Dr Arturo Rey da Silva is a maritime archaeologist and heritage researcher specialising in marine cultural heritage, heritage coastal systems and governance, international cooperation, and the contribution of cultural heritage to sustainable development. His work focuses on the intersections between cultural heritage, ocean governance, public policy, and international diplomacy, with particular expertise in underwater cultural heritage, World Heritage, and ocean literacy. Between 2011 and 2021, he worked at UNESCO, providing technical assistance and capacity-building support in maritime archaeology, heritage protection, and policy development across Africa, the Arab Region, Central Asia, and Latin America. He completed his PhD at the Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne in 2021, following a research fellowship at the Spanish School of History and Archaeology in Rome, where his research examined the institutionalisation of underwater archaeology within international cooperation frameworks. In 2024, Dr Rey da Silva was appointed Lecturer in Heritage at the University of Edinburgh and Co-Director of the MSc in Cultural Heritage Futures. Since November 2024, he has served as Co-Chair of the Ocean Decade Heritage Network (ODHN), an accredited NGO under the UNESCO 2001 Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage as well as a recognised programme of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. He is also a member of the ICOMOS International Committee on Underwater Cultural Heritage (ICUCH). His current research and policy work focus on advancing the role of marine cultural heritage within international sustainability, heritage, and ocean governance agendas.