Explorers' Biographies
U.S. Navy
Captain (Select) Philip G. Beierl
Leutenant Commander Hedberg
Commander Phil McGuinn
Captain Christopher Murray
Commander Barbara L. Scholley
Lieutenant Commander Al Tupman
NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries
John D. Broadwater, PhD
Tane Casserley
Jeff Johnston
Carol Meyer
Bruce Terrell
The Mariners' Museum
Phoenix International, Inc.
U.S. Navy
Captain (Select) Philip G. Beierl
U.S. Navy, Force Salvage/Special Operations Officer
Naval Surface Force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet
On-scene Commander, Phase I, Monitor 2001
Commander Philip G. Beierl will serve as the On-scene Commander aboard the USS Grapple for Phase I of this year’s expedition, and will also participate in Phases II and III. Commander Beierl received his commission through the NROTC program in June 1980. He attended Surface Warfare Officer School in Newport, RI, and completed salvage officer training at the Naval Diving and Salvage Training Center before reporting to the USS Recovery in September 1981. He has extensive experience in diving and salvage operations, including commanding the Navy’s Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit (MDSU) Two from April 1999 until November 2000. In the mid-1980s, he served as MSDU Two’s Operations/Diving Officer.
Lieutenant Commander Hedberg
U.S. Navy, Commanding Officer, USS Grasp
Lieutenant Commander Hedberg hails from Westchester County, New York. He attended the Virginia Military Institute, where he earned a bachelor of arts in 1986. After completing Surface Warfare Officer’s Division Officer School in Newport, RI, he was assigned to the USS Safeguard (ARS-50), where he served as the Operations Officer and First Lieutenant/Dive Officer. Following that assignment, he attended Explosive Ordnance Disposal School (EOD) in Indian Head, MD. LCDR Hedberg’s subsequent assignment was to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit Three, located in Coronado, CA, where he served as EOD Detachment Officer-in-Charge, and as head of the Marine Mammal Systems Department. Upon completion of Perspective Executive Officer (XO) School in 1997, he was assigned as XO aboard the USS Avenger (MCM-1), home ported in Ingleside, TX. LCDR Hedberg’s personal decorations include the Navy Commendation medal (three awards) and various personal, service and campaign awards.
Commander Phil McGuinn
U.S. Naval Reserve, Public Affairs Officer
Commander Phillip McGuinn brings 19 years of public affairs experience to the team. Designated a public affairs officer upon his commission in 1982 from the NROTC unit at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Commander McGuinn served on active duty aboard the USS Saratoga (CV-60) and at Navy Recruiting Area One in Scotia, New York. He left active duty in 1987 and joined the Naval Reserve. He was recalled to active duty during Operation Desert Storm, and in 1996-97, when he joined the Armed Forces Inaugural Committee. Commander McGuinn attended East Carolina University’s program in maritime history and nautical archaeology, where he served as the editor of three maritime newsletters and participated in or directed underwater historical research projects in North Carolina, Bermuda, and Spain. He completed his thesis, Shell Castle-North Carolina Entrepôt, and received his master's in maritime history in 2000.
Captain Christopher Murray
U.S. Navy, Supervisor of Diving
Program Manager, Monitor 2001
As the Program Manager for the Monitor 2000 mission, Capt. Murray is responsible for project management and engineering coordination, on-site salvage engineering support, overall coordination between NOAA, the Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit Two, and Phoenix International, and oversight of Navy contractors and subcontractors. Capt. Murray received his commission from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1977, and attended the Navy Diving and Salvage Training Center in Panama City, FL in 1981. He commanded both the USS Bolster and the Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit Two. He has managed numerous large-scale salvage operations, and led a successful mission to the USS Monitor in 1998. He is now the Supervisor of Diving for Naval Sea Systems Command.
Commander Barbara L. Scholley
U.S. Navy, Commanding Officer, Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit Two
On-scene Commander, Monitor 2001
Commander Scholley is the On-scene Commander for the Monitor 2001 mission. She received her commission in1981 from the Officer Candidate School in Newport, RI. She served aboard ship as an Electrical Officer, Diving Officer, Operations Officer and Executive Officer, and was a Navigation Piloting Instructor at the U.S. Naval Academy, before assuming command of the USS Bolster in October 1992. At that time, she was only the fourth woman to command a commissioned U.S. Navy ship. Her extensive supervisory experience in diving and salvage operations includes being the Supervisor of Diving during the TWA Flight 800 Salvage and Recovery Operation.
Lieutenant Commander Al Tupman
U.S. Navy, Commanding Officer, USS Grapple
Lieutenant Commander Tupman enlisted in the Navy as a Seaman Recruit in August 1977. He received his commission in April 1989 as an Ensign through the Limited Duty Officer Program. He served on the USS Opportune as First Lieutenant and Assistant Operations Officer from 1989 to 1992. He also served as the Assistant Officer in Charge at the Naval Weapons Station Detachment in Port Hadlock, Washington; as Executive Officer of the USS Grasp; and as the Training Officer at the Navy Diving and Training Center in Panama City, FL. He most recently completed the Command Leadership Course and Prospective Commanding Officer Course at Newport, RI. Lt. Cmdr. Tupman assumed command of the USS Grapple in April 2000.
NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries
John D. Broadwater, PhD
NOAA, Monitor National Marine Sanctuary
Chief Scientist, Monitor 2001
John Broadwater is the Chief Scientist of the Monitor 2001 expedition. He has been the Manager of the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary since 1992. A diver since 1969, Dr. Broadwater participated in shipwreck dives and investigations throughout the United States and in more than a dozen foreign countries. He also volunteered his services as an archaeologist for expeditions to the Monitor in 1974, 1979 and 1983. He is a former Senior Underwater Archaeologist of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources. A well known author and lecturer, Dr. Broadwater wrote "Secrets of a Yorktown Shipwreck” for the June 1988 National Geographic Magazine, and the book Kwajalein, Lagoon of Found Ships, which chronicles shipwreck investigations in the Marshall Islands.
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Tane Casserley
NOAA, Monitor National Marine Sanctuary
Archaeologist, Monitor 2001
Tane Casserley is a contract Archaeologist with the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary. His specialties are deep-water archaeology and 19th century warships. He was a research diver in last year’s Monitor expedition and has published several articles on the wreck. Mr. Casserley has surveyed more than 20 submerged cultural resource sites, from Midway Atoll to Maine, and has worked on several projects sponsored by NOAA and the UNC-Wilmington National Undersea Research Center. He received a graduate certificate in Maritime Archaeology and History from the University of Hawaii’s Marine Option Program in 1998, and is currently a graduate student in Maritime Studies at East Carolina University.
NOAA, Monitor National Marine Sanctuary
Historian, Monitor 2001
Jeff Johnston has been the Historian at the Monitor Sanctuary since 1995. During the 1998-2000 expeditions, he provided topside support for recordkeeping, as well as historical and other information on the wreck site and the vessel’s design and construction. He will serve the same role this year. Mr. Johnston has more than 20 years’ experience in the field of maritime history. He is an expert on the navies of the American Civil War, and has taught people of all ages about such subjects as the lives of sailors in the 18th and 19th centuries and the experimental weapons used by the Union and Confederate navies. He has also designed educational and interpretive programs for museums and state and national parks.
NOAA, Public Affairs Office
Media and Shore Support Coordinator, Monitor 2001
Ms. Meyers, a NOAA Public Affairs contractor, brings to Monitor 2001 more than 15 years' experience in public and media relations. Based in Washington, DC, she specializes in high-profile projects. She coordinated national media efforts for the National Senior Games (the Senior Olympics), served as spokesperson for the National Restaurant Association, and directed issues management for The Tobacco Institute. Her other clients have included the American Benefits Council, American Psychological Association, American Red Cross, BAE Systems (formerly British Aerospace), Computer Sciences Corporation, Media Network, and National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America.
NOAA, Office of National Marine Sanctuaries
Archaeologist, Monitor 2001
Bruce Terrell is the Maritime Historian/Archaeologist for NOAA's National Marine Sanctuary Program. His responsibilities include initiating inventory, management and interpretation of the broad range of unique cultural resources in each of the sanctuaries. He also provides technical assistance to headquarters and field personnel on issues involving submerged archaeological sites and cultural properties within the sanctuaries. He has15 years’ experience in field research, artifact conservation, cultural resource management, museum curation, and exhibit design and construction. He served as the State Underwater Archaeologist of Louisiana, where he planned and implemented the Division of Archaeology’s Underwater Archaeology program. He holds a master’s in maritime history and underwater research from East Carolina University.
The Mariners' Museum
Media Relations Manager, The Maritime Museum, Newport News, VA
Media Coordinator, Monitor 2001
Justin Lyons is the Media Relations Manager for The Mariners’ Museum in Newport News, Virginia. With an extensive background in journalism, editing, photography, and public relations, he is responsible for promoting the museum's exhibitions, programs, and events, as well as its extensive international maritime collection. He is a graduate of Western Carolina University, where he received a BA in communications. Mr. Lyons will collaborate with NOAA and U.S. Navy public relations officers to promote the Monitor 2001 Expedition and the conservation of recovered artifacts.
Conservator, The Mariners' Museum, Newport News, VA
Conservator, Monitor 2001
As the Conservator at The Mariners' Museum, Mr. Peterson specializes in the conservation of material and data from underwater archaeological sites, and has been associated with the Monitor since 1978. He has conserved a variety of material from the USS Monitor, including the anchor, the propeller, ceramics, glass bottles, and ferrous and nonferrous metals. A former conservator for the North Carolina Department of Archives and History, he has 30 years’ experience in the field. His work has included conserving materials from Spanish wrecks for the Florida Division of Archives and History, from the Browns Ferry Vessel for the University of South Carolina, from the Richmond Floodwall, and from the wreck of the HMS DeBraak.
Phoenix International, Inc
Co-founder, Phoenix International, Inc
Project Manager, Monitor 2001
Tom Bailey co-founded Phoenix International, Inc. in 1997. Phoenix currently holds the U.S. Navy’s diving and diving-related services contract and its search and recovery contract. Mr. Bailey is an experienced welder-diver, dive supervisor, and project manager who has been involved in Phoenix’s Navy contracts throughout the world. He has more than 22 years’ experience in the commercial diving industry, much of which was spent in the Gulf of Mexico offshore oil industry. He is one of the top underwater welders in the world, and has extensive experience in waterborne ship repairs and underwater ship husbandry, marine construction and rigging.
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