William “Shawn” Arnold
Archaeologist
Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Marianas and the Designated Cultural Resource Manager for Joint Region Marianas
Mr. William “Shawn” Arnold is an Archaeologist with Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Marianas and the Designated Cultural Resource Manager for Joint Region Marianas. He completed his B.A at the University of West Florida in maritime studies with a focus on underwater archaeology. He then received a M.A. in maritime archaeology from Flinders’ University in South Australia. His research interests focus on Spanish colonization and WWII amphibious invasions throughout the Pacific. He is specifically interested in the amphibious craft and the modifications to these craft made by troops in the field. Shawn worked as a contract archaeologist with various companies as well as the Air Force before joining the Navy’s cultural resource team. His work focuses on ensuring consistency in meeting the Department of the Navy’s historic preservation compliance requirements. During this expedition, he will be analyzing the remains of craft used during the invasion in 1944 and evaluating future partnership opportunities.
John Burns
Research Scientist
University of Hawaii Hilo
John is a research scientist who has been focused on the study of coral health and disease. His work has looked at the physiological impacts of disease on affected corals and how the loss is impacting the ecology and biology of coral reef ecosystems. John has been continuously searching for both global and localized drivers of coral diseases in order to promote a healthy coral ecosystem in the face of global stressors such as climate change. His expertise led to his inclusion in the Sundance award-winning 2017 Netflix documentary, Chasing Coral. John has recently developed innovate techniques to create three-dimensional maps of coral reefs to accurately measure how natural and human-induced disturbances impact ecosystem function. John’s research has been presented at scientific conferences around the globe and he has authored nearly a dozen publications in international peer-reviewed journals.
Toni Carrell
Vice President
Ships of Exploration and Discovery Research
Toni Carrell is Vice President of Ships of Exploration and Discovery Research. Dr. Carrell received her B.A. in Anthropology from the University of California Santa Cruz and her Ph.D. in Maritime History from University of St. Andrews, Scotland. Before joining Ships of Discovery, Carrell was part of the National Park Service’s Submerged Cultural Resources Unit. Toni has worked in the U.S., Caribbean, and the Pacific region on sites ranging from early man to WWII. She is the author and editor of Submerged Cultural Resources Assessment of Micronesia (1991), and the Maritime History and Archaeology of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (2009). With Dr. Jennifer McKinnon, she returned to the Mariana Islands in 2009 to expand her early research into WWII. This project is also a return to early work in Palau while with the National Park Service. Toni’s research interests include ship design and construction, cultural resources management, historical and maritime archeology, and conflict archaeology.
Jeff Enright
Maritime Archaeologist
SEARCH
Jeff Enright has more than 20 years of professional experience as a maritime archaeologist and joined the cultural resource management firm SEARCH in 2010. At SEARCH, he directs the cultural resource management arm of the Maritime Archaeology Division and manages remote-sensing surveys, shipwreck investigations, and GIS geodatabases of submerged cultural resources. His research specialties include early American maritime history, ship construction, and remote-sensing data analysis. He has worked on the data recovery of a variety of shipwrecks spanning several centuries, including a number of military conflicts. Jeff has worked across the Southeast, Southwest, Mid-Atlantic, West Coast, West Indies, Pacific Islands, and Europe. He has conducted several large-scale submerged cultural resource GIS geodatabase projects that span the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, and Pacific Ocean Outer Continental Shelf. Over the years, Jeff has worked to improve the methodologies maritime archaeologists utilize to acquire, process, and interpret remote-sensing data, in order to better detect and recognize submerged cultural resources in the remote-sensing record.
Mark Keusenkothen
Director of Diving and Water Safety
East Carolina University
Mark Keusenkothen is the Director of Diving and Water Safety at East Carolina University (ECU). He earned his B.S. in Biology from Missouri State University in 1995, and his M.S. in Biology from ECU 2002. His responsibilities at ECU include managing the Scientific Diving Program and overseeing the Research Vessel fleet, as well as supervising diving operations on field projects. Additionally, he is a graduate student in the ECU Program in Maritime Studies. His research focus is the geomorphological effects of warfare on coral reefs.
Jennifer McKinnon
Associate Professor
East Carolina University
Jennifer McKinnon is currently an Associate Professor at East Carolina University’s Program in Maritime Studies, Department of History and is a Research Associate with Ships of Exploration and Discovery Research. Dr. McKinnon received her B.A. in Anthropology from the University of Florida and her M.A. and Ph.D. in Anthropology from Florida State University. After working as a Senior Underwater Archaeologist with Florida’s Bureau of Archaeological Research, Dr. McKinnon moved to Australia where she taught for nearly eight years in Flinders University’s Program in Maritime Archaeology in South Australia. Dr. McKinnon has worked in the U.S., Australia, the Pacific, and Europe on sites ranging from the colonial period to WWII. She has published several journal articles and book chapters, recently co-editing (with Dr. Toni L. Carrell) a book with Springer Press entitled, Underwater Archaeology of a Pacific Battlefield: The WWII Battle of Saipan. Having worked in the Mariana Islands for the last decade, Dr. McKinnon is looking forward to expanding her research in Palau.
Jason Nunn
Diving Safety Officer
East Carolina University
Jason Nunn is currently the Diving Safety Officer at East Carolina University (ECU). He has assisted and supervised diving operations for projects all over the globe. Prior to his role at ECU he was a Habitat Technician at Aquarius Reef Base in Key Largo, Florida. Jason holds instructor ratings from several recreational and technical diving training agencies, and is an Instructor Trainer for TDI and DAN. He has been training SCUBA divers since 2003. Jason is also a licensed Captain, and has a Bachelor’s degree in education from Northern Michigan University. Jason will oversee all dive safety operations during the Peleliu project.
Kailey Pascoe
Graduate Student
University of Hawaii Hilo
Kailey Pascoe received her B.S. in Marine Science at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo (2016) and is currently pursuing her M.S. in the Tropical Conservation Biology and Environmental Science Program at UH Hilo. Kailey’s research background includes coral reef ecology, scientific diving, coral health and disease surveys, Rapid Assessment and Monitoring Program (RAMP) research expedition throughout the Hawaiian Archipelago. Her master’s thesis research focuses on effects of demographics and community structure on mortality of corals throughout the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument. This research uses RAMP coral surveys and multivariate statistics to depict areas of high vulnerability for conservation management. In Peleliu, Kailey will be working with Dr. John Burns conducing structure for motion photogrammetry to produce 3D models to characterize the coral reef ecology.
Jason T. Raupp
Staff Archaeologist
Program in Maritime Studies at East Carolina University
Jason Raupp is the Staff Archaeologist for the Program in Maritime Studies at East Carolina University. He holds a B.A. in Anthropology from Northwestern State University, M.A. in History from University of West Florida, and Ph.D. in Archaeology from Flinders University. Over the past twenty years he has been involved with maritime and terrestrial archaeological research in the US, West Africa, Australia, Asia, Europe, the Caribbean, and the Pacific region. He has extensive experience in public and private sector cultural heritage management, as well as diving and boating safety. Jason’s research interests include historical and maritime archaeology of the Pacific Ocean, culture contact, historic fisheries, military technologies, battlefield studies, and contact-period rock art
Madeline Roth
Graduate Student
East Carolina University
Madeline Roth is a graduate student in the East Carolina University Program in Maritime Studies. She received her undergraduate degree in Anthropology from St. Mary’s College of Maryland, where she cultivated an interest in diving, maps, and Atlantic World archaeology. Past projects in the Caribbean, Africa, and the United States led her to East Carolina University, where she has continued to follow her passions. As a current graduate researcher, her focus has expanded to include WWII heritage, resource management, and naval battlescapes. On the project, she will be working with geospatial datasets to build digital maps and record archaeological sites related to the battle.
