Ric Gillespie at the Seven Site; TIGHAR Photo

The son of a decorated World War Two pilot, Richard E. Gillespie grew up around airplanes and learned to fly while he was still in high school. In 1985, with his wife Pat Thrasher, he founded The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery. Known by its acronym TIGHAR (pronounced "tiger"), the nonprofit foundation has an international membership of several hundred scholars, scientists and enthusiasts whose volunteer expertise and financial contributions support the organization's mission to promote responsible aviation archaeology and historic preservation. As TIGHAR's Executive Director, Ric Gillespie has conducted dozens of educational seminars at air museums around the U.S. and has organized and moderated conferences of air museum professionals in Britain and Europe. Gillespie has also led over three dozen aviation archaeological expeditions to remote areas of the U.S., Canada, Europe, Micronesia, and New Guinea. Since launching TIGHAR's investigation of the Earhart disappearance in 1988, he has led eight expeditions to the Phoenix Islands. Ric Gilllespie's writings on the Earhart disappearance have appeared in the organization's journal, TIGHAR Tracks, in the Naval Institute's Proceedings and Naval History, and in LIFE Magazine. His book, Finding Amelia – The True Story of the Earhart Disappearance, was published by the Naval Institute Press in 2006.

Tom King at an excavation on Tinian Island. Photo by Hiro Kurashina.

Tom (Thomas F.) King is Senior Archaeologist on TIGHAR's Amelia Earhart Search Project, and co-author of Amelia Earhart's Shoes (AltaMira Press, 2004) – an account of TIGHAR's work in pursuit of the Nikumaroro Hypothesis through 2003. King has been doing archaeological research and writing since he was a teenager in California in the 1950s, and holds a PhD from the University of California, Riverside. He has worked in government, academia and the private sector, and is currently in private practice and affiliated with SWCA Environmental Consultants. He is widely known as an expert in the interpretation and application of U.S. environmental and historic preservation laws to promote the careful management of archaeological sites, tribal spiritual places, cultural landscapes, and other historic places. He has published six textbooks on archaeology, historic preservation, and related topics. He has taken part in three TIGHAR expeditions to Nikumaroro, including the one in 2001 on which the "Seven Site" – thought to be Earhart's last campsite – was found. He has spoken on the Earhart Search Project to a wide range of historical, aviation and civic organizations, including the Kansas City 99s, the Washington Athletic Club, and the Virginia Air and Space Center. King lives in suburban Washington DC, and can be contacted at tom@TIGHAR.org.