Leah Tavasi

Hello, I'm Leah - I am completing my PhD in Environmental Research funded by the UKRI Oxford-NERC Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP).

I am interested in combining maritime archaeology with marine ecology and biology, focusing on spatial correlation between heritage and species diversity and richness. For my DPhil I hope to combine traditional maritime archaeological methods with marine ecological methods in an interdisciplinary thesis, one which will be based in GIS. I am a part of both OCMA (Oxford Center for Maritime Archaeology) and the Seascape Ecology Lab, in the Archaeology and Geography departments respectively.

Prior to joining the NERC DTP, I completed my master's degree in 2022 at the University of Oxford in maritime archaeology with Dr. Damian Robinson, focusing on maritime archaeology of the Mediterranean. I worked as a Maritime Archaeologist at the St. Augustine Lighthouse and Maritime Museum from 2017-2023, and have been affiliated with multiple projects from the Mediterranean to the US. I am a PADI Specialty Instructor and DAN Instructor, and have worked as a research diver and volunteer at the Coral Restoration Foundation (CRF) in Key Largo, Florida. I received my bachelors degree from McGill University in Montreal, Canada, in 2016.

In my free time I love to sail.

Selected publications

Tavasi, Leah. “Does Evidence for Jewish Pirates Exist Archaeologically? A Case Study of Sinan Reis.” ACUA Underwater Archaeology Proceedings, 2023.