My story begins in Ireland, where my siblings and I were raised by my American mother and Irish father near the shores of the Irish Sea, and along the banks of the River Shannon. We moved to my mother’s ancestral land in northern Wisconsin in the early 1990s, where I completed High School in the rural community of Rib Lake. I then went on to earn two bachelor’s degrees from UW-Madison and master’s degrees from UW-Milwaukee in Anthropology/Archaeology and Museum Studies.

For over two decades, I have worked in the field of archaeology – both on land and underwater – on three continents and throughout the United States. I have also been fortunate to have served in educational and leadership roles at four of Wisconsin’s major museums: Milwaukee Public Museum, Discovery World, Neville Public Museum, and now at the Wisconsin Maritime Museum. During this tenure, I have curated over fifty temporary and permanent exhibits, directed many impactful grant-funded projects, and led staff and volunteers to successfully complete numerous strategic initiatives.

In addition to my career in museum work, I am actively involved in the documentation and public advocacy of Wisconsin’s maritime history.  Since 2022, I have served as a Sanctuary Advisory Council member for the Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary, as well as an active board member for the Wisconsin Underwater Archeology Association (WUAA) since 2012. In May 2024, I was part of a WUAA team that discovered the 1893 shipwreck Margaret A. Muir off Algoma, which was covered by national media, including the New York Times and Smithsonian Magazine.