Toni Carrell

Class of:  2001

Toni is an underwater archaeologist who has worked on sites from the Great Lakes to the Western Pacific and from World War II to early man. She served as the first woman regional dive officer for the National Park Service and worked with US Navy MDSU divers directing the first archaeological documentation of shipwreck sites in Palau. In 1993 Toni assumed the highest elected position in her field, chair of the Advisory Council on Underwater Archaeology and in 2007 was elected as an emeritus member of the council. Toni directed the excavation of a ship lost by the explorer La Salle in Texas in 1997-1998 and was the curator of the permanent exhibit installed in the Corpus Christi Museum of Scence and History. Recently, she has been co-director or the Search for the Slave Ship Trouvadore Project for Ships of Discovery. Toni continues her involvement in underwater cultural heritage management issues and was elected to the UNESCO International Committee on Underwater Cultural Heritage in 2007.