Harley Drange: Harley is a first-year student in the Maritime Studies program at ECU. Originally, he completed his BA at Loyola Marymount University (LMU) in Los Angeles, majoring in Classics and Archaeology and minoring in History in 2022. He is interested in photogrammetry and the site formation processes of naval wrecks from the first half of the twentieth century. While at LMU he was an intern for the university’s Archaeology Museum and Lab. He attended the Milford Archaeological Research Institute field school in Milford, Utah for the summer dig seasons of 2018, 2019, and 2023. Similarly, he attended the Archeodig field school at Poggio del Molino, Tuscany for the summer dig seasons of 2021 and 2022. After graduating from LMU he worked for Kizh Nation Resource Management, an indigenous run cultural resource management firm in Los Angeles. He worked as a tribal and archaeology monitor for the company from 2022-2024, when he left California to attend graduate school at East Carolina University.
Caroline Johnson: Caroline Johnson is a first-year graduate student in the Public History program at East Carolina University (ECU). She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology with a minor in African American Studies from ECU in December 2024. In addition to her degree, she completed the Cultural Resource Management certification, further enhancing her expertise in preserving and interpreting historical sites and artifacts. Caroline’s academic and professional background is rooted in Historical Archaeology, having participated in two archaeological field schools during her undergraduate studies. Her primary research interests include the material culture of the early colonial period and the African American history of the Southeast, spanning from the colonial era to the Civil Rights Movement. She is also deeply interested in Egyptology, particularly the “Old Kingdom” period, and aspires to study the transatlantic slave trade by researching the ships that transported enslaved Africans to the Americas. Caroline is passionate about uncovering and preserving untold stories, and she is committed to using her skills to educate others about the rich and complex histories of marginalized communities.
Michael Lee: Michael is a current graduate student in the Maritime Studies program at ECU. A native of California, he graduated from UCLA with a B.A. in History and a minor in English Literature. He received his Juris Doctor from UCLA’s School of Law in 2005 and, after fifteen years as a practicing attorney, decided to pursue his lifelong interest in archaeology. He has volunteered at archaeological digs at Grand St. Bernard in Switzerland, Tel Megiddo in Israel, and Vindolanda Roman Fort in Great Britain. Prior to enrolling at ECU he attended the Balkan Heritage Foundation’s underwater field school in Nessebar, Bulgaria. His interests include the archaeology of the Mediterranean, and the maritime histories of pre-Colonial America and the United States Civil War. In addition to being trained as a field excavator, he hopes to prepare a comprehensive survey of laws and regulations governing maritime cultural property in the United States and contribute to a legal field guide for future practitioners
Liam O’Brien: Liam is a graduate student in the Maritime Studies program at ECU. He is from Pensacola, Florida and comes from a US Navy family who has members that have served or are serving in both sea and air. This is what started his love for Maritime history. Liam earned his bachelor’s degree in history from Florida State University. Areas of specialty and interest for Liam are Colonial History, (i.e.. The New World, its colonies and naval presence and influence, Seven Years War, etc.), and 19th– 20th century US naval history. He also enjoys working in museums and engaging in public history in the museum environment, while working with objects and artifacts in their collections. In 2024, he interned at the Museum of Florida History, working with their collection of maritime artifacts and replicas. His interests outside history are reading, sailing, playing video games, and cooking.
Ian Rickert: Ian Rickert is a first-year student in the Maritime Studies program, who is originally from Villa Park, IL. He graduated with a BS in Archaeology, with a minor in history and photography from the University of Wisconsin La-Crosse in 2024. He became interested in maritime archeology from a young age, learning about the discovery of the Titanic and its history. Since then, he has had a great interest in archaeology and maritime archaeology. Some research interests include using photogrammetry to observe the sites in situ, shipwreck archaeology, and the conservation of artifacts. Some of my other hobbies are reading, exploring, photography, and spending time with family and friends.
Melanie Simmons: Melanie Simmons is a first-year graduate student for the Maritime Studies program at ECU. She was raised in Kansas and in the Texas Hill Country. She graduated from the University of North Texas with a B.A in History with a focus on European history and a B.A in Anthropology with focuses on Cultural Anthropology and Social Justice. A few of her research interests include naval warfare during WWII, the impacts of cultural contact through ships around the world, and seafaring societies of the past and present. She is currently interested in the Queen Anne’s Revenge artillery collection as a potential thesis topic. Although new to the field of Archaeology, Melanie looks forward to pursuing a career that combines her interests in history, anthropology, and nature.
Kelly “Kel” Welton: Kel is originally from Evergreen, Colorado. She received a B.S. in Biochemistry, with a minor in Biological Anthropology, followed by a M.S. in Toxicology from Colorado State University. She worked for several years as a Forensic Chemist and Crime Scene Investigator in Wyoming before deciding to change careers. A longtime student of history and an avid scuba diver, Kel decided to pursue maritime archaeology. Her research interests include the conservation and preservation of artifacts retrieved from underwater sites, pelagic hunting practices, and trans-oceanic trade during the Age of Sail.
Ethan Whiten: Ethan is originally from Taylors, SC. He is a first-year graduate student in the Maritime Studies program. Ethan graduated from Coastal Carolina University with a BA in History and a Certificate in Applied Archaeology. He has worked on the Laurel Hill Plantation site in Murrells’s Inlet, SC along with various shipwrecks in Charleston, SC. He has also accompanied James D. Spirek, South Carolinas State Underwater Archaeologists on a magnetometer survey of the “De Ayllon Wreck” off the coast of Georgetown, SC. His current research interests are shipwrecks from the 19th-20th centuries, as well as the preservation of shipwrecks and cultural heritage sites. Ethan hopes to start his own contracting business to ensure that historical wrecks and cultural heritage sites are not damaged during construction or work taking place near those locations.