In this episode, host Lisa Koontz talks with Charlie Beeker about how shipwrecks become living ecosystems and why preserving them matters. Beeker explains how underwater sites serve as both historical records and biological habitats, and how creating protected “living museums” supports conservation, education, and public access. The conversation highlights how studying and managing submerged environments helps communities understand their shared history while promoting sustainable relationships with natural resources.
Charlie Beeker is the founder and director of Indiana University’s Center for Underwater Science and Academic Diving Program and a faculty member in the IU School of Public Health–Bloomington. A registered professional archaeologist and master diving instructor, Beeker has spent more than four decades studying and protecting submerged cultural and biological resources. His work helped shape national policy through the Abandoned Shipwreck Act and has led to the creation of underwater parks and preserves across the Great Lakes, the United States, and the Caribbean. Beeker is best known for advancing the concept of “living museums in the sea,” which preserve shipwrecks alongside the aquatic ecosystems that develop around them, making underwater heritage accessible while protecting it for future generations.
Host Lisa Koontz is the Director of Faculty Operations at the Indiana University School of Public Health, Bloomington. In this role, she works closely with faculty across disciplines to support research, teaching, and community engagement initiatives that address real-world public health challenges. With a deep understanding of how public health research moves from idea to implementation, Koontz brings an insider’s perspective on how academic work translates into programs, policies, and practices that affect everyday life. As host of Living Well: Public Health for All, she guides conversations that connect research to lived experience, helping listeners understand not just what researchers study, but why it matters for Hoosiers.