From the Field: Maritime Field School Stories

August 7, 2018 | Jordan Ardoin | casshcommunications@uwf.edu

Lindsey Howell-Franklin

Lindsey Howell-Franklin is a UWF graduate student who was a supervisor-in-training during this summer's maritime field school. This was Lindsey’s third year of field school at UWF. During her first year in 2016, she was one of the students who first found the Emanuel Point III shipwreck. She described the experience of uncovering the wreck as completely surreal. Lindsey said she has been hooked on archaeology since she was a child and that working in UWF field schools has solidified her interest even further.

Keilani Jordan

Keilani Jordan is a graduate student in historical archaeology with a specialization in maritime archaeology, and she has worked in UWF field schools for three years. She was field director of this summer’s maritime field school. Jordan said her favorite part of field directing this summer was watching the look on students’ faces when they uncovered an artifact and realized for the first time that they were actually touching history.

Meghan Mumford

Meghan Mumford, maritime archaeology graduate student, has worked in maritime field schools at UWF for the past six years. She was part of the team that uncovered the Emanuel Point III shipwreck in 2016. During this summer’s field school, Meghan worked as a senior supervisor. She has spent so much time at the Emanuel Point sites over the years that she feels at home there. “I’m part of the shipwrecks at this point,” she said.

Rhiannon Rice

Rhiannon Rice is an undergraduate student at UWF who participated in the combined maritime-terrestrial field school for the first time this year. As an undergraduate student, Rhiannon’s role on site shifted throughout the day, so that she received training and experience in every duty on site. She said her goal for the summer was “to get as much experience doing everything as possible.”

James Setzer

James Setzer is a UWF undergraduate student in the maritime studies program, with a minor in anthropology and history. This summer, he had his first field school experience, during which he mostly worked on the Emanuel Point III shipwreck. James has taken many history classes at UWF, and he feels that his history classwork goes hand-in-hand with the work he did in field school. “Learning in class, I was always interested in getting out here on the wrecks. It blew my mind looking at all this stuff and seeing what’s really out here,” he said.

Brennan Wehrhahn

Brennan Wehrhahn was a UWF undergraduate student who just graduated this summer after participating in the maritime field school. He calls the students of the UWF archaeology program a tight-knit community and says that his dive team at field school worked really well together. Brennan plans to keep working in the field of maritime archaeology, and his ultimate goal is to find and work on a cannon someday.

AJ Van Slyke

AJ Van Slyke is a UWF graduate student in historical archaeology who worked as a supervisor during the maritime field school this summer. It was his fourth year working in UWF field schools. AJ says his experience of watching students get the full learning experience, in the classroom as a teacher’s assistant and in the field as a supervisor, is priceless. “That’s what I want to do for the rest of my life—teach students this stuff,” he said. During this summer’s field school, AJ gathered data through surveys in Blackwater Bay for his thesis on the Mentor shipwreck. Now that field school is over, he says he is excited to start writing about his research.