Hello our names are Stephanie and Lesley and this is our blog to introduce ourselves to the Wessex Archaeology family!
Hello everyone, my name is Stephanie; I am a marine archaeologist at the Wessex Archaeology Edinburgh office. Before starting my Scottish adventure, I worked as a freelance commercial archaeologist in Malta, mostly dealing with terrestrial salvage archaeology during development works and a handful of maritime related EIAs. I graduated from the University of Southern Denmark in 2016 in Maritime Archaeology, where I gained my commercial diving qualifications and focused my research on traditional boat building techniques. Since starting, I have been provided with induction training and asked to help with the technical report for the Norfolk Vanguard project.
My name is Lesley and I started work with Wessex Archaeology’s Edinburgh office at the end of April as part of the Coastal & Marine team. Before coming home to Scotland in February I was studying for my Masters in Maritime Archaeology at the University of Southern Denmark during which I gained my diving qualification and had the opportunity to help on several exciting projects including assisting Dr Innes McCartney in the geophysical survey of the scuppered German High Seas Fleet of WWI in Scapa Flow. Prior to my foray into the world of maritime archaeology I spent a couple of years working in terrestrial archaeology, mostly in the north of England and on the Northern Isles.
Being accepted to join the Wessex team is a brilliant opportunity for both of us and we are super excited to begin our maritime careers with Wessex Archaeology.
We both experienced a taste of what may lie ahead, yesterday when we travelled to Bristol to undertake a day of dive familiarisation at Vobster Quay. We met the diving team and had the opportunity to see how they work first hand. Despite not being able to dive we still managed to get wet due to the constant downpour! But we kept our spirits up with plenty of coffee and tea. The day provided us with a great opportunity to examine the equipment first hand; this was particularly useful for both of us as it is very different from what we have previously used and we can’t wait to try it out ourselves!