MEET THE RIMAP LEADERSHIP

© RIMAP 2021

RIMAP Board Officers:

Vice President: Kerry Lynch

• M.A. Ph.D. (Anthropology, UMass Amherst)

• Professional archaeologist at UMass Amherst (expert in terrestrial and underwater pre-Contact and historic archaeology)

• RIMAP Field Supervisor for the Newport Revolutionary War transport fleet (that includes the "Search for Endeavour").

• RIMAP Member since 1996

• RIMAP Instructor: Pre-Contact Archaeology, Site Mapping

• Resident of Northampton, MA

Secretary: Sheila Kramer

• Graduated from Emmanuel College and Boston College.

• Worked at Brown University in Bio-Med, The Sarah Doyle Women’s Ctr and Athletics Dept.

• Always had an interest in archaeology while I was growing up.

• I first heard about RIMAP at a presentation by Representative Joseph McNamara at the Pilgrim Senior Ctr in Warwick. While I was working at Brown I took many RIMAP courses and became a more active member after my retirement from Brown in June of 2016.

Treasurer: Carol Hottenrott

• Captain, U.S. Navy (Ret); Surface Warfare Officer

• M.A. (University of Pennsylvania, Political Science/International Politics)

• M.Phil (The George Washington University)

• Trained U.S. Navy Basic Diving Officer (1987)

• RIMAP member since 2016

• Resident of Newport, RI

RIMAP Board Members:

Steve Bastien 

• Avid sport diver

• Production Controller for the Supervisor of Shipbuilding Conversion and Repair, Groton, CT (Retired)

• RIMAP Member since 2002

• Resident of Waterford, CT

William Burns

• M.A. (University of York, Marine Archaeology)

• Project archaeologist (Public Archaeology Laboratory, now working in CA)

• Specialties in pre-contact nations and marine archaeology

• RIMAP Member since 2003

• RIMAP Instructor: Site Mapping

• Resident of Fresno, CA

John Cassese

• M.D., Pediatric radiologist

• Avid sport diver

• RIMAP Member since 2016

• Resident of East Greenwich, RI

Greg DeAscentis

• B.A. (Salve Regina University, Archaeology and Art)

• Owner of the Aquidneck Mooring Company

• Commercial diver

• Freelance photographer

• RIMAP research vessel captain

• RIMAP Member since 1994

• Resident of Middletown, RI

Debby Dwyer

• Teacher's aide in the Bristol-Warren, RI school district

• RIMAP Member since 1999

• RIMAP Site Manager for the steamship Empire State in Bristol, RI

• RIMAP Teaching Assistant

• Resident of Barrington, RI

Joy Elvin

• M.A. (University of Leicester, School of Museum Studies, UK)

• Marine preserve manager

• RIMAP Member since 2014

• RIMAP Instructor: Sharing Shipwrecks: Marine Preserves, International Maritime Museums

• Resident of Portsmouth, RI

John D. Hoagland 

• PADI scuba instructor

• Website specialist

• Retired MA Gov't agency administrator

• RIMAP Member since 1995

• RIMAP's Site Manager for the Fort Adams Marine Railway

• Immediate past RIMAP Board President

• Resident of Mashpee, MA

Linda Jenkins 

• Experienced in fund-raising for not-for-profit organizations

• Experienced in long-term planning for not-for-profit organizations

• RIMAP Member since 2011

• Resident of Tiverton, RI

Larry Nelson

• B.S. (University of Rhode Island, Electrical Engineering)

• J.D. (University of New Hampshire/Franklin Pierce)

• Assistant General Counsel Intellectual Property for Sikorsky Aircraft, a Lockheed Martin Company

• Avid Recreational Diver since 1993

• RIMAP Member since 2018

• Residence: Guilford CT

Peter E. Nulton

• Ph.D. (Brown University, Archaeology)

• Senior Lecturer on Art History and Archaeology, Rhode Island School of Design

• Fulbright Scholar (Greece, Archaeology)

• Directed field research—Sanctuary of Apollo on the Acropolis of Athens

• RIMAP Field Supervisor for a potential 18th-century site in Newport's Inner Harbor.

• RIMAP Instructor: Classical Archaeology

• Previously taught at Trinity College, Clark University, University of Rhode Island, Rhode Island College

• Learned about RIMAP from an Online Course in Marine Archaeology from the University of Southampton

• RIMAP Member since 2017

• Residence: Pawtucket, RI

Jeffrey Siegal 

• NYC businessman (Metalmark Capital)

• Collector of historic Rhode Island maps and charts

• RIMAP Member since 2009

• Second residence, Portsmouth, RI

Jeremy Wilmes

• PADI scuba instructor

• USCG Captain - 100 ton

• USCG Rescue Sled/High Surf Certified Operator

• Regional Financial Sales Leader, Allstate Life & Retirement Northwest Region

• RIMAP Member since 2016

• Resident of Woodinille, WA, formerly of St. Augustine, Fl, Maui, Hawaii, Portsmouth, RI.

Joseph W. Zarzynski

• M.A. (University of Leicester, UK, Archaeology & Heritage)

• MAT in Social Sciences from Binghamton University

• Co-Founder/Executive Director of Bateaux Below

• Project Director of Lake George marine archaeology projects, including the Land Tortoise radeau, the oldest intact warship in North America, now a National Historic Landmark. (Much of RIMAP's administrative structure is based on Bateaux Below.) 

• Professional archaeologist and historian 

• Remote Sensing Specialist

• Author of 5 books with a 6th book coming out November 1, 2019, and many articles on maritime history, marine archaeology and documentary production

• Award-winning documentary producer

• RIMAP Member since 1992

• RIMAP Site Manager for Brenton Cove studies

• RIMAP Instructor: Documentary Production for Archaeologists, How to Measure a Cannon, Star Trek and the Endeavour, The National Register of Historic Places

• Resident of Saratoga County, NY

RIMAP Executive Director:

D. K. (Kathy) Abbass

• M.A., Ph.D. (Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, Anthropology)

• Post-doctural study (Harvard, Maritime History; Berkeley, Maritime History)

• Rhode Island Certification as Principal Historical Preservation Specialist/Archaeologist and Principal Historical Preservation Specialist/Historian

• Smithsonian Institution (Museum Intern)

• Instructor/Assistant Professor of Anthropology/Sociology (Norfolk State University): Adjunct at Old Dominion University, University of Rhode Island

• Apprentice/Associate Marine Surveyor (Surveyacht, Newport, RI)

• Director - Museum of Yachting (Newport, RI)

• Founder/Executive Director - RI Marine Archaeology Project (1992) RIMAP Principal Investigator, Senior Author on most RIMAP publications, RIMAP Training Coordinator

• Founder/Executive Director - Foundation for the Preservation of Capt. Cook's Ships (1999)

• Project Archaeologist - Lake George, Long Island Sound, Delaware Bay, Bahamas, etc.

• RIMAP publications listed elsewhere on this website; non-publications list provided on request

Special Advisers:

Update coming soon

VOLUNTEERS OF THE YEAR

Volunteers help to achieve RIMAP's goals in many ways: diving on shipwrecks and other submerged cultural resources, working on archaeological sites on land, artifact management, administration, fundraising, public outreach, and many other activities. At its Annual Meeting, RIMAP awards each volunteer an embroidered patch for the previous years’ service, and honors one volunteer in recognition for special efforts the previous year.

RIMAP Volunteers of the Year

• For 2018 - John Cassese & Carol Hottenrott

• For 2017 - Steve Bastien

• For 2016 - Jeremy Wilmes

• For 2015 - Joe McNamara

• For 2014 - Greg DeAscentis

• For 2013 - Rebekah Lotz

• For 2012 - Claudette Weissinger

• For 2011 - Linda and Bill Jenkins

• For 2010 - John Hoagland as BOD President

• For 2009 - Harry Anderson

• For 2008 - Micki Musselman

• For 2007 - Greg Silpe

• For 2006 - John Burke

• For 2005 - Butch Cormier

• For 2004 - Paul Wynn

• For 2003 - Steve Bastien II

• For 2002 - Sprague Theobald

• For 2001 - Debby Dwyer

• For 2000 - John Hoagland