Think Tank
We are researchers committed to making visible forms of expertise that remain underrepresented in debates about the ocean.
The Think Tank is called Women and Oceans because it draws attention to perspectives that have traditionally received less recognition in marine science, heritage, and policy, while remaining open to all people whose knowledge is shaped through close relationships with the sea. Women often occupy positions where long-term observation, care, and practical engagement with marine environments take place, yet these forms of knowledge rarely enter decision-making spaces.
Our mission is to ensure that these experiences and interpretations of ocean change reach international audiences and policy arenas. We seek to broaden how ocean knowledge is defined and valued, and to strengthen the link between lived maritime realities and global discussions on ocean health and environmental responsibility.
Think Tank Board
Elena Perez-Alvaro is an internationally recognised expert in underwater cultural heritage, specialising in its ethical, legal, and practical management. She is currently a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow, funded by the European Commission, leading research on the sustainable management of tangible and intangible underwater heritage across Pacific island contexts, with particular attention to armed conflict, geopolitics, and environmental risk. She is the author of Underwater Cultural Heritage: Ethical Concepts and Practical Challenges (Routledge) and The Hidden Hand of Underwater Cultural Heritage (Brill, 2025), and has published widely in academic journals and edited volumes. Dr Perez-Alvaro is an Expert Member of the ICOMOS International Scientific Committees on Underwater Cultural Heritage and Intangible Cultural Heritage, and Chair of the Blue Shield International Underwater Conflict Heritage Group.
Verónica Walker Vadillo is a maritime archaeologist and interdisciplinary researcher working at the intersection of archaeology, anthropology, environmental humanities, and maritime heritage. Her research explores watery worlds, socio-ecological systems, and the cultural politics of oceans, rivers, and coasts, with particular attention to Southeast Asia in comparative global perspective. She is the recipient of a Ramón y Cajal Fellowship, through which she leads the project Anchoring Identity, examining how maritime cultures are formed, maintained, and transformed through everyday practices, technologies, and environmental relations. She is Chair of the Asia-Pacific Conference on Maritime and Underwater Cultural Heritage (APConf) and coordinator of the Down by the Water. She is a founding member of Women and Oceans.
Carlota Pérez-Reverte Mañas holds a PhD in Maritime Archaeology and works as an underwater archaeologist specialising in fieldwork, project management, site musealisation, and public heritage mediation. She lectures in the University of Cádiz Master’s in Nautical and Underwater Archaeology and collaborates with the GALA research group at Universidad Central de Ecuador. She has participated in multiple national and international research projects. Her research explores social participation, digital communication, and sustainable blue-tourism models for maritime and underwater cultural heritage. She has been recognised with the AURA and PROA “Horizonte Azul” awards for her research contributions and professional trajectory, and is an active member of ICOMOS.
Dr. Emilia Mataix Ferrándiz is a Ramón y Cajal Fellow at the Universitat Internacional de Catalunya and a specialist in Roman law, Classical archaeology, and ancient commercial practice. Trained in both Law and Archaeology, her research investigates Roman ports, shipwrecks, and commercial epigraphy to understand how legal norms operated within maritime landscapes. She integrates material culture, legal texts, and economic history to reconstruct the institutional and infrastructural foundations of Mediterranean trade. She is the author of Gone under Sea: Shipwrecks, Legal Landscapes and Mediterranean Paradigms (Brill) and has led major international initiatives in maritime archaeology, including the “Down by the Water” network and IKUWA congresses.
Associates
Coming up
