Simone Edgar Holmes

Simone grew up in New York City, Amsterdam, and Vermont, where striking historical architecture and stunning autumn foliage inspired her love for both natural and built environments. She combined these passions by approaching her research into art, architecture, and colonial histories from an environmental perspective.

 

She is currently the Wolfson Postgraduate Scholar of History at University College London, where her PhD project examines the water history of the Dutch Caribbean in the 17th and 18th centuries, through evidence preserved in historical maps. Prior to this, she earned her undergraduate degree in Art History from Middlebury College in Vermont and spent a year abroad at the University of Oxford, where she researched European garden design and marine painting. Afterwards, her love of travel brought her back to the United Kingdom to pursue a Master’s degree at The Courtauld Institute of Art, where she focused on colonial cartography and the architectural history of the Dutch and British empires.

 

She also loves to lecture on the histories of various seafaring groups, from the Vikings to Spanish explorers, and also holds a fascination with wildflower identification and botanical folklore. She spends her free time in London singing in a folk choir and practicing Scottish and Irish dance. On board, you can catch her browsing in the shipboard library and eagerly sharing book recommendations.