The Crew

The Crew

Annalies Corbin-Primary Investigator

Annalies Corbin, Ph.D. is ECU's new Assistant Professor in maritime history and nautical archaeology. She joins ECU from Columbus, Ohio where she has spent the past couple of years as Executive Director of the P.A.S.T. Foundation. Dr. Corbin's research specialties include western river transportation and material culture. This past summer she conducted excavations on an early side-wheel steamboat in the Red River of the south and on a historic hotel site in the Firehole River in Yellowstone National Park. She is the author of The Material Culture of Steamboat Passengers: Archaeological Evidence from the Missouri River (2000), several chapters in edited works, and articles in Historical Archaeology, IJNA, Discovering Archaeology, and Underwater Archaeology. Dr. Corbin teaches classes in research/field methods of nautical archaeology, material cultural resources, material culture, conservation and field schools.

Brad Rodgers-Co-Primary Investigator

Bradley Rodgers, Ph.D. is a Professor of Maritime History at East Carolina University, and specializes in nautical archaeology and conservation sciences. He has won several conservation contracts to preserve artifacts including American Revolutionary War material from the Yorktown Shipwreck Archaeological Project, material from the airship Macon, gun ports from a French and Indian War vessel lost in Lake George, N.Y., and artifacts from the Maple Leaf for the State of Florida. His publications include "Guardian of the Great Lakes: The U.S. Paddle Frigate Michigan" (1996) and articles on conservation and archaeology in International Journal of Nautical Archaeology, Historical Archaeology, Michigan History, and The American Neptune.Rodgers teaches conservation, maritime history, and underwater archaeology field schools.

Chris Valvano-Site Archaeologist

Chris Valvano is a second year graduate student at East Carolina University's Maritime Studies Program. In 1998, he obtained an undergraduate liberal studies degree from Keystone College in La Plume, Pennsylvania. In 2001, he graduated with a Bachelor of Science, Anthropology/Archaeology degree from Mercyhurst College in Erie, Pennsylvania. Chris is primarily interested in the early development of steam powered vessels, and the nineteenth-century steamboat industry of the Mississippi and Missouri River. His graduate thesis will be based on a wrecked steamboat near St. Louis.

`Andy Weir-Field Technician

My is Andrew Weir and I grew up in southern lower Michigan. Although, Kalamazoo, MI, is where I consider home. I received my undergraduate degree from Western Michigan University, earning a degree in anthropology and comparative religion. My primary interests during my studies at ECU are the public aspects of archeaology and remote sensing theory. My plans are to return to Michigan after graduation and work with Great Lakes underwater sites.

Sam Blake-Crew Member

Sam Blake is in his second year of study at E.C.U. His research interests include submarines and submersibles, as well as Native American watercraft. Sam received his B.A. in anthropology from Beloit College, in 2001. He has a strong dislike of Zebra mussels.

Brian Jaeschke-Crew Member

Brian S. Jaeschke is from Wyoming, Michigan. He received his undergraduate degree in sociology from Lake Superior State University in 1997. He participated in an archaeological field school searching for the officer's quarters at Fort Brady, Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. Brian spent 5 seasons sailing Great Lakes freighters as a deckhand and watchman. His interests include Great Lakes maritime history, naval history, and museology. This is his second year at East Carolina University.

Jimmy Moore-Crew Member

James Moore is in his second year at East Carolina University's Program in Maritime Studies. James is originally from Abingdon, VA. He received an undergraduate degree in marine biology at Eckerd College, St. Petersburg, FL. After graduating from Eckerd College, James worked for a year at Janus Research, an archaeological firm based in St. Petersburg. James's current interests include artifact recovery and conservation as well as deep water archaeology. His thesis will deal with the stone quarry industry of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, and the vessels used in that trade.

Jackie Piero-Crew Member

Jackie Piero is a second year graduate student in the East Carolina University Maritime Studies Program. She graduated from Miami University of Ohio in 2000 with a bachelor's degree in anthropology. Her interests include mapping of underwater sites and corrosion of metals in various underwater environments. Her graduate thesis will examine site formation processes affecting the ferry Ellis Island, which sunk at its slip on Ellis Island, New York in 1968.

Drew Pietruszka-Crew Member

Andrew Pietruszka is a second year graduate student in East Carolina University's Maritime Studies Program. He received his undergraduate degree in biology from the University of Central Florida. At Central Florida Andrew conducted research with Dr. Jack Stout on Florida mice population on campus. Andrew has worked on several underwater archaeological sites including the Santa Monica in the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Charm outside of Jackson, Mississippi. He is currently head of the Bath Creek Submerged Cultural Resource Survey in Bath, North Carolina. The goal of that project is to document any shipwrecks or cultural remains in Bath, the oldest town in North Carolina.