About Dave Conlin
Dave was born and raised in Boulder Colorado. After undergraduate work in anthropology and archeology at Reed College, he received a master’s degree from Oxford University in Aegean and underwater archeology and then followed this with another Masters and then a Ph.D. in anthropology and archeology from Brown University. While at Brown Dave began volunteering with the National Park Service Submerged Resources Units beginning in 1993 assisting with the extensive field seasons at Dry Tortugas National Park. Following graduation from Brown University in 1999, Dave took a job as an underwater archeologist with the National Park Service but was detailed to the United States Navy as their Chief Field Archaeologist. While with the Navy he helped plan and execute the 2000 recovery of the world’s first successful combat submarine, the Confederate submersible H.L. Hunley-lost off Charleston South Carolina in 1864.
In 2009 after the SRC moved from Santa Fe to Denver he assumed the position of Chief of the NPS Submerged Resources Center and helped the team transition into CCR and tech diving. Notable team projects include documentation of RMS Titanic in 2012, work in South Africa and Mozambique, collaborative work in Peru, Colombia, Panama and Canada, Croatia, and Greece as well as collaborative work with numerous federal, state and local agencies; veterans groups and other public agencies. Dave was on the Board of Directors for the Advisory Council for Underwater Archaeology for 8 years, and is currently on the National Park Service’s National Dive Control Board. Dave lives in Boulder Colorado and in his spare time Dave enjoys cave and tech diving, skiing, hiking and English Cocker Spaniels.
