Calculated based on number of publications stored in Pure and citations from Scopus
Calculated based on number of publications stored in Pure and citations from Scopus
Calculated based on number of publications stored in Pure and citations from Scopus
20032024

Research activity per year

Personal profile

Biography

I am an Associate Professor at the Australian National University’s School of Archaeology and Anthropology. My research adopts a partnership approach, collaborating with First Nation communities who seek present-day cultural and economic benefits that can be obtained using archaeological methods.

Currently I have three active projects. ARC funded research traces the wandering pathways of Culture Heroes across Torres Strait. At the request of Goemulgal and Dauareb, we assess initiation grounds in the Mabuiag and Murray islands. An additional collaborative project examines the extent to which important sites in the Blue Mountains were damaged during the 2020 bushfires. Our team of Traditional Custodians and academics seek to map and conserve threatened fire hit heritage. Finally, in Czech Republic and Slovakia, a long term project explores the arrival of Homo Sapiens in Europe and subsequent replacement of resident Neanderthal communities. Cave excavations provide clues into the hidden histories behind some of these European ancestors.

Previously I held research positions at Griffith and Monash Universities and completed a PhD at Monash University in 2010. My thesis explored the potential for using archaeology to historicise ethnographically-signficant "villages" in western Torres Strait. Since beginning my studies at Lampeter University (Wales) in 1998, I have participated in a wide variety of projects including excavations of rock shelters and open sites in Western Australia (Hope Downs) and Arnhem Land (Northern Territory), highland Papua New Guinea (Simbai), Palau (Ulong, Angaur), Torres Strait (Mabuyag, Waier, Mer) and most recently Czech Republic (Blansko). 

Qualifications

Community Archaeologist; PhD Monash University; MA ANU; BA University of Wales, Lampeter

Research Interests

  • Archaeology of ritual and religion
  • The intersections between oral, archaeological and written histories
  • Deep history of Torres Strait Islanders
  • Australian (cultural, First Nation led) archaeology 

Education/Academic qualification

Tertiary Education, Graduate Diploma, University of Canberra

Award Date: 16 Jun 2016

Archaeology, PhD, The Archaeology of Community Emergence and Development on Mabuiag, Western Torres Strait, Monash University

Award Date: 19 Feb 2010

Archaeology, Master, The Archaeology of Aulong Island and the Colonisation of Palau, Micronesia, The Australian National University

Award Date: 16 Jun 2005

English and Archaeology, Bachelor

Award Date: 6 Jun 2000

External Scholarly Memberships and Affiliations

Society of Antiquaries, London

22 May 2022 → …

Research student supervision

  • Registered to supervise

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