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BIDDEFORD, Maine

Maine author David Jourdan to discuss the deep sea search for Amelia Earhart at UNE Nov. 29

David Jourdan, co-founder and president of Nauticos, a deep-sea exploration company, will speak at UNE on The Deep Sea Search for Amelia Earhart and Other Adventures in Ocean Exploration.  

The event, sponsored by UNEs Marine Science Center, takes place Nov. 29 at the George and Barbara Bush Center from 5:30-6:30 p.m., followed by a reception with the author.

The disappearance of Amelia Earhart is one of the greatest aviation mysteries of the twentieth century.  Amelia and her navigator, Fred Noonan, vanished without a trace in the vast Pacific near tiny Howland Island during their attempt to circle the globe on July 2, 1937. No wreckage, oil slick, or floating debris of any sort was ever found.

Jourdan has led two deep ocean expeditions in search of Earharts lost Lockheed Electra airplane.  In his recently published book, The Deep Sea Quest for Amelia Earhart, Jourdan details the dramatic and sometimes life-threatening situations his team encountered over the course of weeks at sea, far from help or rescue, in the hopes of discovering this historical treasure. 

The book is the second in Jourdans Never Forgotten series of Nauticos ocean explorations and discoveries, which honors lost heroes and explorers. The first book, The Search and Discovery of Israels Lost Submarine DAKAR, chronicled the effort to solve a 30-year mystery, culminating in the location and salvage of the Israeli warship at a depth of 10,000 feet. It is the tale of the 69 sailors who went down with the ship, and their loved ones horror of loss, decades-long quest, and eventual closure once the wreckage was finally discovered.

Jourdan studied physics and engineering at the U.S. Naval Academy and Johns Hopkins University, and served as a U.S. Navy submarine officer during the Cold War. As a physicist at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, and as leader of Nauticos, he became an expert in the exploitation of undersea environmental data, and has supported many scientific, archaeological, and military programs.

Jourdan has written extensively about topics ranging from underwater navigation and ocean exploration to ocean renewable energy applications. He has also spoken to organizations across the country about his major discoveries, and appeared on the National Geographic Channel, The Discovery Channel, and the Today Show.

Copies of The Deep Sea Quest for Amelia Earhart will be available for purchase and signing by the author.  The event is free and open to the public.

For more information, contact Marian Reagan at 207-602-2856 or mreagan@une.edu.

About the University of New England

The University of New England is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of flexible, accredited online degrees. In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.