’s student in the Maritime Studies Program at East Carolina University. She received her BA in Archaeology from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. Her research interests are visual site interpretation, public outreach, and education.
Stephen Lacey is a Master’s student in the Maritime Studies Program at East Carolina University. His research interest is hand grenades, explosive projectiles, and amphibious warfare.
Maddie Roth is a Master’s student in the Maritime Studies Program at East Carolina University and is originally from Vermont. She received her undergraduate degree in Anthropology from St. Mary’s College of Maryland where she was able to cultivate an interest in colonial archaeology. Her research focus is on South Florida maritime heritage and public outreach. Her other research interests include Dutch colonization, Atlantic frontiers, and identity construction. In her free time, Maddie enjoys cooking, diving, hiking, and skiing.
Ryan Marr is a Master’s student in the Maritime Studies Program at East Carolina University. Ryan is originally from New Jersey. He received his B.S from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Global Security and Intelligence Studies with a History minor. His research interest is on Dhow construction and use in East Africa. His interests outside of maritime archaeology include recreational flying, foreign languages, and anything involving the outdoors.
2016 TEAM
Marcela Bernal is a doctoral student at Universidad de los Andes (Colombia). She is PhD in Anthropology (Archaeology) and her dissertation topic is: Arqueología en Nuestra Señora Santa María de los Remedios del Cabo de la Vela, un Asentamiento Colonial para la Pesca de Perlas del Siglo XVI. She is currently a Fulbright scholar spending a semester in the Maritime Studies Program at ECU. She is assisting with teaching the public NAS course and translations of the project report and social media.
Omar Fernández López is originally from Barcelona, Spain. He is a doctoral student studying in Arqueólogo-Patrimonio Histórico Doctorando en Historia y Arqueología Marítimas, Universidad de Cádiz, España. His doctoral work focuses on maritime cultural resource management in Costa Rica working on the Pacific and Caribbean coasts using a variety of case studies. He is assisting with teaching the public NAS course and with research on the Danish shipwrecks in the Costa Rica National Archives.
Annie Wright is a Master’s student in the Maritime Studies program. Her research focuses on underwater 3D imaging systems and their use in cultural heritage tourism. Annie received her bachelor’s degree at Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky, where she graduated with a B.A. in Anthropology and a minor in Environmental Studies. She grew up spending summers on the coast with her family, but reaffirmed her desire to pursue a career in maritime and underwater archaeology by working on several underwater archaeology projects as an undergrad, and participating in a semester-long coastal resource management program in the Turks and Caicos Islands. Outside of school, Annie enjoys outdoor activities such as hiking and rock climbing, and spending time with her dog, Cayo, a rescue from the Turks and Caicos.
Dorothy Sprague is a Master’s student in the Maritime Studies program at East Carolina University. She grew up in New York City and then attended Emory University in Atlanta Georgia where she studied Marketing and Management. After college, she conducted anthropological field work with the Ju’/hoan San in the Kalahari Desert, working on a linguistics education project. Following her time in Namibia, Dorothy went to the Seychelles for six months to gain her Divemaster SCUBA certification and learn about Marine Biology. She is now a second year at East Carolina University where she is interested in the B-29 bomber plane, and its role in the Pacific theatre of World War II.
Tyler Ball is a Master’s student in the Maritime Studies program here at East Carolina University. His research focuses on site formation processes and underwater environmental impacts on shipwrecks. Tyler received his bachelor’s degree in Anthropology with a minor in History from Marshall University. Tyler spent most of his early life fascinated with the ocean. Later on, he began to find history just as interesting and decided to find a career that combines the two fields. Aside from school and work, Tyler enjoys working on artistic projects, and exploring new places.
Kristina Fricker is a graduate student in the Maritime Studies program here at ECU. She graduated from the University of Rochester in May of 2015 where she doubl majored in History and Archaeology, Technology, and Historical Structures (ATHS). While attending a terrestrial field school in Bermuda, she snorkeled over a 19 th century paddlewheel shipwreck and decided to pursue an interest in underwater archaeology. Her academic interests include ancient navies in the Mediterranean as well as expanding current underwater archaeological methodologies. Outside of school, she enjoys hiking, camping, and diving.
Sean Cox came to Maritime Studies with a background in Classics, which he followed with a career in Turkey conducting economic analysis and investigative due diligence. This circuitous path has led him to layer interests in the ancient Mediterranean and the Early Modern Age of Sail periods, with diagnostic photogrammetry, 3D modeling, and mathematical search and survey methods. Broadly, he is interested in the ways material culture provide evidence for repeated cultural behaviors that can inform the interpretation of maritime heritage on both macro and individual scales.
Tyler Caldwell is a Master’s student in the Maritime Studies program. His interest in history stems from a childhood interest in the Roman/Greek period in history. Seeing trends and patterns throughout history and how the human race has evolved overtime is a fascinating subject. My thesis topic deals with the Crusader Era in the Levant and looking at settlement/fortification patterns on Cyprus during different times of occupations. In my Undergraduate at MTSU my history classes focused on the Crusader Era which peaked my interest in the Maritime aspects of this transformative period. Outside of history I enjoy Biking, swimming, video games, table top games, and triathlons. My long term goal is to work with research groups in the Mediterranean as a archaeological technician.