Tom Dawson speaks at the INS Conference at the University of St Andrews on 27th August 2013.
Tom Dawson is a Research Fellow at the University of St Andrews studying the impact of erosion on the archaeology of the coast. He has been the Managing Director of the charity SCAPE (Scottish Coastal Archaeology and the Problem of Erosion) since 2001 and is a Commissioner on the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS) and a Council Member of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. Tom works closely with Historic Scotland to gather information on the scale of the problem at the coast. He also has a strong interest in community archaeology and manages the Scotland’s Coastal Heritage at Risk Project (SCHARP), working with the public to discover and monitor eroding sites using mobile technology and an interactive website. As well as undertaking numerous survey projects and long-running community excavations, Tom is exploring novel ways of promoting threatened archaeological sites, including using laser scanning to record sites before they are destroyed; collaborating with colleagues to build interactive digital 3D reconstructions based on excavation evidence; and using video to promote archaeology and the problem of erosion more widely. He has set up several web sites about coastal archaeology and ran a national photographic competition with the Herald newspaper entitled Capturing the Coastline.
