Dan Finamore is the Russell W. Knight Curator of Maritime Art and History at the Peabody Essex Museum, where he has organized over fifteen exhibitions on a wide range of maritime topics. His job involves the management, interpretation and display of a collection comprised of 50,000 paintings, models, charts, ship lines, navigating instruments and decorative arts. He has conducted extensive archaeological field research in Belize and elsewhere with a focus on European and American maritime communities both at sea and ashore. He is the author and/or editor of five books, including Maritime History as World History and Fiery Pool: The Maya and the Mythic Sea.