Stefan Claesson, Ph.D., Forensic Archaeologist

B.A., Archaeological Studies, Boston University, 1992
M.A., Anthropology/Nautical Archaeology Program, Texas A&M University, 1998
Ph.D., Natural Resources and Environmental Studies, University of New Hampshire, 2008

Since 1992, Dr. Claesson has conducted and participated in numerous terrestrial and marine archaeological field projects in New England, Caribbean islands, Dominican Republic, Belize, Cyprus, Turkey and Morocco. He served as director and president of the non-profit organization, the Institute of Maritime History (IMH), from 1995 to 2005.

Dr. Claesson was a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Nancy Foster Scholar in marine archaeology and received his Ph.D. from the University of New Hampshire (UNH) in 2008. His doctoral research and dissertation focused on the development of economic assessment tools and governance structures to improve the conservation of maritime cultural resources such as historic waterfronts, shipwrecks and prehistoric archaeological sites. From 2005 to 2010, he worked as a Research Scientist for the Ocean Process Analysis Laboratory at UNH. He also served as a post-doctoral research fellow for the Census of Marine Life (CoML) and the History of Marine Animal Populations project until 2010, conducting research in the fields of marine archaeology and historical marine ecology.

Dr. Claesson joined the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command’s Central Identification Laboratory in 2010 and specializes in underwater and marine archaeological search, survey and recovery, and Geographic Information System (GIS) management. His career goals and professional interests lie in providing resolution for families and improving the quality of life for communities through the protection and conservation of military and maritime cultural heritage.