Madeleine Burnside came to the Society in 1991. Born in London, England, she holds a Ph.D. in the History of Consciousness from the University of California at Santa Cruz, where her specialty was the history of art and science from the 15th through the 17th centuries. She has spent 25 years in the museum field and, in 1997, she co-authored Spirits of the Passage with Rosemarie Robotham on the subject of the Society's shipwreck, Henrietta Marie. This book is published by Simon and Schuster and is available from the museum store. Madeleine says, "We have a great collection and it's a privilege to be part of bringing it to a large and truly interested audience. You get to see kids' eyes light up and adults affirm their enthusiasm - it's the champagne of museum life."

Corey Malcom has been an archaeologist with the Society since 1988. A graduate of Indiana University, he got his start in the field in 1984, working on a variety of terrestrial sites with a group specializing in
contract archaeology. That experience led to positions on the excavation teams of the Nuestra Señora de Atocha and the 1638 Manila galleon Nuestra Señora de la Concepción. Having worked on many aspects of the Henrietta Marie project, Corey is currently working on surveying and mapping additional areas of the Henrietta Marie site, and continues research into the mid-sixteenth century St. John's Bahamas Wreck. Corey and his team also excavated The Turtle Kraals Cannery, located at the Historic Key West Bight, for the State of Florida, Bureau of Historic Resources. "I hope the work done here allows people to understand the power history can have to put today in better perspective," he says.

Melissa Kendrick has been with the museum since 1991.  As Chief Financial Officer she oversees all of the Society’s business operations as well as human resources, and our grants.  Melissa has a degree in Finance, and was a banking officer at Citibank, NA in NYC for 14 years. A lifetime of community service in her background brought her to the not-for-profit world to stay.  Today she has been President of the Key West Chamber of Commerce, Chairperson of the Tourist Development Council Key West Advisory Board, and is Secretary for the Historic Florida Keys Preservation Foundation.  She is a former three-time president of the Key West Attractions Association, board member for the Florida Keys Hospitality Institute and was a founding board member of People Taking Action Against Aids in her native New York.  You can often hear her speaking about the accounting function in rather unique fashion,  “It’s not accounting, it’s accountability” is one of her favorite sayings.  When asked what it is she does all day, she responds, “My job is to find the resources to make our programs run smoothly”.  She adds, “In many other industries my job would be to say NO, here my job is to figure out HOW”.

Kent’s career has included over twenty-five years of nonprofit management and financial development experience.  The majority of this time was spent in executive positions with the YMCA including working as a consultant for the YMCA of the USA.

With a strong interest in history and a passion for the marine environment, Weimer says “joining the Society and working with such an impressive staff is a perfect fit.”

Katie Savale joined the staff in 1997. Katie oversees visitor services as well as helps develop and prepare exhibitions. "We are always working on something new; sometimes we work on exhibits that are years away and sometimes we pull something together really quickly. It's always a challenge." says Katie.

Dylan has work for the Society since 1986. He started out as an assistant in the conservation lab and worked on a lot of the silver coins that are in the museum's collection. At present his job is two-fold, that of registrar and staff photographer. His photographs have been published internationally in various books, textbooks, and magazines.

Robert Cummings has been with the museum since 1994. He was hired by the Archaeology Department to make technical drawings of artifacts, a job that combined his passion for maritime life, history and the arts. Soon, he found opportunities at the museum to use his others skills in exhibit design, engineering and diving. Robert, a fine arts graduate from the University of New Hampshire, has had a very diverse career: he owned an antiques and arts shop, restored fine antiques, managed an arts gallery and worked as a detailing and drafting consultant for several companies. 

Monica Brook is a graduate of the Fine Arts Program, Camosun College and the
Collections Conservation and Management Program, Sir Sandford Fleming College. Her interest in archaeology and conservation began in 1994 when she volunteered for an archaeological expedition in Saskatchewan, Canada. She moved to Key West from Vancouver Island, Canada and began working for the Society in 1997 as a Student Intern. Today, as the Society's conservator, she not only is "hands on" with the salt water recovered objects, but she instructs conservation volunteers on proper methods for the objects they are working on. Monica says, "It's very rewarding excavating an artifact from the bottom of the ocean, conserving it, then seeing it on display in the museum."

Clarice Yentsch joined the Society in 2002 after several years with the Education Development Center, Newton, MA and then the Department of Education at the American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY. She holds a Ph.D. in Biological Oceanography from Nova University in Fort Lauderdale, FL. She conducted independent research at Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Science in West Boothbay Harbor, ME for 20 years, receiving support from the National Science Foundation, Office of Naval Research, Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health and author or co-author of over 50 
peer-reviewed publications. She is credited with co-founding Bigelow Laboratory 
in 1974 and founding the Flow Cytometry and Image Analysis Facility at Bigelow 
in 1983. In 1992 she published a book with Carl J. Sindermann "THE WOMAN 
SCIENTIST: Meeting the Challenges for a Successful Career" (Plenum Press) 
Her passions are people, research and education. Her philosophy is that research is the leading edge of education -- and she has devoted her past several years to incorporating research into the teaching of science, mathematics and technology.

Patti join the team in June 2001, bringing 20 years of museum finance and administrative experience with her. She is a past executive director of Museums Alaska, the statewide museums associations and past finance director for the Pratt Museum in Homer, Alaska and for the Key West Art & Historical Society.

Adam Fiallos joined the museum in Summer, 2002. After spending years conforming to the rules of society in Tallahassee, Atlanta and Washington, DC he moved to Key West.  He has over ten years of experience working with non-profits  and a strong interest in the humanities.