Speakers

Harry Pecorelli investiages ballast pipes of the Hunley. Courtesy of Friends of the Hunley

 

Ralph Wilbanks and Harry Pecorelli
Ralph Wilbanks and Harry Pecorelli, along with Wes Hall formed the core of Clive Custler's NUMA (National Underwater Marine Agency) team that found the H.L. Hunley.  Ralph is a Coastal Surveyor and Underwater Archeologist with more than 250 underwater projects in his resume' since 1975, including one in Minnesota.  He continues his work with NUMA and is the Principal Investigator for Diversified Wilbanks, Inc. of Yonges Island, SC.

Underwater Archeolgist Harry Pecorelli also has an impressive list of Remote Sensing Surveys in his professional resume'.  He now also works for Diversified Wilbanks, Inc.  Beyond his Underwater Archeology work Harry also worked in the lab with some of the cutting edge techniques used to unlock the mysteries of the amazing time capsule H.L. Hunley.

Kohler's life long passion has been exploring the famous shipwrecks around the world, including the SS Andrea Doria and most recently, the RMS Titanic. Diving from the Russian research vessel Keldysh, Kohler made multiple dives to 3,786 meters (12,421 ft) in the MIR submersibles to explore the wreck site.

Kohler's work identifying a World War II German Submarine, U-869 off the coast of New Jersey has been the subject of several television documentaries and a new best selling book by Robert Kurson, Shadow Divers. The New York Times bestseller will soon be a major motion picture by 20th Century Fox, directed and produced by Peter Weir.

Richie Kohler is also currently one of the hosts of television series Dive Portal Magazine.

Fred Stonehouse
Frederick Stonehouse holds a Master of Arts degree in History from Northern Michigan University, Marquette, Michigan and has authored thirty books on Great Lakes maritime history. The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald and Great Lakes Lighthouse Tales are regional best sellers. Wreck Ashore, the U.S. Life-Saving Service on the Great Lakes, won a national publishing award and is the predominant work on the subject.

He has also been a consultant for both the U.S. National Park Service and Parks Canada and has been an "on-air" expert for National Geographic, History Channel and Fox Family, as well as many regional media productions. He received the 2006 award for Historic Interpretation from the Association for Great Lakes Maritime History and was named the 2007 Maritime Historian of the Year by the Marine Historical Society of Detroit.

Fred also teaches Great Lakes maritime history at Northern Michigan University and is an active consultant for numerous Great Lakes oriented projects and programs and is President of the Board of Directors of the United States Life-Saving Service Heritage Association.

Fred makes his home in Marquette, Michigan.

Richard Dreher
Richard Dreher is an active technical diving instructor trainer who specializes in mixed gas, advanced wreck, and cave instruction.  Richard has worked fulltime in the dive industry for over 10 years and now resides in High Springs, Florida.  He is the former owner of Scuba Dive and Travel in Minneapolis, a veteran speaker at Dive Into the Past, and currently operates Superior Dive Training, Dive Into HD, and Hydro Lodge Inc.

Russ Green
Russ Green is the assistant superintendent at the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary. A former underwater archaeologist for the state of Wisconsin, Russ obtained his undergraduate degree from the University of Rhode Island and a graduate degree in maritime studies from East Carolina University. He has been involved with maritime archeology projects along much of the east coast and Great Lakes, as well as Bermuda and Micronesia.  Trained in mixed gas and closed circuit rebreather diving, Russ has led several technical diving expeditions in the Great Lakes and worked on the Civil War ironclad USS Monitor.

Steve Daniel
Steve Daniel is president of the GLSPS.  He has been diving for 41 years and has helped the GLSPS on numerous dive projects during the past nine years.  He played a major roll in the underwater documentation project of the SS America shipwreck at Isle Royale.  Steve published the results, which includes a history of the ship by Thom Holden, in the GLSPS book, SS America, A Diver’s Vision of the Past.  He recently completed a new book for the GLSPS that will serve as a resource for history and diving along Minnesota’s North Shore.  The book was published by the Minnesota Historical Society Press and is titled:  Shipwrecks along Lake Superior’s North Shore.  Steve will share some highlights about the book with you and have copies available for those who are interested afterwards.