History’s “The Curse of Oak Island” follows the adventures of treasure-hunting brothers Rick and Marty Lagina as they search for a mysterious treasure said to be buried somewhere on Nova Scotia’s Oak Island. In the decade that the show has been on the air, the “Oak Island” crew has seen their fair share of experts join the fray in search of the treasure.
One of these experts is archaeologist Jamie Kouba, who made her “Oak Island” debut in the Season 11 premiere, “On the Money,” and appeared in all seven episodes that aired in 2023. On the day of the premiere, she posted a selfie on Instagram in which she is wearing a black baseball cap that reads “The Curse of Oak Island Season 11” along with the caption, “Well it’s official now, I spent the last 6 months working as an archaeologist on The Curse of Oak Island! Surprise!”
Kouba’s role on the show is to assist in identifying whatever the crew finds on the island, particularly from the ongoing investigation of Lot 5, which began in 2022 after the Laginas purchased the property. “My biggest hope is that they find this incredible treasure that they’ve been looking for,” she told CBS News Pittsburgh. “Whether it is esoteric or actual gold or literature, or whatever it is, I hope that they find it.”
What does Jamie Kouba do outside of her role on The Curse of Oak Island?
Jamie Kouba works full-time as a field archaeologist for Chronicle Heritage, an international cultural and heritage resource management consulting firm headquartered in Arizona that offers services ranging from preservation and tribal consultation to archaeology and paleontology. Before this, she was an archaeologist for Quality Enterprises, a national infrastructure contractor headquartered in Florida.
Kouba holds a master’s degree in applied archaeology from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania, which she attended alongside her daughter. Although she entered the industry later than most, her interest in archaeology goes back to her childhood in the 1980s. “‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ came out the same year I was born,” she told CBS News Pittsburgh. “I don’t remember the first time I watched it, I just know that from the first time I watched it, I was pretty much hooked.”