Advisory Council on Underwater Archaeology

Photo & Video Contest Voting Results are In!

We thank all of the SHA members who participated in the NOLA 2025 Photo & Video Contest. We had 44 amazing photo entries and 3 great videos! Scroll down to see them all! The results are in, visit the Photo Contest 2025 page and enjoy. All of the photo contest fees go to support student attendance at the annual SHA Conference on Historical and Underwater Archaeology. Thank you for participating!

6th Sort-of-Annual Noble Duck Race

The ACUA is hosting the 6th Sort-of-Annual Noble Duck Race, in honor of the SHA 2025 New Orleans conference, on Sunday, February 2, 2025, 11:00am (CST). All proceeds go directly to the ACUA’s student travel and scholarship programs (ACUA Student Awards). Owners of ducks winning 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd places in the final race will be awarded Starbucks gift cards in the amounts of $25, $15, and $10 (USD). Purchase your specially bred and trained duck today! Ten shiny U.S. dollars gets you one duck, and you may buy as many as you like. Increase your odds and fill your duck stable! Don’t miss out – ducks will only be on sale until Saturday, February 1, 5pm CST or until they sell out! Buy yours now!

Are You Interested in Serving on the ACUA Board of Directors? Call for Expressions of Interest

If you or someone you know is an underwater archaeologist looking to do more to safeguard irreplaceable archaeological sites and promote a robust and inclusive narrative of maritime history, the Advisory Council on Underwater Archaeology (ACUA) encourages you to consider serving on the ACUA’s Board of Directors. Please send your suggestions or an expression of interest to ACUA Board Chair, Jennifer McKinnon (chair@acuaonline.org), by end of day on Saturday, February 15.

Board members serve for four-year terms and must be registered members of the SHA to be considered. Elected members must remain actively registered members during their entire board term and must physically attend three out of the four annual Board meetings held during the SHA conference (two out of four meetings for international members). Board members are expected to contribute actively to the organization, participate in the ACUA’s various committees, and serve as mentors during the annual ACUA mentorship initiative.

If you are attending the 2025 SHA Conference in New Orleans and have questions about serving as an ACUA Board member, then consider attending the open ACUA Board Meeting scheduled for 2pm to 4pm CST on Friday, January 10. Please join us; the meeting is open to the interested public! Or look for the “ACUA” ribbon on attendee name tags (color TBD) and ask away!

2025 ACUA Student Travel Awards – Congratulations

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Student Travel Award

Dorian Lee Record is the winner of the 2025 ACUA & RECON Offshore Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Student Travel Award for the New Orleans, Louisiana conference. Learn more about this award and meet Dorian.

George R. Fischer Student Travel Award

Alyssa Pietraszek from the University of Haifa and Alexandra Tyas from the University of Iceland are the winners of the 2025 George R. Fischer Student Travel award for the New Orleans, Louisiana conference. Learn more about this award and meet Alexandra and Alyssa.

Both awards are part of the ACUA’s efforts to expand opportunities for students.

Fall 2024 ACUA Student Newsletter

The latest issue of the ACUA Student newsletter, produced by the ACUA Graduate Student Associate members, is now available. It features articles on current student research in Lagos, Portugal, assessing intangible UCH, and Wisconsin’s rich maritime heritage. Download the latest copy and sign up to submit your research. This issue is the 31st since the inception of the newsletter in Spring 2013. There is a 14 year archive of past newsletters you can enjoy. Contribute your research article now!

2024 ACUA Proceedings Available

The 2024 Underwater Archaeology Proceedings, edited by Bert Ho and Della Scott-Ireton is now available for sale. Visit the ACUA Storefront and get your hard copy or ePub.

Recent Deep Thoughts

Underwater Cultural Heritage of Ireland – a Shared Heritage

Ireland’s shared UCH spans centuries including the ill-fated Spanish Armada of 1588 up to WWII. Connie Kelleher provides a glimpse into that heritage and its preservation.

ACUA and Underwater Archaeology at the Midwest Archaeological Conference

Ashley’s blog highlights the Midwest Archaeological Conference’s most recent meeting and the focus on the range of underwater archaeology projects in the region. Read all about it!

Core Principles

Ethics, respect, diversity and equity are the core principles around which we should all strive to lead our professional and personal lives. The ACUA strongly encourages all professional organizations to promote ethical principles, non-discrimination, anti-harassment, and anti-racist policies among their memberships.

Vision Statement

The ACUA serves as an international advisory body on issues relating to underwater archaeology, conservation, and submerged cultural resources management. It is working to educate scholars, governments, sport divers, and the general public about underwater archaeology and the preservation of underwater resources.