2021 Spring Class
Noah Edwards is from Elizabeth City, North Carolina. He has an Associate of Science degree from the College of the Albemarle and is a senior in East Carolina University’s Anthropology program. He would like to pursue archaeology as a career and has many interests including maritime archaeology and Native American history and archaeology.
Dante Petersen Stanley graduated from the University of Miami in 2019 and is a first-year in the Maritime Studies Program. His interests focus on East Asian maritime archaeology, specifically European interaction in the East Asian maritime landscape from the 15th century to the middle of the 19th century and spaces of thought in the maritime landscape. He was born in Japan, cycled across Japan in 2013 (1725 miles, Sapporo to Nagasaki), and has traveled extensively across East Asia. His decision to pursue Maritime Archaeology stemmed from both a love of the ocean and human interaction in the past.
Caleb O’Brien is a first-year graduate student at East Carolina University’s Maritime Studies Program. Born and raised in Indiana, he attended undergrad at DePauw University where he majored in Classical Civilization with a focus in archaeology and Latin. His research interests have since changed from Ancient History and now he focuses on the maritime trade of the Great Lakes and the development of this region as a result of the maritime trade. Research interests mainly revolved around 3D modeling for uses in both site formation processes and in virtual reality for public display of archaeological sites.
Alyssa Saldivar, originally from Southern California, received her B.A. in History from Georgia Southern University. She is currently a first-year graduate student in East Carolina University’s Maritime Studies program. Her previous projects include the preservation and interpretation of an 18th century flatboat pulled from the Oconee River in Georgia and the development of an online interactive map of the maritime cultural landscape of Savannah, Georgia. Alyssa’s research interests are small watercraft that traversed the southeast’s inland waters.
Christopher Jackson is a current graduate student in the Maritime Studies program. He graduated from The College of William and Mary in 2016 with a B.A. in history. He has a background in public history and material culture and works as a living historian. His focus is early English interaction and conceptualization of North America, English ships of the 15th to early 17th centuries, and European trade empires and their influence on patterns of colonization and social influences from the 13th to 18th centuries. He has been resisting the urge to look eat pre-Columbian interactions between Europe and North America. His thesis is focused on the Tranter’s Creek wreck in Washington, North Carolina.
Matthew Bryson is from Cary, North Carolina, and has an Associate of Arts degree from Louisburg College. He’s a senior at East Carolina University in the College of Arts and Sciences with a University Studies major (thematic core of SCUBA Diving Leadership and Consumer Studies.) An avid SCUBA diver since 2007 with an interest in the history and cultures of pirates and other outlaw cultures, he’s been determined to pursue a career doing what he loves.
Jacob Dickerson I’m Jacob Dickerson from Oxford, North Carolina. I have an associates in arts and humanities from Pitt Community College. I’m currently a Junior in the History program at ECU. I hope to make it into a graduate program here and one day teach the next generations of Historians.
Stephanie Smith Hello, my name is Stephanie Smith and I am a senior here in the Anthropology undergraduate program with a minor in history. I want to one day be a curator in a museum or work in a forensic business side of anthropology so i am still working that out. I have two associate degrees from Cape Fear and will begin my MBA at Appalachian after I graduate. In my spare time I enjoy walking with my dog and hanging out with my best friend.