MEET THE TEAM
The faces behind the organisation
Jack Adams
Ship Manager
Jack Adams is the ship’s manager aboard the RV Ocean Recovery. He uses his wealth of management and mechanical experience to direct all onboard operations.
Jack is also a keen diver and is very passionate about keeping our Oceans clean.
ADJ PROF Ian MacLeod
Advisor
Dr. Ian MacLeod AM has acquired an international reputation for in-situ corrosion studies on historic shipwrecks, with an emphasis on those made of iron and its alloys. He became a Fellow of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute in 1986 and is a life member of the Australasian Corrosion Association (ACA).
He has received an important number of awards recognising his contribution to corrosion science such as ACA Corrosion Medal in 2004 and the ICOM-CC Triennial medal for services to international conservators at the XVIII Conference in 2017.
His achievements in the field of cultural materials range from terrestrial and maritime environments which are reflected in the development of new treatment methods and modelling the decay rates of iron wrecks. He was a pioneer in the use of sacrificial anodes on iron artefacts as a method of in-situ conservation he developed successful models of the electrochemical processes involved in corrosion of shipwreck materials.
He has trained conservators in ten countries and was recently made an adjunct professor in corrosion at Curtin University in Perth, Australia. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science and Engineering, the Royal Society of Chemistry and the International Institute for Conservation.
Tim Macdonald
Engineering
Tim works for Triton Submarines as a Marine Integration Engineer and in the Operations team. They are currently finishing up The Five Deeps Expedition – diving the deepest trenches in each of the world’s five oceans to demonstrate the capability of their cutting-edge manned underwater vehicle.
Tim started his professional marine career at his local dive shop in Australia 16 years ago and went on to study Offshore System Engineering, and has worked as a dive safety and deck officer on research ships around the world. He has worked with many different NGO’s and with documentary makers from National Geographic and the BBC. , establishing a career in cutting-edge subsea vehicles.
Tracey Carpenter
Public Relations and Marketing
Tracey Carpenter is a communications and public relations consultant with decades of experience in community leadership, activism, climate campaigning, teaching and fundraising.
She has taken leadership and management roles as a Councillor and Deputy Mayor of Bathurst Regional Council and as a director on the boards of several community and environmental NGOs. She has managed public relations for a major environmental expedition to the North Pole and a global sporting and music event, Sport Aid.
Tracey has long been passionate about the environment and the Ocean in particular. She sees the threat of leaking oil in the Pacific as a solvable problem, but believes that we must act fast to prevent damage to these pristine ecosystems.
Tracey volunteers with Major Projects Foundation as a marketing and PR consultant, to help develop and facilitate marketing strategies.
Wilma Adams
Director
Wilma Adams considers herself as a human living on this planet. Extensive travels and working in many countries gives her the knowledge that we are all connected to each other and that we have to look after our fellow inhabitants and this wonderful place called EARTH.
Wilma discovered her love to the oceans and conservation through recreational diving on shipwrecks and understands that we need to do our utmost to protect our delicate ecosystems.
She lives by the famous Lily Tomlin quote “I always wondered why somebody didn’t do something about that. Then I realised… I am somebody”.
Dr Matt Carter
Research Director
Dr Matt Carter is a maritime archaeologist and the Research Director for the Major Projects Foundation. He is an International Fellow of the Explorers Club and has worked on, and led, maritime archaeological projects in 12 different countries.
Matt is passionate about combining his archaeological training and commercial and technical diving qualifications to investigate potentially polluting wrecks throughout the Pacific.
Dr. Bill Jeffery
Advisor
Bill Jeffery, Ph.D. has been working as a maritime archaeologist for over 40 years. Bill’s background in maritime archaeology is in Australia, where after studying with the Western Australian Museum, he formulated and coordinated a maritime heritage program for a state government agency, Heritage South Australia from 1981-2001.
He went onto working with the Federated States of Micronesia National Historic Preservation Office and completing a Ph.D. on the World War II shipwrecks in Chuuk Lagoon. He is a consulting maritime archaeologist to ERM Hong Kong, and Research Associate with the Hong Kong Maritime Museum. He has implemented various types of archaeological and heritage investigations in Australia, the Pacific region, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka and various countries in Africa.
Bill has lectured in cultural heritage preservation, anthropology, archaeology, maritime archaeology and conducted maritime archaeology field schools with Flinders University, Chinese University of Hong Kong, University of Guam and James Cook University in addition to teaching Nautical Archaeology Society (NAS) training programs in eleven different countries. In 2015, he began his current position as Assistant Professor of Archaeology at the University of Guam.
Austin Baird
Advisor
A fascination with the ocean and watercraft lead Austin to pursue a Clearance Diving career with the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN). In 2000 his focus turned fulltime to the civilian UXO industry and the next 20 years were spent on projects in various parts of Canada, Hawaii, California, and Guam.
In 2005 Defence Construction Canada recruited Austin as the program lead to support the Canadian DND UXO & Legacy Sites Program. Once established in 2009 he transferred to Halifax, Nova Scotia to focus on underwater UXO and development of CSA Diving Standard Z275.06 as a Technical Committee Member. He has produced and managed UXO specifications for shipwrecks SS Claire Lilly, City of Vienna, Saganaga, Rose Castle and HMS Raleigh. In 2013 the DND Legacy program was defunded and Austin responded to an opportunity in Guam.
Austin enrolled in a Maritime Archeology course at University of Guam (UoG) in 2019 and attended a summer field program at Chuuk Lagoon, FSM, where he was introduced to 3D Photogrammetry. He has since enrolled fulltime in Anthropology at UoG and is on track to graduate in 2021.
Paul Adams
Director
Paul commenced his working life as a Surveyor in the Australian Army. He is currently the CEO of Major Projects Group and a director of Major Projects Foundation. Paul is a keen sailor and recreational diver and has extensive experience working in the Pacific Region.
From 1982 to the present day, he has been involved in the decommissioning, deconstruction, hazardous material removal and remediation of industrial and marine structures.
The witnessing of oil leaking from many WWII shipwrecks drives his passion for marine conservation and preservation.
Peter Morris
Director
Peter Morris grew up in Australia and after studying human ecology, he spent much of his working life overseas, including many roles with Greenpeace International and some years in the field with Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders).
As well as project management and research skills, he brings professional expertise in long-range UAV technology to the Foundation as one of its directors.
Matt Wray
Hydrographer
After a successful and extensive naval career, including commanding two Royal New Zealand Naval Ship’s (HMNZS RESOLUTION and HMNZS CANTERBURY), Matt transferred to the Naval Reserve as a Commander in 2019.
It was in his time in the navy that he gained his International Hydrographic Organisation Category A Hydrographic Surveyor qualification. He has experienced all aspects of hydrographic surveying in a wide variety of locations, from the tropics to the Sub Antarctic. Matt held the position of Hydrographer RNZN from 2017 to 2019.
Matt has made a number of wreck discoveries, notably in and around the Solomon Islands and has had the privilege of being the first to dive them.
Bill Hollingworth
Marine Engineer
Peter Cundall
Director
Peter Cundall is one of Major Projects Foundation’s directors and the chief researcher.
He has been interested in locating and researching World War II shipwrecks for decades. He has written books on the subject and compiled an extensive list of known wrecks.
After recently retiring from a career in the maritime industry, he now volunteers his time to help locate and identify the threats posed by potentially polluting wrecks around the Pacific.
Peter Davis
IT
Peter retired after 25 years of service with the NSW Police Force. Since then, he has volunteered with various charitable and NFP organisations.
Peter is a recreational scuba diver and experienced offshore yachtsman. His love of the oceans motivated him to join the Major Projects Foundation team and volunteer his time to assist in readying the RV Ocean Recovery for deployment into the South Pacific.
He has qualifications in Applied Science (Forensic Investigation), Information Technology (Network Administration) & Workplace Training & Assessment. He is currently undertaking a maritime General Purpose Hand training course.
Onboard, he currently works towards re-establishing the fibre optic computer network installed throughout the ship, as well as many other tasks.
Chris Purkiss
Director
Chris Purkiss is a Mechanical Engineer who spent the first 20 years of his working life at Newcastle Steelworks. Since its closure, he has worked in various industries from mining to locomotives to aluminium.
Too young to retire but not interested in a full-time job he volunteers his time as one of Major Projects Foundation’s directors. Chris also helps with engineering aboard the Ocean Recovery.
Ashley Hart
Chief Engineer
Jack De Gilio
Skipper
David Tonks
IT
Paul Macdonald
Engineering
Allison Selman
Subsea Engineering
Peter Thatcher
Administration
Peter Crawford
IT
Pat Miller
Media
Chris Selman
Subsea Engineering
Bill Fenelon
Ship's Master
Sebastien Hammacher
Marketing
Elizabeth Robinson
Administration
Reece 'Chook' Lewis
Deck Crew
Dave Hukka
Digital Media
With a passion for media and the environment, creating media content for Major Projects Foundation combines two of Dave’s favourite things. If there is something happening aboard the RV Ocean Recovery, he will be there to capture it.
Dave sees video and photography as two powerful mediums to spread the word and raise awareness of the threats that our oceans are facing. He looks forward to growing Major Projects Foundation’s media presence in the future.
