A clear strength of ACI is its ability to draw upon expertise from across staff members with Archaeology at Southampton. As well as this, ACI has two core staff who offer a first port of call, and initial evaluation of the requirements of projects and partners within their own specific areas.
Joanna Sofaer is the Director of ACI and Professor of Archaeology at University of Southampton. She obtained her PhD from the University of Cambridge, and has led, and partnered on, national and international research and industry collaborations ranging from architecture and engineering to contemporary craft, performance art and dance. She is skilled in bridging academic and non-academic organisations to realise novel and ambitious outcomes. She has published widely on creativity, craft, design and technical innovation; archaeologies of the body and social identity; the past as inspiration for contemporary creative practice.
Julian Whitewright is Senior Teaching Fellow in Maritime Archaeology. He works within the Centre of Maritime Archaeology to deliver teaching and research focused upon understanding the use and performance of watercraft of all shapes and sizes in the past. His main area of expertise lies in the seafaring cultures of the ancient Mediterranean and Indian Ocean, as well as within ships and shipbuilding of the UK in the early modern period, and he has published widely in both areas. Julian continues to work on a range of projects related to the digital reconstruction of historic ships, both real and imaginary, but always informed by academic insight and expertise.