The origin of the first Australians. Using new DNA methods researchers aim to uncover the origins of the first Australians and to provide new evidence for when people came here and where they came from. This exciting work aims to determine some of the physical and metabolic characteristics of these early people.
Cape Keerweer 1606-2006: an ethnographic history of the Wik region, Queensland. In this research with Wik Aboriginal people I investigate how key facets of the peoples' lives have changed since the first Dutch visit 400 years ago. I seek a credible empirical explanation for their descent into crisis, especially post-1978, something with wider implications for the national interest. I examine historical causes through shifts in demography, land tenure, occupations, power relations, violence, lang ....Cape Keerweer 1606-2006: an ethnographic history of the Wik region, Queensland. In this research with Wik Aboriginal people I investigate how key facets of the peoples' lives have changed since the first Dutch visit 400 years ago. I seek a credible empirical explanation for their descent into crisis, especially post-1978, something with wider implications for the national interest. I examine historical causes through shifts in demography, land tenure, occupations, power relations, violence, language use, and art production. From the intensely local, the past individuals and cultural landscapes of Cape Keerweer, I move outward in space and onward in time tracing gradual Wik engagement in regional, state, national and global relationships 1606-2006.Read moreRead less
Hydrosocial Adapatations to Water Risk in Australian Agriculture. This project aims to understand how Australian farmers adapt to water resource limitations and governance constraints. We will address this significant challenge by identifying how social and cultural perceptions of water risk inspire farmers to create resilient management solutions in line with policy guidelines. Through ethnographic fieldwork and the analysis of historical patterns of water use, the research seeks identify the h ....Hydrosocial Adapatations to Water Risk in Australian Agriculture. This project aims to understand how Australian farmers adapt to water resource limitations and governance constraints. We will address this significant challenge by identifying how social and cultural perceptions of water risk inspire farmers to create resilient management solutions in line with policy guidelines. Through ethnographic fieldwork and the analysis of historical patterns of water use, the research seeks identify the hydrosocial adaptations that enable farmers to effectively respond to change. The new knowledge will foster water risk management via the culturally appropriate tailoring of interventions. Outcomes will support the long-term viability of Australian agriculture, with relevant lessons for managing drought globally. Read moreRead less
Epigenetics and Indigenous Australia. This project aims to investigate how epigenetics is being received by Indigenous Australians, and to identify the potential risks and opportunities that narratives of biosocial damage entail. Epigenetics is a rapidly evolving science concerned with how life experiences, such as trauma or stress, can modify DNA and be passed on to negatively affect children's (and possibly grandchildren's) health and development. This project will offer an understanding of th ....Epigenetics and Indigenous Australia. This project aims to investigate how epigenetics is being received by Indigenous Australians, and to identify the potential risks and opportunities that narratives of biosocial damage entail. Epigenetics is a rapidly evolving science concerned with how life experiences, such as trauma or stress, can modify DNA and be passed on to negatively affect children's (and possibly grandchildren's) health and development. This project will offer an understanding of the relationships between Indigenous health and epigenetics that will help Indigenous researchers, policymakers, and government bodies make well-informed decisions about the application and direction of this new science. The research will make a significant contribution to understanding how the interplay of biology, race, and society unfold at the intersection of different knowledge systems and at the forefront of technological progress.Read moreRead less
The Social Production of Science in Antarctica: A Study of Davis Station. Antarctica is a unique scientific laboratory. It is the only continent historically uninhabited by humans; access to its vast land and ice-scapes, and its surrounding oceans, is today almost exclusively reserved for scientists. Although these 'Antarcticans' represent multiple disciplines, and pursue a wide variety of research agendas, their shared experiences of working on the continent, and their shared professional netwo ....The Social Production of Science in Antarctica: A Study of Davis Station. Antarctica is a unique scientific laboratory. It is the only continent historically uninhabited by humans; access to its vast land and ice-scapes, and its surrounding oceans, is today almost exclusively reserved for scientists. Although these 'Antarcticans' represent multiple disciplines, and pursue a wide variety of research agendas, their shared experiences of working on the continent, and their shared professional networks, mean that they constitute a distinct community of practice. However, this community has yet to be subjected to detailed ethnographic enquiry. This project aims to examine Antarctic scientists' research practices, and their cultures of knowledge production, through an ethnographic study of Australia's Davis Station.Read moreRead less
Implications of morphological and molecular measures of diversity in papionine primates for interpretation of hominid phylogeny. Landmark morphometrics, superquadric modeling based on 3-D surface point mapping and conventional osteometric measurements, will be used to gauge morphological differences among macaques and baboons that are known to exchange genes across taxonomic boundaries. Morphological findings will be compared with genetic data (mitochondrial and some nuclear gene measures) on th ....Implications of morphological and molecular measures of diversity in papionine primates for interpretation of hominid phylogeny. Landmark morphometrics, superquadric modeling based on 3-D surface point mapping and conventional osteometric measurements, will be used to gauge morphological differences among macaques and baboons that are known to exchange genes across taxonomic boundaries. Morphological findings will be compared with genetic data (mitochondrial and some nuclear gene measures) on the same populations, to test for congruity between genetic and morphological divergence. The same techniques for measuring morphological divergence will be used on early hominid specimens (Miocene through Plio/Pleistocene). Comparisons between extents of morphological dispersion among hominids and monkeys will be used to test taxonomic and phylogenetic hypotheses about human evolution.Read moreRead less
Nomadic or sedentary? Determining lifestyle and subsistence of past populations in Central Asia using osteological, bone chemical and genetic techniques. The aim of the research is to apply a range of osteological analytical techniques to investigatge subsistence patterns of past populations from the heart of Central Asia. Morphological, bone chemical and genetic analyses will be undertaken on previously unstudied collections of archaeological human skeletal remains recovered from burial grounds ....Nomadic or sedentary? Determining lifestyle and subsistence of past populations in Central Asia using osteological, bone chemical and genetic techniques. The aim of the research is to apply a range of osteological analytical techniques to investigatge subsistence patterns of past populations from the heart of Central Asia. Morphological, bone chemical and genetic analyses will be undertaken on previously unstudied collections of archaeological human skeletal remains recovered from burial grounds located on the Ustiurt Plateau and the banks of the Amu Dariya, Uzbekistan. In conjunction with the existing archaeological record, these anlyses will reveal the nature of subsistence patterns, economy and inter-relationships of ancient Central Asian peoples, with the ultimate aim of differentiating nomadic and sedentary lifestyles.Read moreRead less
Connecting Indigenous Community Photographies: a transnational case study. The project aims to conduct the first transnational comparison of Indigenous community-controlled photography, exploring Indigenous peoples’ ways of seeing and documenting their worlds. The project seeks to significantly advance Australian and global understanding of Indigenous vernacular photography through investigating formerly unexplored private collections of images created by Indigenous photographers during the mid ....Connecting Indigenous Community Photographies: a transnational case study. The project aims to conduct the first transnational comparison of Indigenous community-controlled photography, exploring Indigenous peoples’ ways of seeing and documenting their worlds. The project seeks to significantly advance Australian and global understanding of Indigenous vernacular photography through investigating formerly unexplored private collections of images created by Indigenous photographers during the mid 20th Century in four communities across three countries. One of the outcomes of the project is a nuanced visual history that cannot be excavated from other sources. The benefits of this project include public exhibitions, a book, symposiums, and a scholarly anthology that encourages the public’s connection with the past.Read moreRead less
A powerful new genetic view of the recent evolutionary history of humans and their diseases. Bacteria on teeth cause dental disease, but have also recently been associated with broader health issues, including diabetes, stroke and heart issues. In this project ancient DNA will be used to reveal changes in these bacteria as humans moved from a hunter-gatherer to farming lifestyle, providing valuable background information for modern dental/medical practice.
Investigating the impacts and future of land rights and land restitution. This project aims to develop new understandings of the effects of land rights on Aboriginal communities and the nation. The era of gaining rights has, for many, transitioned into a time of restitution and seeking economic and cultural futures for younger generations. It remains to be seen what these futures will be, how they will align with or challenge national interests, and what hopes younger Aboriginal people have for ....Investigating the impacts and future of land rights and land restitution. This project aims to develop new understandings of the effects of land rights on Aboriginal communities and the nation. The era of gaining rights has, for many, transitioned into a time of restitution and seeking economic and cultural futures for younger generations. It remains to be seen what these futures will be, how they will align with or challenge national interests, and what hopes younger Aboriginal people have for country. This project aims to uncover future aspirations, engaging with Yanyuwa claimants, the first group to lodge a land claim under the Aboriginal Land Rights (NT) Act 1976, and land rights professionals. The project aims to reveal intercultural understandings of land rights and the future for Australian lands and waters.Read moreRead less