THE CTE QUARTERLY | Issue 3
Faculty Spotlight
by
Brad Marovich
Many of you know Scott Herber as a
biology professor or as the AAC chair,
but as I came to find out, I really did
not know much about him. From the
academic side, he has his Bachelor’s
degree from Kutztown University of
Pennsylvania, earned his dual Master’s
degrees from Nova Southeastern
University, spent some time at Florida
Institute of Technology and is currently
in his Ph.D. dissertation program at
Walden University. He is a certified
ecologist from the Ecological Society of
America, which comes in handy when
he is doing environmental consulting.
shipwreck found by Barry Clifford in
1983: the Whydah.
At the time, it was the only positively
identified pirate ship found in the
waters of the United States. The ship
sank in 1717, so its artifacts are over
300 years old. Prior to it becoming
a pirate ship, it was a slave ship that
carried over 600 African slaves to the
New World. Scott’s opportunity was a
six-month appointment in Cape Cod to
conserve, restore and repair artifacts
in preparation for a national and
international traveling exhibition.
I had an opportunity to sit down
with him outside of work. Normally
when you speak with him, it is just
fun banter, but when the topic of the
difficulties of being in the spotlight
came up, it peaked my interest and
natural curiosity.
In 2003, he was approached to do
some permit work for a marine
salvage company. Little did he know
this was going to be the start of
something bigger. In 2005, that same
company asked him if he could do the
conservation work on marine-based
artifacts. He said yes.
By 2007, word had spread that not
only could he do the work, but he
was also willing to work in the private
sector. Scott comes from a science
background, so unlike some of his
peers, he was open to working with
museums and government entities.
In 2007, he was approached by
Arts and Exhibitions International--
which was being sponsored by
National Geographic-- to do artifact
conservation on a very famous
Page 2
For that project, he worked with
over 2,000 artifacts including 3,000
coins, 14 cannons, slave shackles
and human trade bars. His work has
been seen in Toronto, Canada, as
well as in museums in cities such
as Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Denver,
Norfolk, Houston, Milwaukee, Phoenix,
San Diego and St. Louis. His favorite is
the Field Museum in Chicago.
The exhibit has a permanent home in
Yarmouth, MA. His work can be seen
in a special publication by National
Geographic, and he was also featured
in a two-hour National Geographic
special entitled the “Pirates Code”,
which ran consistently from 2008-10
and quarterly from 2010-12. It can still
periodically be seen on the National
Geographic Channel.
He has also been seen on the show
“Mysteries of the Museum”, where he
works on shipwreck artifacts.
I asked him about his experiences
with these projects. He said the days
are long, you work with the premier
art handlers of the world and the
best production managers and you
meet very nice and famous people.
The artifact handlers and production
managers are the same people who
oversee the King Tut, Cleopatra,
Vatican, America I Am and Pompeii
exhibits.
What really has great value to Scott
is that he is one of the few people to
come in contact with these historical
treasures. Through these artifacts,
Scott has seen the best and worst
of humankind. He was happy to be
a part of this decade-long project.
He looks forward to working with
other museums, so he can continue
presenting his work and the history of
the Whydah.
When I asked him what else he has
been hiding, he quietly said that that
was enough for now.
QUOTE
“ So I guess you could say I am
a person who likes to open all
the doors to see what is on the
other side.”
SCOTT HERBER
[email protected]