About our staff

Dr. Georgia Holly
Post-Doctoral Research Assistant Rising from the Depths; Marine Archaeologist
- Email: georgia.holly@ed.ac.uk
- School of History, Classics and ArchaeologyUniversity of Edinburgh
Biography
Georgia has an interdisciplinary background in both Maritime Archaeology (MSc; PhD, University of Southampton) and Marine Biology (BSc. University of Aberdeen). Throughout her work as an early career researcher, Georgia has particularly focussed on strengthening the connections between marine cultural heritage and environmental policy internationally, and regionally: in the UK, the Black Sea, and the Caribbean. Her PhD focussed on the integration and protection of marine cultural heritage within environmental management frameworks such as Marine Spatial Planning, Marine Protected Areas, and Integrated Coastal Zone Management.
Georgia has worked as part of various ocean survey projects across the fields of archaeology and ecology. In 2016 and later in 2018, Georgia joined Operation Wallacea (OPWALL) to research the connections between coral reef ecology and underwater heritage, undertaking projects in Indonesia and Dominica, respectively. During her MSc. and PhD years, she worked as part of the University of Southampton's Black Sea Maritime Archaeology Project (BSMAP) team from 2017-2019, specialising in the underwater excavation of an Early Bronze Age settlement at Ropotamo, off the Bulgarian coast.
Georgia has recently joined the University of Edinburgh's School of History, Classics and Archaeology as part of the Rising from the Depths network (RftD). Within this role, Georgia will measure and monitor the outcomes and impacts of the network's projects in East Africa, to understand the contributions of marine cultural heritage to sustainable development.
Useful Links
Twitter: twitter.com/Georgia__Holly
Summary of research interests
Places:- Africa
- Asia
- Britain & Ireland
- Caribbean
- Europe
- Mediterranean
- Scotland
- Ancient Civilisations
- Culture
- Landscapes & Monuments
- Prehistory
Research interests
I am particularly interested in how Marine Cultural Heritage can contribute to the sustainable development of the ocean, and large scale issues such as Climate Change, Gender Equality, Blue Growth and the Blue Economy.
A focus of my work thus-far has been on the connections between Marine Cultural Heritage and the environment, and I am interested in exending this work in both policy research and underwater survey.
Interests:
- Marine archaeology
- Marine ecology
- Marine heritage and environmental governance, law and policy
- Reef wreck and heritage site habitats
- Ocean knowledge-sharing and capacity building
- Marine cultural heritage and the sustainable development goals
- Marine cultural heritage economies