• Director: Charles D. Beeker has been directing the Academic Diving Program since 1984 and the Underwater Science Program since 1991. Mr. Beeker, a Registered Profesional Archaeologist, has been a faculty member with the School of Health Physical Education and Recreation (HPER) since 1980 and has lead numerous underwater research projects throughout the United States and Caribbean.

• Research Associate: Ania Budziak has received Master Degrees in Environmental Policy and Environmental Science from the School of Public and Environmental Affairs (SPEA) and assists in all aspects of program management and development. As a PADI Assistant Instructor, Ania assists in teaching scuba related courses as well as in design and implementation of underwater field projects.

• Diving Safety Officer: Nicole Wiegand is a graduate student at the IU School of Education. As a PADI instructor, Nicole teaches scuba certification courses and is responsible for the administration of the Academic Diving Program. As an undergraduate, Nicole was among the first IU students to obtain the Underwater Resource Management Certificate, and has participated in numerous IU research projects.

• Research Associate: Frederick (Fritz) Hanselmann holds a master's degree from the Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs with a focus on submerged cultural resource management and economic development, a bachelor's degree in anthropology from Brigham Young University, and is a PhD student in the Department of Anthropology. He is currently working on projects in the Dominican Republic and California. His research focuses on the shipwrecks and submerged sites of the contact period as well as the archaeology of piracy. He is also a certified PADI Assistant Instructor.

• Instructor: Mike Esher received his BA from Indiana University, and is currently pursuing a graduate degree specializing in submerged cultural resources. Mike has presented at numerous Great Lakes workshops and seminars. As a PADI assistant instructor, Mike teaches scuba as well as participates in underwater field projects.

Graduate Research Assistants

• Gina Zavala is a PhD candiate at IUs graduate student of Carribean Archaeology. Gina has completed field work in California, Belize and Bermuda and her current research focuses on the Taino who inhabited the southeastern Dominican Republic.

• Undergraduate Research Assistants

• Laura Burke is currently majoring in Therapeutic Recreation through the School of HPER, working towards her undergraduate certificate in Underwater Resource Management. Last summer she conducted field work in the Florida Keys, where she dove various shipwrecks, including USS Spiegel Grove, and documented changes to artificial reefs. As a certified PADI divemaster, she is now working towards her AI certification. In the future she hopes to be a professional dive instructor, teaching people with disabilities how to dive.

• Haley Merritt is currently working towards her major in Psychology through the College of Arts and Sciences and minoring in animal behavior, while working on a certificate in Underwater Resource Management. She also assists Charles Beeker with the conservation and restoration of various archeological artifacts. She is a certified PADI diver pursuing her Advanced Certification and Scientific Diver Speciality Certification.

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URL: http://www.indiana.edu/~scuba/academic/staff.html
Last updated: January 18, 2006
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