SCMA director, Dr. Isabel Rivera-Collazo, attended the recent UNESCO Exchange Day held at the 9th session of the Meeting of States Parties in Paris, France. The Exchange Day was targeted toward issues relevant to underwater cultural heritage and coincided with the 14th meeting of the Scientific and Technical Advisory Body of the 2001 Convention on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage. The Exchange Day, specifically, offered the opportunity for State officials to interact with a panel of experts from around the world to address issues facing the protection and preservation of underwater cultural heritage. Dr. Rivera-Collazo gave a presentation titled "Prepping for COP28: Oceans and Underwater Cultural Heritage in the Face of Climate Change". This was an important introduction to the work that Dr. Rivera-Collazo and students across SIO will be doing at COP28 in Dubai this coming fall.

During the meeting, the Scripps Center for Marine Archaeology was also announced as an official member of the UNITWIN Network for Underwater Archaeology. This is an important network of research centers, universities, and communities that seek to enhance the protection of and research into underwater cultural heritage through international cooperation. The SCMA is honored to contribute to the education, management, and preservation of underwater cultural heritage through UNITWIN.

If you would like to learn more about UNESCO and the UNITWIN Network for Underwater Archaeology, please visit their site at http://www.underwaterarchaeology.net/

-All photos courtesy of Dr. Isabel Rivera-Collazo