Donation to explore the world beneath the waves

“We were both beneficiaries of scholarships that made studying for our doctorates much easier, and we hope that this scholarship will enable someone with great potential to develop a career and contribute to the field of maritime archaeology and underwater cultural heritage.”

In 1997 Associate Professor Staniforth became a lecturer in Historical Archaeology at Flinders by 2002 he had established the Maritime Archaeology Graduate Program at the University. Over the past 40 years he has played a significant role in developing maritime archaeology related programs across Australia to preserve and investigate colonial era shipwrecks, including the Star of Greece shipwreck off the southern Adelaide coast at Port Willunga.

Internationally, Associate Professor Staniforth and Dr O’Toole have worked with a team of volunteers to explore Kublai Khan's 1288AD invasion fleets and to help develop maritime archaeology in Vietnam.

“Flinders is the only university in the Asia and Pacific region that specialises in Maritime Archaeology,” says Associate Professor Staniforth. “The program, which has a very strong reputation internationally, has been in existence for nearly 20 years and has a massive network throughout SE Asia and the world.”

The scholarship is an initiative of the MaP Fund that the pair established in 2018 to assist students and early career researchers to study and conduct research in maritime archaeology particularly in the Asia and the Pacific region.

^{Published 2018. Author: Lynda Allen}