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Sea Grant/ECU Maritime Fellows Selected


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Sara Mirabilio, 252/475-3663 ext. 29, saram@csi.northcarolina.edu
Sharon Settlage, 919/515-1092, sharon_settlage@ncsu.edu

Posted Wednesday, August 1, 2012

The North Carolina Sea Grant/East Carolina University joint Maritime Heritage Fellowship program announces two fellows for 2012. Sea Grant created the program jointly with ECU, home to a unique-to-the-region graduate program. Both students are pursuing master's degrees in maritime studies.

Daniel Brown, from Bladensburg, Md., graduated from the University of Maryland with a bachelor's degree in English. He is investigating the early 17th century wooden ship remains of a wreck in Corolla. The ship's origin is unknown.

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                            Daniel Brown

"Traditional methods used to identify the origins of ship remains are not applicable in this case. This has forced me to be creative in my efforts to unravel the mystery surrounding this shipwreck. Funds received from the fellowship will allow me to conduct further lab research that may provide better answers as to how old the wreck is and where it came from," Brown comments.

A native of Los Angeles, Thomas Horn received his bachelor's degree in anthropology at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Horn will study the corrosion rate of an iron-hulled shipwreck. His study focuses on the USS Huron, which sank off the coast of Nags Head in 1877. The data will be included in local and international efforts related to ferrous corrosion in a marine environment.

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                             Thomas Horn

"Receiving this fellowship not only provided much needed financial support for the project, but also the opportunity for continued public outreach. It is my experience that people find maritime heritage and underwater science fascinating, and my pleasure to play a small part in managing an important cultural resource here in North Carolina," Horn explains.

Sara Mirabilio, Sea Grant fisheries specialist, co-manages the fellowship with Bradley Rodgers at ECU. "These two aspiring maritime archaeologists will produce valuable inventories and evaluations of coastal shipwrecks, as well as crucial data on how to mitigate the effects of climate that threatens hundreds of archaeological sites along the North Carolina coast," notes Mirabilio.

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