Who is Emma Culligan? Unveiling her role in Oak Island’s secrets
Who is Emma Culligan? Unveiling her role in Oak Island’s secrets
Who is Emma Culligan? Unveiling her role in Oak Island’s secrets
Who is Emma Culligan? Unveiling her role in Oak Island’s secrets
Is there a massive treasure hoard buried on Oak Island, off the coast of Canada’s Nova Scotia province? That’s what the cast of long-running Sky HISTORY reality series The Curse of Oak Island have been diligently trying to find out.
Several of the on-screen treasure hunters, including brothers Rick and Marty Lagina, have been mainstays of the show since its debut back in 2014. Otherwise, we’ve seen a conveyor belt of archaeological experts stepping in to help the Laginas unearth fascinating artefacts from the island’s soil.
The Curse of Oak Island has been a very male-heavy affair, but the team got a new female member with the 10th season in 2022. Metallurgist Emma Culligan has remained a key part of the show to this day, and established herself as a firm fan favourite.
Emma Culligan’s life
Little is known about Emma’s life before joining The Curse of Oak Island. However, when introducing herself on the show, she explained: ‘I studied engineering as well as archaeology, a niche I wanted to create for myself.’
Emma studied these disciplines at Memorial University in Newfoundland, as she revealed as a guest on The Curse of Oak Island & Beyond Podcast.
In a May 2023 episode of the podcast, she recalled one of her professors at the university urging her to take up metallurgy as well. This led Emma to spend years analysing iron with a scanning electron microscope.
In the same interview, it was revealed that she grew up in Japan and her first language was Japanese. She did not learn English until the age of 15.
Emma’s role in The Curse of Oak Island
Before joining The Curse of Oak Island, Emma knew someone already involved with the show. Knowing of Emma’s interests in archaeology and engineering, this friend was eager to try getting Emma a personal assistant position on the show.
In the end, Laird Niven — one of the show’s archaeologists — decided that she should operate the XRF (X-ray fluorescence) system on the island instead.
Today, fans of The Curse of Oak Island are familiar with Emma Culligan using techniques like XRF and XRD (X-ray diffraction) to analyse metals. The archaeologists regularly return from the field with newly discovered artefacts for her to examine.
Emma’s discoveries in The Curse of Oak Island
