Jon Adams is a Professor in Maritime Archaeology and Founding Director of the University of Southampton’s Centre for Maritime Archaeology. He trained at Durham and Stockholm Universities and his research interests centre on the processes of innovation and social change, particularly as evidenced through the technology of ship building. He also has a long term interest in the ethics as well as the theory and methods of deep water archaeology. He became involved in maritime archaeology through the Mary Rose Project where, as a Deputy Director of Archaeology, he co-superintended the diving operations in the salvage and recovery phase. He went on to direct several other underwater excavations including the Sea Venture Project in Bermuda, the Amsterdam Project in the UK (with Prof Jerzy Gawronski) and the Kravel Project in Sweden (with Prof Johan Rönnby). As well as the Black Sea Maritime Archaeology Project, he is currently working on projects in the UK, the Baltic and the Channel Islands.

Professor Vagalinski has been Head of the National Archaeological Institute & Museum (NAIM), part of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS) since 2010. He has played an instrumental role in countless pioneering Bulgarian Archaeology projects including being a member of the UNESCO team that examined in 2004 the protection, survey, display and management of the heritage of culture in FRY of Macedonia (Former Yugoslav Republic of) (2006).

Professor Vagalinski has a particular passion for Classical archaeology including the Roman Empire period and played an integral role as a member of the international “Bratislava group” advising UNESCO regarding frontiers of the Roman Empire. He is Editor-in-Chief and deputy Editor-in-Chief of scholar publications published at NAIM as well as being a member of the valuation commissions by the Ministry of regional development regarding heritage of culture within Bulgaria.

 Hristina Angelova has been instrumental in the Black Sea MAP since planning began in 2014 working as the lead Bulgarian maritime archaeologist on the expedition.

Hristina sadly passed away in July 2016. The team are committed to completing her work that she had started in year one of the project and fulfilling her objective to create the most comprehensive picture possible of Bulgaria’s submerged landscapes. The expertise and passion that she brought to Black Sea MAP will always be remembered.

She worked as Head of the Centre for Underwater Archaeology (CUA) – a state cultural institute under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture in Sozopol since 1993 and had held various positions since 1981. An expert in her field, she was responsible for the team conducting the underwater archaeological survey and excavation work on the Western Bulgarian Black Sea littoral and since 1987 had participated in all major underwater archaeological survey and excavation projects in Bulgaria 

Dr. Kalin Dimitrov graduated in Archaeology at the St. Kliment Ohridski University, Sofia in 1992. In the same year he was appointed as Maritime Archaeologist in the Centre for Underwater Archaeology in Sozopol. In 2007, under the supervision of Prof. Henrieta Todorova, he successfully defended his Doctoral Dissertation with the topic “Early Copper Metallurgy along the Western Coast of the Black Sea from the 5^th through the early 4^th Millenium BC”. Since 2010 he has been employed in the National Archaeological Institute with Museum at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. His scientific interests include the earliest golden and copper metallurgy on the Balkans, prehistoric settlement patterns along the Bulgarian Black Sea coast, coastal and sea-level change.

Kalin Dimtrov has participated in numerous archaeological projects in Bulgaria and abroad. He is currently working on the publication of the Varna Chalcolithic Necropolis, in cooperation with the Varna Archaeological Museum.

Dr Justin Dix has over twenty years’ of experience in using high resolution marine geophysical (swath, side scan and Chirp sub-bottom profiling [including the development of the first true 3D high resolution seismic system]) and geological techniques for investigating archaeological sites (both wrecks and submerged landscapes).

He uses similar techniques to investigate a wide range of engineering problems associated with offshore infrastructure (wind turbines; submarine cables and coastal structures). He is also currently Head of the Geology & Geophysics Research Group in the School of Ocean and Earth Science at the University of Southampton.

Professor Johan Rönnby studied archaeology at Stockholm University and took part in his first underwater archaeological excavations in 1984, firstly at the Bronze Age Oakbank Crannog in Scotland and then a medieval cog at Oskarshamn on the east coast of southern Sweden. He gained his PhD in 1995 from Stockholm University, the basis for which was the underwater investigation and reinterpretation of the late Viking Age lake construction at Bulverket on Gotland in Sweden. Since then he has taken part in and directed many maritime archaeological projects in the Baltic.

In 2010 Johan Rönnby was appointed as professor of Maritime archaeology at Södertörn University and since 2011 also has been Docent in maritime archaeology at Helsinki University. He is Director of the Maritime Archaeological Research Institute at Södertörn University (MARIS).

Dr Kroum Batchvarov is an Assistant Professor of Maritime Archaeology at the Department of Anthropology and the Maritime Studies Program, University of Connecticut. Dr. Batchvarov’s main research focus is maritime archaeology of 17th-century seafaring, specializing in English and Dutch ship construction and Black Sea seafaring and shipbuilding.

Between 2000 and 2003, with a team, he organized and co-directed the first complete archaeological excavation of a Black Sea shipwreck in the southern bay of Kitten, Bulgaria.

Batchvarov has participated in a number of excavations including a 5th century BC Greek merchantman at Tektas Burnu, Turkey, a 6^thcentury Phoenician shipwreck at Bajo de la Campana, Spain, and the 17^thc. Virginia Company ship Warwick,Bermuda.

Dr. Dragomir Garbov is a maritime archaeologist at the Centre for Underwater Archaeology (CUA). Bwtween 2002 and 2010 he studied at the Rhenish Friedrich Wilchelm’s University of Bonn and the New Bulgarian University, Sofia, where in 2015 he obtained his PhD. He specialised Classical Archaeology at the American School of Classical Studies in Athens and Underwater Archaeology at the International Centre for Underwater Archaeology under the Auspices of UNESCO in Zadar. Dragomir’s current research focuses on the coastal cultural landscapes, maritime culture and seafaring along the Western Pontic coast from Antiquity to the Post-Medieval Era.

In his line of work Drаgomir has participated in numerous scientific projects, archaeological excavations and surveys. A specialist in underwater archaeological method and theory, in archaeological illustration and 3D modelling, an experienced diver and skipper, he is currently the excavations director of the “St. Nicholas Bay” shipwreck in Chernomorets, Bulgaria.

Dr Helen Farr is a maritime archaeologist with a focus on prehistoric submerged landscapes and early seafaring. She completed her PhD at Cambridge University studying Mediterranean obsidian circulation and maritime travel in the Neolithic. This research led into a post-doctoral position at Cambridge University and a fellowship within the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research.

In 2009 she was awarded a Leverhulme fellowship to study the prehistoric submerged landscapes of the Solent and the dynamic relationship between people and their changing environment as sea-levels rose during the Holocene. Helen currently holds an interdisciplinary lectureship within the newly formed Southampton Marine and Maritime Institute where she is currently based in Archaeology with an affiliation to Ocean and Earth Science. Helen is an HSE Commercial diver, a member of the Nautical Archaeological Society, UK delegate for SPLASHCOS and Reviews Editor for theJournal of Maritime Archaeology.

Dr Joakim Holmlund has a background in Physics, first studying at the University of Gothenburg, then gaining his PhD on “High temperature Super conductivity” in 2007 at the department of applied Physics, Chalmers University of Technology. He then carried out post-doctoral research at Chalmers in the field of material science, at the same time developing parallel interests with the Swedish offshore survey company MMT (Marin Mätteknik).

Since 2008 he has been an offshore Manager with MMT and has a key role in the innovative partnership between MMT and the Maritime Archaeological Research Institute at Södertörn University (MARIS) directed by Johan Rönnby and where he is a Visiting Research Fellow. As such he has participated as project manager and operations manager for several archaeological projects for MMT and MARIS including the investigations of the warships Mars (1564), Sword (1676), Resande Man (1660), and Gribshunden (1495), and the “Ghost ship”, a 17th c. Dutch flute.

Joakim also participated in the prehistoric “Landscapes Lost” project. His profound interest for maritime archaeology comes from more than 30 years as a diver, with an explicitly technical approach from the mid 1990’s. His interest in the sea led to his present post at MMT and his work in developing new tools for archaeology under water.

Dr Rodrigo Pacheco-Ruiz is a specialist in maritime archaeology, with interests in coastal societies and their interaction with the changing environment, and the development of new ways of exploring underwater archaeological sites.

His experience in this field has been wide and varied, participating in a number of commercial and research international projects in the Mediterranean, the North Atlantic Ocean, the Baltic, the English Channel and the Persian Gulf, as well as inland water sites in the British Isles and Mexico. Rodrigo is a Nautical Archaeology Society tutor as well as a CMAS (World Underwater Federation) Normoxic Trimix diver.

Dr. Dimitris Sakellariou is Structural/Marine Geologist and Research Director at the Institute of Oceanography of the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, Greece.

He completed his doctoral thesis in 1989 in the Institute of Geology of Johannes-Gutenberg University of Mainz, Germany. He was Head of the Marine Geology-Geophysics Department of the Institute of Oceanography for the period 2004-2009. Between 2009 and 2013 he held the position of the Scientific Coordinator of the Underwater Activities Department (Underwater Vehicles) of HCMR.

His research interests fall in the field of Structural / Marine Geology with particular focus on Neotectonics and Active faulting, Evolution and Sequence Stratigraphy of Sedimentary Basins, Tectonics – Sedimentation – Sea level changes relationship, Holocene Geology, Submarine landslides & Slope stability, Submarine Volcanism, Cold Seeps and Mud volcanoes. He is active in Marine Geoarchaeological research, particularly in the search, survey and mapping of submerged archaeological remains in shallow and deep waters and the reconstruction of submerged prehistoric landscapes

Catherine leads the Black Sea MAP Education programme and is Director of Catalyst Learning and Communication Ltd which she founded in 2008 to connect people with science, technology engineering, and maths (STEM). Over the past eighteen years, Catherine has led local, regional, national and international programmes in science education through her roles as Director of Exhibitions, Education and Programmes for the award-winning science centre, At-Bristol and as Network Projects Director for the National Science Learning Centre.

Catherine is passionate about widening access to the STEM subjects and this is a key focus of Catalyst’s work. Catherine studied Chemistry at the University of Oxford and has a Master of Science degree in Communicating Science.

Ruth is the Black Sea MAP STEM Scholar Programme’s Lead Mentor. She is a qualified science teacher with a background in science communication. After completing a degree in biomedical sciences she worked in science centres and other informal learning environments, developing and delivering workshops and teacher resources.

She has experience of researching and communicating a range of science topics, leading outreach events, coordinating residential programs, recruiting external academic and professional experts and developing web content for educational websites. Ruth worked for over six years in schools in Bristol and Dorset and now advises schools, academics and science, technology, engineering and maths professionals across Dorset to increase engagement and participation in STEM subjects.

Abi is the student and schools’ key point of contact throughout the Black Sea MAP STEM Scholar programme as well as being one of the mentors on the expedition.

In her work with Catalyst, Abi has over six years experience of connecting schools with practicing scientists and engineers. Through the STEM Ambassador programme, she supports teachers to bring people working in STEM into the classroom to inspire the next generation. She recently coordinated a national engineering project on behalf of the Institution of Engineering and Technology. Abi is active in education and youth activities as a Scouts volunteer and on a preschool management committee.

As a Mentor for the Black Sea MAP STEM Scholar Programme, Robert has over 15 years of experience teaching engineering, science, mathematics and computer science in schools, colleges and universities.

Currently completing a PhD in Web Science at the University of Southampton, he also works closely with Computing at Schools as Computing Science Education Lead for the South East region. As well as working for CAS, Robert has mentored students attending University of Southampton’s Electronics and Computer Science summer school. Robert is also an on-line facilitator for Extended Project Qualification preparation courses.

Roger is a Mentor for the Black Sea MAP STEM Scholar Programme. He is a qualified secondary science teacher, having previously worked in applied environmental research in both the private and public sectors. He has a PhD and Masters degree in aquatic ecology and is passionate about promoting science through entertaining and engaging delivery, not least the provision of practical hands on opportunities.

Roger is currently working at Science Oxford, an education charity where he designs and delivers primary and secondary school workshops to meet national curriculum objectives. Roger coordinates the CREST Award programme locally, enabling students to carry out their own research projects.

Angela, the Education Adviser for the project, now works as a freelance STEM education consultant, with a background of teaching followed by educational design. Her main development work was based at the Nuffield Foundation, working closely with scientists, schools, publishers and awarding bodies.

As the first Director of Science Learning Centre, London, at UCL Institute of Education, she has also been involved in teacher professional development. She has a particular interest in widening participation in science, having led on a variety of national intervention projects, including Nuffield Research Placements and RSC’s Chemistry for All.

David is an award-winning writer and filmmaker with over 25 years experience making documentaries and drama in Britain and the United States. He worked for the BBC for 17 years writing, producing and directing documentaries for the BBC’s Current Affairs, Science and Arts departments. His films have won and been nominated for BAFTAs, Grierson awards and Royal Television Society awards. On leaving the BBC, David went to the USA and made PBS’s award-winning series “God in America” and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy for his subsequent film, “The Amish” in the Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking category.

David also wrote the story and produced the internationally acclaimed feature film, “Shooting Dogs”, starring John Hurt and Hugh Dancy, based on his own experiences covering the Rwandan genocide. He received a BAFTA nomination for the Carl Foreman Award for Special Achievement in a First Feature. David’s first book, “When The Hills Ask For Your Blood” was published by Doubleday in 2014.

A fascination with the natural world catalysed an award-winning film career, including 20 years working for the BBC Natural History Unit (NHU). Specialising in the underwater realm, Andy Byatt ran the NHU dive team for 12 years and was a key player in the BBC’s landmarks, the feature film Deep Blue (2003 – grossing $34 million in the box office), “The Blue Planet” (2001) and “Planet Earth” (2006).  He co-wrote the BBC book “The Blue Planet”.  He left the BBC in 2007 to take his young family sailing in the Caribbean and USA, so that they could have new experiences of wildlife and cultures for themselves.

Since 2009 Andy has concentrated on 3D feature and television documentaries, co-directing the 3 x 52 minute 3D series on Hurricanes for Arte (2014) with St Thomas Productions.  The series has been selected by the French Foreign ministry to represent France’s cultural commitment to global warming and will be shown worldwide to that end.  Most recently he co-directed the 3D feature film “Ouragan” (2015) with distribution release at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, cinematic release for autumn 2015.  Internationally his films have won numerous awards, including EMMY, BAFTA, Wildscreen, Jackson Hole and the Shanghai Film Festival; and also nomination for the Grierson Award.