Tom Oertling is a visiting lecturer in the Maritime Studies Program at Texas A&M University at Galveston. He received his MA from the Nautical Archaeology program at Texas A&M University in College Station in 1984. He has partnered with the A&Ms Institute of Nautical Archaeology on numerous projects, most recently in the excavation of the Denbigh, a Civil War blockade runner off the coast of Galveston Island, but also has extensive experience throughout the Caribbean. Mr. Oertling is a materials conservation specialist, and oversees all aspects of archaeological conservation in the Campus Archaeological Laboratory (CARL). Mr. Oertling teaches Introduction to Archaeology, Nautical Archaeology of the Americas, and Texas Maritime Cultural History.