George R. Fischer
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

George Robert Fischer (May 4, 1937 – May 29, 2016) was an American
underwater archaeologist Underwater archaeology is archaeology practiced underwater. As with all other branches of archaeology, it evolved from its roots in pre-history and in the classical era to include sites from the historical and industrial eras. Its acceptance has ...
, considered the founding father of the field in the
National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propert ...
. A native
California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
n, he did undergraduate and graduate work at Stanford University, and began his career with the National Park Service in 1959, which included assignments in six parks, the
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
Office, and the Southeast Archaeological Center from which he retired in 1988. He began teaching courses in underwater archaeology at Florida State University in 1974 and co-instructed inter-disciplinary courses in scientific
diving Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), a ...
techniques. After retirement from the NPS his FSU activities were expanded and his assistance helped shape the university's program in underwater archaeology. Fischer was a true pioneerLAMP Lifetime Achievement award
/ref> in the field of underwater archaeology and his students are now professors in the U.S. and abroad, serve as state, federal, and territorial archaeologists, direct non-profit research organizations, and work in the private sector. He founded and oversaw the underwater archaeology program for the National Park Service in 1968, and was involved with many of the early shipwreck excavations that are now required reading in introductory textbooks (such as the 1554 Padre Island galleons, 1733 galleon ''San Jose'', 1622 galleon ''Rosario'',"Johnson, Richard (1982) Underwater Archaeological Investigations at FOJE-UW-9 Conducted in Summer 1982 at Fort Jefferson National Monument, Dry Tortugas, Florida. Southeastern Archaeological Center, National Park Service, Tallahassee, Florida. 1748 British warship HMS ''Fowey'',''HMS Fowey Lost and Found'', by Russell Skowronek and George Fischer, University Press of Florida (2009)
Description a
University Press of Florida.
Retrieved 2012-04-27.
1865 steamboat ''Bertrand''Petsche, Jerome E. ''Nebraska History'' 51 (1970), pp. 1-15.). Fischer taught, as a volunteer at no cost to the university, for almost 30 years at Florida State University, which enabled their underwater archaeology program and introduced hundreds of students to this field.


Personal life

Fischer was born in Susanville,
Lassen County Lassen County () is a county in the northeastern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 32,730. The county seat and only incorporated city is Susanville. Lassen County comprises the Susanville, Calif ...
, to George August Fischer, a
forester A forester is a person who practises forestry, the science, art, and profession of managing forests. Foresters engage in a broad range of activities including ecological restoration and management of protected areas. Foresters manage forests to ...
with the
United States Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency in ...
, and Ruth Robertson Fischer, a school teacher. He was raised in various small towns in northern California, including Alturus, Quincy and
Tulelake Tulelake ( ) is a city in northeastern Siskiyou County, California, United States. The town is named after nearby Tule Lake. Its population is 902 as of the 2020 census, down from 1,010 from the 2010 census. Tulelake peace officers are author ...
. While in Tulelake, his mother taught school children at the
Tule Lake War Relocation Center The Tule Lake National Monument in Modoc County, California, Modoc and Siskiyou County, California, Siskiyou counties in California, consists primarily of the site of the Tule Lake War Relocation Center, one of ten concentration camps constructe ...
, and found it more convenient to bring young George along and teach him with the interned
Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...
children. Fischer soon distinguished himself as the only
Caucasian Caucasian may refer to: Anthropology *Anything from the Caucasus region ** ** ** ''Caucasian Exarchate'' (1917–1920), an ecclesiastical exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Caucasus region * * * Languages * Northwest Caucasian l ...
child that was hurling stones at the guards during recess. He met his wife, Nancy (Jane) George Fischer while attending Stanford and they were married on June 20, 1961. Nancy gave birth to their only child, George Matthew Fischer, on May 9, 1963, while Fischer was stationed at
Montezuma Castle National Monument Montezuma Castle National Monument protects a set of well-preserved dwellings located in Camp Verde, Arizona, which were built and used by the Sinagua people, a pre-Columbian culture closely related to the Hohokam and other indigenous peoples o ...
in
Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
. George and Nancy lived in
Tallahassee, Florida Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2020, the populatio ...
, during his career with the Southeast Archeological Center and Florida State University, and after his retirement. He died in Tallahassee, Florida, on May 29, 2016. He is survived by his wife and son.


Education

Fischer attended Stanford University, performing his Undergraduate work from 1955 to 1960 and earning his Bachelor of Arts in
Anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...
, with minor concentrations in
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
and
Geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ea ...
. He continued with graduate school at Stanford from 1960–62 and has completed all requirements for his Master of Arts in Anthropology except thesis. Fischer dabbled part-time as a special student at Florida State University from 1972 to 1973 while employed at the Southeast Archaeological Center.


Employment

George Fischer was employed with the National Park Service from 1959 to 1988, starting as a seasonal Park Ranger and archaeologist from 1959 to 1962 in
Mesa Verde National Park Mesa Verde National Park is an American national park and UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Montezuma County, Colorado. The park protects some of the best-preserved Ancestral Puebloan archaeological sites in the United States. Established ...
and
Wupatki National Monument The Wupatki National Monument is a United States National Monument located in north-central Arizona, near Flagstaff. Rich in Native American archaeological sites, the monument is administered by the National Park Service in close conjunction w ...
. In 1962 he became a full-time employee with the NPS as Park Archaeologist at
Montezuma Castle National Monument Montezuma Castle National Monument protects a set of well-preserved dwellings located in Camp Verde, Arizona, which were built and used by the Sinagua people, a pre-Columbian culture closely related to the Hohokam and other indigenous peoples o ...
, and in 1964 he took a position as the Park Archaeologist at
Ocmulgee National Monument Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park (formerly Ocmulgee National Monument) in Macon, Georgia, United States preserves traces of over ten millennia of culture from the Native Americans in the Southeastern Woodlands. Its chief remains are majo ...
. In 1966 Fischer moved on to become a Staff Archaeologist at the Division of Archaeology and Anthropology for the NPS in Washington, D.C. There Fischer performed general archaeological resource management and research and was able to pursue interests in underwater archaeology. 1972 saw Fischer transferring to Tallahassee to take a position as a Research Archaeologist at the Southeast Archaeological Center, and that institution's close association with the Florida State University Department of Anthropology led to Fischer's work with archaeology faculty and students there."Father of Park Service Underwater Unit Retires." ''Underwater USA'' by Joseph Ditzler (September 1988), p.30. Upon his retirement from the NPS in 1988, Fischer became a Courtesy Assistant Professor for the Department of Anthropology. During his tenure at Florida State, he served as an instructor of underwater archaeology courses, lectured on topics relating to underwater archaeology for courses in historical archaeology, public archaeology, and Southeast colonial history, and assisted or co-instructed courses in scientific diving techniques and project management through the Academic Diving Program."Fischer, George R. (1999) The History of Underwater Archaeology at Florida State University: a Retrospective of the Past and a Look to the Future. In ''Underwater Archaeology Proceedings from the Society for Historical Archaeology Conference'', edited by Adrian A. Neidinger and Matthew A. Russell, pp. 80-84. Society for Historical Archaeology, Salt Lake City, Utah. Fischer's instruction and mentoring capacities lessened in the late 1990s as he shifted more into retirement mode.


Archaeological achievements

George Fischer served as principal investigator on field projects undertaken through his Park Service and FSU career in two areas of
Gulf Islands National Seashore Gulf Islands National Seashore offers recreation opportunities and preserves natural and historic resources along the Gulf of Mexico barrier islands of Florida and Mississippi. The protected regions include mainland areas and parts of seven i ...
; Castillo de San Marcos, Fort Jefferson, and
Fort Matanzas National Monument Fort Matanzas National Monument ( es, Fuerte Matanzas) was designated a United States National Monument on October 15, 1924. The monument consists of a 1740 Spanish fort called Fort Matanzas, and about 100 acres (0.4 km2) of salt marsh and b ...
s in
Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
; and
Fort Frederica National Monument Fort Frederica National Monument, on St. Simons Island, Georgia, preserves the archaeological remnants of a fort and town built by James Oglethorpe between 1736 and 1748 to protect the southern boundary of the British colony of Georgia from Spanish ...
in Georgia. Projects in
Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
outside the National Park System included investigations at Fort Picolata, St. John's County; a survey for HMS ''Fox'' (1799) at St. George Island; a survey of Ballast Cove, Dog Island; an underwater survey of
Wakulla Springs Wakulla Springs is located south of Tallahassee, Florida and east of Crawfordville in Wakulla County, Florida at the crossroads of State Road 61 and State Road 267. It is protected in the Edward Ball Wakulla Springs State Park. Description ...
; a project involving applications of underwater archaeological techniques to crime scene investigation for the
Florida Department of Law Enforcement The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) is a state-wide investigative law enforcement agency within the state of Florida. The department formally coordinates eight boards, councils, and commissions. FDLE's duties, responsibilities and ...
; and several investigations of shipwreck sites in
Mobile Bay Mobile Bay ( ) is a shallow inlet of the Gulf of Mexico, lying within the state of Alabama in the United States. Its mouth is formed by the Fort Morgan Peninsula on the eastern side and Dauphin Island, a barrier island on the western side. The ...
. He also taught portions of workshops that the Academic Diving Program has sponsored for outside agencies.


Montezuma Well

In the earliest underwater archaeological investigations by the Park Service (October, 1968), Fischer directed a survey and testing of
Montezuma Well Montezuma Well ( yuf-x-yav, ʼHakthkyayva), a detached unit of Montezuma Castle National Monument, is a natural limestone sinkhole near the town of Lake Montezuma, Arizona, through which some of water emerge each day from an underground s ...
,
Montezuma Castle National Monument Montezuma Castle National Monument protects a set of well-preserved dwellings located in Camp Verde, Arizona, which were built and used by the Sinagua people, a pre-Columbian culture closely related to the Hohokam and other indigenous peoples o ...
,
Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
.Fischer, George R. (1993) The Conference on Underwater Archaeology and The Advisory Council on Underwater Archaeology: A Brief History. In ''Underwater Archaeology Proceedings from the Society for Historical Archaeology Conference'', edited by Shelli O. Smith, pp. 2-6. Society for Historical Archaeology, Kansas City, Missouri. p. 5.


Steamboat ''Bertrand''

From July to September, 1969, Fischer served as field coordinator on the excavation of the 19th century steamboat ''
Bertrand Bertrand may refer to: Places * Bertrand, Missouri, US * Bertrand, Nebraska, US * Bertrand, New Brunswick, Canada * Bertrand Township, Michigan, US * Bertrand, Michigan * Bertrand, Virginia, US * Bertrand Creek, state of Washington * Saint-Bertr ...
'' at Desoto National Wildlife Refuge on the Missouri River near Blair, Nebraska. Over 200,000 items were excavated from the wreck, whole objects in incredible condition, still packed in the original crates, with the names of the manufacturers, shippers and consignees; all dated to the morning of April 1, 1865. This opened his eyes to the "time capsule" nature of historic shipwreck sites, allowing one to see a specific day and an event caught in time, rather than working with fragments of artifacts and historical trash.


Padre Island National Seashore

In 1970 George Fischer headed up what came to be one of the first serious
underwater archaeology Underwater archaeology is archaeology practiced underwater. As with all other branches of archaeology, it evolved from its roots in pre-history and in the classical era to include sites from the historical and industrial eras. Its acceptance has ...
investigations by
National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propert ...
starting with a terrestrial metal detector survey and preliminary assessment of underwater archaeological resources at
Padre Island National Seashore Padre Island National Seashore (PINS) is a national seashore located on Padre Island off the coast of South Texas. In contrast to South Padre Island, known for its beaches and vacationing college students, PINS is located on North Padre Isla ...
in
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
. Preliminary research led to an underwater archaeological survey of 1554 Spanish Plate Fleet wrecks there, and excavation of the Galleon ''San Esteban'', sponsored by Texas Antiquities Committee.


Fort Jefferson

Fort Jefferson is a US Third System Fort 70 miles west of Key West in the
Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United ...
, and is the largest brick masonry fortification in the western hemisphere. In the late 1960s and early 1970s Fischer led evaluations of underwater archaeological resources, limited underwater archaeological survey and excavations, and extensive underwater archaeological survey and testing activities. The 1969 work marked the first extensive shipwreck survey by the NPS on park property, noting more than 20 sites. He also participated with staff of
Earth Satellite Corporation Earth Satellite Corporation (EarthSat), an American company, was a pioneer in the commercial use of Earth observation satellites. Founded in 1969, EarthSat was first headquartered in Washington, D.C., and later moved its offices to Bethesda, Mary ...
in a remote sensing survey for historic shipwreck sites, and assisted in analysis of data. Work was conducted at Fort Jefferson in 1981 and 1982 in partnership with Florida State University."Fischer, George R. (1999) The History of Underwater Archaeology at Florida State University: a Retrospective of the Past and a Look to the Future. In ''Underwater Archaeology Proceedings from the Society for Historical Archaeology Conference'', edited by Adrian A. Neidinger and Matthew A. Russell, pp. 80-84. Society for Historical Archaeology, Salt Lake City, Utah. p. 82.


1622 galleon ''Rosario''

In the summer of 1981 and 1982 Fischer directed underwater archaeological investigations of what is considered the wreck of the ''Nuestra Señora del Rosario'' of the 1622 Spanish fleet, as well as an unidentified
patache A patache (occasionally "patax" or "''pataje''") is a type of sailing vessel with two masts, very light and shallow, a sort of cross between a brig and a schooner, which originally was a warship, being intended for surveillance and inspection ...
of the same fleet. This investigation revealed what could represent one of the pataches that was sent to salvage the ''Rosario'' less than a month after the hurricane that sank it, possibly documenting the speed with which the Spanish salvaged their own wrecks.


''HMS Fowey''

was a
fifth rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a fifth rate was the second-smallest class of warships in a hierarchical system of six " ratings" based on size and firepower. Rating The rating system in the Royal ...
British warship, carrying 44 guns and over 200 men, captained by a descendant of Sir Francis Drake's brother. It had scored victories over French and Spanish ships in battle, but was lost on a reef at what is now known as the Legare Anchorage in
Biscayne National Park Biscayne National Park is an American national park located south of Miami, Florida in Miami-Dade County. The park preserves Biscayne Bay and its offshore barrier reefs. Ninety-five percent of the park is water, and the shore of the bay is th ...
in 1748. The sunken vessel became the subject of an ownership dispute with a part-time treasure salvor who presumed that it was part of the
Spanish treasure fleet The Spanish treasure fleet, or West Indies Fleet ( es, Flota de Indias, also called silver fleet or plate fleet; from the es, label=Spanish, plata meaning "silver"), was a convoy system of sea routes organized by the Spanish Empire from 1566 to ...
. Through legal conflicts and systematic surveys and archaeological investigations of the 1980s and 1990s, Fischer and his staff from the Park Service and students from Florida State University not only identified the sunken vessel but won a legal battle that effectively changed how Admiralty law was applied to submerged shipwreck sites. The court found that the
National Historic Preservation Act The National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA; Public Law 89-665; 54 U.S.C. 300101 ''et seq.'') is legislation intended to preserve historic and archaeological sites in the United States of America. The act created the National Register of Historic ...
of 1966 was to be applied to submerged shipwreck sites as it is to historic sites on land, no longer allowing plundering by individuals using marine salvage and Admiralty law to profiteer from the non-archaeological salvage of a historic shipwreck in National Park grounds. This activity is seen by many of his colleagues and former students as George Fischer's defining act.


Advisory Council on Underwater Archaeology

Fischer was also a founding member of the Advisory Council on Underwater Archaeology, an international committee of the
Society for Historical Archaeology The Society for Historical Archaeology (SHA) is a professional organization of scholars concerned with the archaeology of the modern world (15th century-present). Founded in 1967, the SHA promotes scholarly research and the dissemination of knowledg ...
that provides advice and assistance to governments, institutions, and individuals on matters relating to the field. He currently holds emeritus status.


FSU ADP

During the period of Fischer's tenure as a courtesy professor the FSU Coastal and Marine Laboratory's Academic Diving Program, established in 1975, grew to one of the largest and most active diving research, support, and training programs in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
.Florida State University Academic Diving Program
The Marine Lab and Academic Diving Program traditionally supports the research diving needs of faculty and students from many departments, as well as several outside agencies, including the Florida Geological Survey and the
US Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it be ...
. Fischer assisted or co-instructed courses in scientific diving techniques and project management through the Florida State University Academic Diving Program from 1976 through his retirement from the Park Service in 1988, and continued as a co-instructor until 2002. His input and continuity over three decades was instrumental in the expansion and ongoing development of this program.


Publications

*George Fischer, with primary author and former student Russell K. Skowronek, authored the book ''HMS Fowey Lost and Found: Being the Discovery, Excavation, and Identification of a British Man-of-War Lost off the Cape of Florida in 1748'', published by the University Press of Florida on January 26, 2009. *Fischer, George R. (1975) A Survey of the Offshore Lands of Gulf Islands National Seashore, Florida. ''International Journal of Nautical Archaeology'' 3(2):338-339. *Fischer, George R. (1975) "Archeological Assessment of Biscayne National Monument." Southeast Archeological Center, National Park Service, Tallahassee, Florida. *Fischer, George R. (1980) "Interim Report: Underwater Archeological Survey of Legare Anchorage, Biscayne National Park." Southeast Archeological Center, National Park Service, Tallahassee, Florida. *Fischer, George R. and Richard E. Johnson (1982) "Fort Jefferson National Monument Overview, Research Design, and Scope of Work, Investigations of Site FOJE-UW-9 (8MO83)." Southeast Archeological Center, National Park Service, Tallahassee, Florida. *Skowronek, Russell K., Richard E. Johnson, Richard H. Vernon and George R. Fischer (1987
"The Legare Anchorage Shipwreck Site-Grave of HMS ''Fowey''"
''International Journal of Nautical Archaeology'' 16(4):313-324. *Fischer, George R. and Philip R. Gerrell (1990) An Underwater Archaeological Assessment of Cultural Resources Located at the Edward Ball Wakulla Springs State Park (8WA24), Florida. In ''Underwater Archaeology Proceedings from the Society for Historical Archaeology Conference'', edited by Toni Carrell, pp. 125–128. Society for Historical Archaeology, Tucson, Arizona. *McLean, Cecil W. and George R. Fischer (1991) Investigation of the Civil War Blockade Runner ''Ivanhoe''. Florida State University Department of Anthropology. *Fischer, George R. (1993) The Conference on Underwater Archaeology and The Advisory Council on Underwater Archaeology: A Brief History. In ''Underwater Archaeology Proceedings from the Society for Historical Archaeology Conference'', edited by Shelli O. Smith, pp. 2–6. Society for Historical Archaeology, Kansas City, Missouri. *Fischer, George R. (1999) The History of Underwater Archaeology at Florida State University: a Retrospective of the Past and a Look to the Future. In ''Underwater Archaeology Proceedings from the Society for Historical Archaeology Conference'', edited by Adrian A. Neidinger and Matthew A. Russell, pp. 80–84. Society for Historical Archaeology, Salt Lake City, Utah.


Awards and honors

*The Department of Anthropology at Florida State University dedicated its George R. Fischer Laboratory of Underwater Archaeology to Fischer (see photograph at top of page). *
LAMP Lamp, Lamps or LAMP may refer to: Lighting * Oil lamp, using an oil-based fuel source * Kerosene lamp, using kerosene as a fuel * Electric lamp, or light bulb, a replaceable component that produces light from electricity * Light fixture, or li ...
and the St. Augustine Lighthouse awarded Fischer a Lifetime Achievement award, for his “many contributions to the field of
underwater archaeology Underwater archaeology is archaeology practiced underwater. As with all other branches of archaeology, it evolved from its roots in pre-history and in the classical era to include sites from the historical and industrial eras. Its acceptance has ...
, and to the education of this and future generations of underwater archaeologists” on March 21, 2007. *In March 2007, LAMP announced during the first annual Northeast Florida Symposium on Underwater Archaeology that Fischer had donated his personal library to LAMP, to form the core of a first-class research library, the George R. Fischer Library of Maritime Archaeology. *A session of papers in honor of Fischer was presented at the 41st annual Conference on Historical and Underwater Archaeology held in
Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...
, New Mexico on January 10, 2008. *On January 8, 2010, at the 43rd annual Conference on Historical and Underwater Archaeology at Amelia Island in Northeast Florida, Fischer was presented with the Society for Historical Archaeology's Award of Merit "for his many contributions to the development of underwater archaeology and for his exemplary service on the Advisory Council on Underwater Archaeology."SHA list of awardees


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fischer, George R 1937 births 2016 deaths American archaeologists American underwater divers Florida State University faculty People from Tallahassee, Florida Stanford University alumni Underwater archaeologists People from Susanville, California