The Science of MIA Recoveries in Underwater Environments

DRC After Hours Sponsor: Diana Morrow

Dan Davis, Associate Professor of Classics at Luther College, will be visiting the After Hours group to discuss his work with the Defense Prisoners of War / Missing in Action (POW/MIA) Accounting Agency to search for and recover the remains of service members classified as MIA. This will include specific case studies he has recently led in the Baltic Sea off Denmark, in the Federated States of Micronesia, and in the Republic of the Marshall Islands.

The effort to recover the remains of missing air crew members in underwater environments requires painstaking historical and archival research, ocean mapping instruments and forensic archaeological fieldwork conducted underwater. Over 81,000 U.S. service members are classified as MIA from World War II and since that time, some 5,000,000 family members still wait for answers.

Professor Davis holds a BA from the University of Iowa, an MA from Texas A&M University, and his PhD from the University of Texas at Austin. An active scholar and leader of archaeological projects, he is the author of many peer-reviewed articles and books. His research interests focus on marine archaeology, ship technology, ancient harbors, classical archaeology, maritime trade and seafaring. He also leads students on Study Abroad January-term courses to Italy, Greece, and Turkey. His summer archaeological fieldwork includes the Roman harbor town of Kenchreai near Corinth, where he brings Luther students and serves as field director for the Vanderbilt University excavations. Since 2019, Professor Davis has also served as lead archaeologist for Project Recover, a University of Delaware based NGO dedicated to searching for and recovering our country’s MIAs in underwater environments. A former U.S. Navy diver, he now helps his wife run a rural cat sanctuary in Waukon. 

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