Email: dng20vdh@bangor.ac.uk

Historic Shipwrecks and the Impacts of Climate Change

The central premise of my PhD research programme is that the impacts of climate change on intertidal and underwater cultural heritage sites have not been adequately researched and therefore are not sufficiently understod to confidently predict what may be happening on a site by site basis. 

Therefore, the objectives are

• to undertake a review of present climate change factors are they may relate to underwater and intertidal sites;
• to undertake a questionnaire survey of maritime archaeological practitioners worldwide to ascertain what they believe are the priorities for research;
• to explore methods of gathering evidence and datasets to substantiate potential impacts;
• to develop a model for improved data-gathering which can inform ongoing site monitoring, mitigation and future archaeological interventions.

Initiatives such as the Marine Climate Change Impacts Partnership (MCCIP) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) are focussing scientific endeavour to provide greater confidence in modelled predictions. The identified impacts of climate change include sea level rise, increased sea temperature, ocean acidification, increases to significant wave height and severity of storms, as well as potential changes to ocean circulation. 

My research will be focus on these factors and be targeted to identify sites which, through the quality of their baseline data or location, have the potential to become 'Climate Change Indicator Sites' for Wales.   

I am an archaeologist and heritage manager by training and recent work experience, specialising in the development of maritime historic environment inventories (e.g. national and regional sites and monuments records) for coastal and underwater heritage sites.  Oceanographic and coastal processes are the key to understanding archaeological site formation and preservation. The concern being faced by archaeological practitioners worldwide at present time is the recognition that the physical, chemical and biological factors that have so far contributed to the preservation of sites are slowly and relentlessly being altered by the impacts of climate change. I am very happy to be undertaking my research as part of the School of Ocean Sciences at Bangor and being able access expertise and advice from a wide range of relevant disciplines.      

At the University of St Andrews, I was the Project Officer for the National Historic Ships Project, creating the National Register of Historic Vessels (National Historic Ships) to assist with the identification of surviving historic vessels in museum and private ownership. The database is now maintained at the National Maritme Museum, Royal Museums Greenwich. I was also the Project Officer for the creation and development of the Maritime Record  of the National Monuments Record of Scotland, now maintained by Historic Environment Scotland (Canmore).