Dr Chris Underwood PhD, MA, BEd, FNAS, ICOMOS
Chris’ first experience of maritime archaeology was in 1978, when he joined the Mary Rose Project. as Diving Officer. Ultimately, he was co-superintendent of the Mary Rose Trust salvage and recovery diving team responsible for the implementation of the Trust’s underwater work programme leading to the recovery of the hull of the Mary Rose in 1982. The hull is now on permanent display with the associated artefact collection in Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, United Kingdom. In the following decade he participated in or managed archaeological projects in the United Kingdom, Sweden, Ireland, Malta, Mauritius, and Comoros Islands.
In 1991, he became the Training Officer for the Nautical Archaeology Society, where he was responsible for the Society’s international training programme and public participatory projects with teaching experience in more than twenty countries. He remains a Fellow of the Society.
Seeking new challenges, in 2005 he became a member of Argentina’s National Institute of Anthropology’s underwater archaeology research programme. He participated in the excavation and research of HMS Swift (1770) and is a co-author of El Naufragio de la HMS Swift 1770: Arqueologia Maritima en la Patagonia. He continues to work on heritage management and research projects mainly in Argentine Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego.
Since 2008, he has been a trainer on UNESCO’s capacity building programs in Argentina, Colombia, Kenya, Mexico, Jamaica, St Eustatius, and Thailand, as well as contributing to and as co-technical editor of the Training Manual for the UNESCO Foundation Course on the Protection and Management of Underwater Cultural Heritage in Asia and the Pacific, which has been adapted for Latin America and Caribbean, and translated into Spanish.
He holds a Bachelor’s degree in education from Portsmouth University, a Master’s degree in Maritime Archaeology from Southampton University, and PhD from the University of Southern Denmark, as well as numerous professional and sport diving qualifications.
He is also consultant to the Center for Ocean and Undersea Technology Research, Tamkang University, Taiwan providing advice on the development of underwater archaeology capacity building programmes; currently President of ICOMOS’ International Committee on the Underwater Cultural Heritage (ICUCH); a trustee of UK ICOMOS; visiting lecturer at the University of Buenos Aires and a member of the editorial board of the peer reviewed Journal of Maritime Archaeology.
February 2022