REVEALING MYSTERIES OF THE DEEP

Meet The Shipwreck Mermaid, otherwise known as Maddy McAllister. Maddy is a maritime archeologist, so she is kind of like the female, under-the-sea version of Indiana Jones. Except, instead of searching for buried treasure on sunken ships, Maddy is much more interested in preserving artefacts found on wrecks, so that the stories about the people they once belonged to can continue to be told. Maddy grew up in a tiny little coastal town in the southwest of Western Australia. Maddy decided she was going to become a maritime archeologist after she dragged her mum to a lecture on shipwrecks at her local RSL club. “We walked into this room to hear a lecture from Ross Anderson, who’s still a curator at the Fremantle Museum, and we were the only people under the age of 75”. Anderson gave a talk about the shipwrecks littering the West Australian coastline, and Maddy was so enthralled that she marched straight up to Anderson after the lecture and asked him how she could do what he did. Maddy is a firm believer in following the things that ignite your passion. She has clear memories of being told that if she opted for a career in maritime archeology she would never get a job, never make any money and that it was a terrible choice. Maddy says that with support from her mum, she instead “followed my heart in a way and went on to study underwater archaeology, and here I am today.” ________________________________________________ This video is part of the Salt Water STEMinists series. Salt Water STEMinists are a cohort of bold, intelligent, badass women who have dedicated their careers to learning as much as they can about the ocean and the life that calls it home. According to the UN, women only account for 30% of the world’s researchers. In 2016 in Australia, women comprised only 17% of the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) qualified population. We’ve met countless incredible women absolutely killing it in their field, and we’ve heard their amazing stories first hand. We reckon it’s time the rest of the world did too. Salt Water STEMinists is an ongoing video series that amplifies the voices of female researchers by sharing the stories behind their tireless work in marine science and conservation. Through this series, we hope to shed light on the insightful work of female scientists around Australia, and slowly help change the status quo of STEM. FIND OUT MORE: Read our interview with Maddy: https://www.grumpyturtlecreative.com/dr-maddy-mcallister Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/grumpyturtlecreative Tune into Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/grumpyturtlecreative Follow us on Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com.au/grumpyturtlecreative

Maddy host's the Great Barrier Reef episode of National Geographic's longest running TV series - Drain the Oceans.

Experience the timeless story of one of Australia's most famous shipwrecks. Visit Pandora Gallery at Museum of Tropical Queensland today ⚓ #museumoftropicalqld #QMNetwork