Well then let us clarify a few things. First, I have never either met or spoken to a Mr Westrich and am not even sure who or what he is exactly and so I am not even sure how he pretends to even know anything about me or my background or prior experience. I have never sold any coins or anything else on EBAY either.
Second: I have never represented to anyone that I have a degree in marine archaeology nor am registered as such although am qualified to be registered should I ever renounce commercial practices.
Under the guidelines of the State of Florida, Dept of Historical Resources, in order to be qualified and recognized as a marine field archaeologist in the state one has first to meet several criteria: Hold a degree in marine archaeology or history or anthropology; have been published and have three years of prior field experience under the direct supervision of another person who is already qualified and recognized by the State as a marine archaeologist.
Having already achieved and met all of these criteria by 1996 with also over 3000 hours of logged on site diving experience behind me, Dr Jim Miller of Tallahassee qualified me to be the field Archaeologist at Jupiter Wreck in 1996 and I retained those functions and responsibilities for the next three seasons until the site was effectively cleaned out and there was no reason to continue the work. I was then invited to lend my experience to the nascent industry just opening up in this country. I have also completed 36 Semester hours towards an MA at UCF since that time which is probably a higher level of formal education attained than Mr Westrich.
Anyway, while working as State Approved Field Archaeologist at Jupiter Wreck, I directed the activities of three different vessels simultaneously. I discovered the missing part of the wreck and carried the excavations another 2000 ft out to sea. All of this is State Record so if anyone disputes it,go read the file in Tallahassee. I recall receiving a few letters from the State commending me for the quality of the work at Jupiter Wreck and never one complaint. Also, while Did not study at Texas A & M,I bet I can teach a lot of their fresh grads a thing or two about reality in the field.
In the beginning I used sextant and beach markers to plot our positions and plot the base maps but later shifted to computer software and GPS in mid 1997. I wrote the annual reports each year for the State, compiled statistics on numismatic finds by type, condition and denomination and essentially all of my activities either exceeded or were in full compliance with the State Archaeological Guidelines which everyone who has ever worked in Florida are aware of. All artifacts were also handled according to the guidelines and I also, after each season, performed most of the conservation work myself....having learned, again, hands on from such greats as Doug Armstrong, whose recipe book on conservation of marine artifacts is now on disk.
Since leaving Florida I have maintained and applied these standards wherever I have worked since and have even educated the terrestrial archaeologists of the host nation, who had no previous experience or guidelines at all, in the techniques and procedures of Marine archaeological investigations and recoveries as are currently mandated by the State of Florida
Artifacts from two other sites I have been involved with and have personally conserved are now on display in this nations first Marine Archaeological Museum which opened in Salinas two years ago.
After reading your reply concerning the ridicule launched at me by this Westrich, did go to the Sub-Arch site and read the postings and only noted one rather derogatory posting placed by Westrich,whom I will again reiterate, have never met, spoken to nor heard
of before. Mostly, I garner from his rambling, he seems bitter and resentful because he says he is having difficulty repaying his student loans for which he otherwise comes across as acting as if he should be entitled to more than he has otherwise carved out for himself in life. I feel sorry for him but I don't know what that has to do with me. While bigotry by others towards others whom they don't even know has been and continues to be a problem in our country, it is particularly sad when it is seen emerging from persons who claim to be educated. Displays a real lack of objectivity and scientific investigative ability.
Meanwhile, if he has done anything worth writing about, he is free to contact the media to determine if they will find it worthy to write about or not. People want to read about reality history and they like to read about people who march through adversity to become winners....not whiners.
JR
See you guys weekend after next...
