By Martha Aitkin, Bruce Peninsula Press
In recognition of her years of dedication to the preservation and protection of Canadian Marine Heritage, Scarlett Janusas was recently awarded a King Charles III Coronation Medal. The award was presented by MP Alex Ruff in a ceremony where Scarlett felt honoured to be standing alongside many other local volunteers with a history of exemplary service to our communities.
For Scarlett, the volunteer work she continues is all the reward she needs. She acknowledges, with humility, that although the award was given to her it actually represents the dedication and passion of many other people that she continues to enjoy working alongside.
Scarlett combined her passion for archaeology with her love of being in and on the water by becoming one of the first Marine Archeologists. Upon completion of her studies in Archaeology, she found it difficult, as a woman, to get anything other than field work in the male-dominated profession. As a result of this challenge she started her own consulting business and has enjoyed a long and successful career.
Although she recently closed the consulting business she is just as busy as she has always been. Scarlett currently serves as past president on the board of the Ontario Marine Heritage Committee (OMHC), which is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2025. In the coming months Scarlett will assist with mapping and recording of a shipwreck that washed up on the shores of Lake Erie. OMHC will also conduct research in the hopes of identifying the ship. OMHC will be assisting in the excavation of a second wreck found recently at Point Farms Provincial Park.
Scarlett was contacted by the Canadian Wildlife Service a couple of years ago about another wreck that revealed itself from the sandy shores. This summer she will work alongside Patrick Folkes on the mapping and excavation of all of these projects. OMHC has conducted countless similar projects in the province, all on a volunteer basis.
Scarlett also teaches marine archaeology to recreational divers. Her teaching work includes a special project, and the first of its kind in the province, geared towards teaching Indigenous monitors how to assess a marine archaeological project. Indigenous archaeological monitors are in attendance on these projects to ensure that their interests are considered.
As if all of that was not enough, she is also in the process of writing three books! One is a history of women in Ontario archaeology, another is about History of Marine Archaeology in Ontario and a third, smaller project, is specifically about the wreck of the Arabia.
