In today's episode, I speak with Dr. Madeline McAllister, senior Curator of Maritime Archaeology at the Queensland Museum and James Cook University in Townsville, Australia.

Dr McAllister, or Maddy as she's called, focuses her work on historic shipwrecks and underwater archaeology in Australasia, with a special interest in shipwrecks on the Great Barrier Reef. And this comes as no surprise as her offices look out over the water in eastern Australia, where the Great Barrier Reef lies just offshore.

I find maritime archaeology fascinating as it lies at the nexus of history and the ocean, two of my passions. But it takes a good storyteller to make those lost shipwrecks engaging, nd Maddy's enthusiasm and sense of humor brought the ideas of maritime archaeology to life.

And so Maddy talked about how her grandfather had a deep impact on her life's path in the ocean, a moment where everything seemed to come together as she dove a wreck called the Rapid in Western Australia on Ningaloo Reef, and how underwater archaeology can inform our understanding of human society far beyond the water.

Support the show