[Aqualist] ARC Success

[Simon Haberle]

Dear all,

Below is a summary of the successful grants awarded in the last 2 weeks 
for Discovery, Linkage, LIEF, DECRA and Future Fellowships with research 
topics related to Quaternary Science (including Archaeology). This year 
also marks the beginning of a new era in grant schemes. Overall the 
Quaternary is well represented across all grant schemes and a 
significant number of DECRA and Future Fellowships indicates a active 
and exciting new generation of researchers and ideas being supported 
through ARC funding.

Well done to all who where successful. Sorry to those I might have 
missed (please let me know).

Cheers, Simon Haberle

**Associate Professor
Dept of Archaeology and Natural History
School of Culture, History and Language
College of Asia and the Pacific
The Australian National University
Canberra ACT 0200

__________________________________________

Outcomes announces in Nov 2011


DISCOVERY GRANTS

The Flinders University of South Australia

DP120104435: Prideaux, Dr Gavin J; Bunce, Dr Michael; Ungar, Prof Dr 
Peter S; van der Kaars, Dr Willem A

Project Title: Faunal responses to environmental change and isolation on 
an Australian land-bridge island.

Project Summary: Establishing how faunas responded to past isolation and 
environmental changes offers great potential for predicting long-term 
impacts of habitat fragmentation. By combining novel methods we will 
track extinction rates, diet and bodysize shifts on Kangaroo Island, the 
only known land-bridge island with a fossil record spanning the past 
100,000 years.

Total $380,000.00; Primary FoR 0603 Evolutionary Biology

James Cook University

DP120103179: Ulm, Dr Sean G; Wallis, Dr Lynley A; Moss, Dr Patrick T; 
Sloss, Dr Craig R

Project Title: Naïve island landscapes: people and environmental change 
in tropical sclerophyll landscapes.

Project Summary: A detailed history of how people in tropical island 
environments have managed environmental change will be produced for the 
South Wellesley Archipelago in the Gulf of Carpentaria. The outcomes 
will provide new insights into the dynamic relationship between people 
and environment during periods of climate change.

Total $450,000.00; Primary FoR 2101 Archaeology

La Trobe University

DP120100580: Cosgrove, Dr Richard F; Smith, Dr Colin; Roebroeks, Prof 
Wil; Pike-Tay, Prof Anne

Project Title: Forty-two degrees of latitude: comparative archaeologies 
of southwest Tasmania and southwest France during the last Ice Age.

Project Summary: The late Pleistocene archaeology of each region 
represents the end journeys of behaviourally modern humans after leaving 
Africa at least 70,000 years before. They are similar in age, 
preservation and are important in understanding our species' adaptation 
to climate perturbations and the different cultural responses to these.

Total $232,500.00; Primary FoR 2101 Archaeology

Macquarie University

DP120103519; Sheedy, Dr Kenneth A; Gore, A/Prof Damian B

Project Title: A spring of silver, a treasury in the earth: coinage and 
wealth in archaic Athens.

Project Summary: The purpose of the project is to study the impact of 
locally mined silver on the public treasury of the Athenians, and thus 
on the developing political economy of this important city-state during 
the years c.550-480 BC, by examining its employment for the minting of 
coins.

Total $150,000.00; Primary FoR 2101 Archaeology

DP120103665: Harrison, Prof Sandra P

Project Title: Quantitative reconstructions of Australian climates since 
the last Interglacial.

Project Summary: A crucial test of the models used to project future 
climate is how well they reproduce past climates. The project will 
reconstruct Australian regional climates, from vegetation, fire and 
runoff records, and use these for climate-model evaluation - helping to 
provide a more solid basis for management of Australian resources in the 
future.

Total $500,000.00; Primary FoR 0406 Physical Geography and Environmental 
Geoscience

Murdoch University

DP120103725: Bunce, Dr Michael; Dortch, Dr Joseph C; Haile, Dr James; 
Gilbert, A/Prof Marcus T

Project Title: Ancient DNA from cave sediments: a new horizon in the 
archaeology of Aboriginal Australia.

Project Summary: Archaeological cave deposits at Devil's Lair and nearby 
sites in south-west Western Australia document 48,000 years of 
occupation by the first Australians. Using ancient DNA isolated from 
cave sediment the project will identify the diversity of plants and 
animals, thereby providing new insights into past environments and 
Aboriginal hunter-gatherer practices.

Total $152,000.00; Primary FoR 2101 Archaeology

The Australian National University

DP120100512: Brockwell, Dr Celia J

Project Title: Earth mounds in Northern Australia: archaeological and 
environmental archives of the mid to late Holocene.

Project Summary: Earth mounds, created and occupied by humans, are a 
common feature of Australia's northern coastal plains. They can offer 
unique insights into the formation of this recent landscape, and shed 
light on climatic and environmental change, and human/environmental 
interaction. This study will provide important new data for climate 
change models.

Total $176,500.00; Primary FoR 2101 Archaeology

DP120103202: Clark, A/Prof Geoffrey R; Reepmeyer, Dr Christian H; 
Haberle, Dr Simon G; Sachs, A/Prof Julian P; Nero, Prof Karen L

Project Title: Climate change in the abandonment of islands: a 
high-resolution case study from the tropical Pacific.

Project Summary: Climate change in the last 1000 years is thought to 
have had negative environmental and societal consequences in the 
Pacific, particularly in Palau through the occupation and abandonment of 
limestone islands. This project uses highresolution data to establish 
the palaeoclimate and the cultural mechanisms used to cope with climate 
events.

Total $335,000.00; Primary FoR 2101 Archaeology

DP120102772: Kerr, Dr Ross C; Hughes, Dr Graham O

Project Title: Melting and circulation in Antarctic ice shelf cavities.

Project Summary: This project will explore and model the mechanisms 
causing the observed increased rate of melting of Antarctica's ice 
shelves. This understanding is essential for accurate predictions of sea 
level rise and global thermohaline circulation over the next century, so 
that their impact on society can be planned for and mitigated.

Total $380,000.00; Primary FoR 0405 Oceanography

The University of Melbourne

DP120103142 Sagona, Prof Antonio G; Lordkipanidze, Prof Dr David

Project Title: Archaeology in the central Caucasus: investigations at 
Samatvro and Tchkantiskedi.

Project Summary: This archaeological project is the strongest Australian 
cultural link with the Republic of Georgia, a developing country of 
considerable strategic importance that borders Russia. A study of 
Georgia's past heritage will provide a deeper understanding of its 
contemporary social diversity and complex geographical situation.

Total $253,000.00; Primary FoR 2101 Archaeology

The University of New England

DP120102316: Beck, A/Prof Wendy E; Fullagar, Dr Richard L; Burns, Dr 
Judith; Kiernan, Dr Kevin W

Project Title: Indigenous heritage: working ancient wetlands for social 
benefit and cultural understanding.

Project Summary: This research will answer important theoretical and 
practical questions about Aboriginal community engagement with Heritage 
research. It will generate significant archaeological outcomes on the 
nature of Indigenous occupation in ancient eastern Australian 
landscapes, and this research will also improve the employability of 
young Aboriginal people.

Total $575,000.00; Primary FoR 2101 Archaeology

DP120103993: Grave, Dr Peter R; Attenbrow, Dr Valerie J

Project Title: Axes, exchange, social change: new perspectives on 
Australian hunter-gatherers.

Project Summary: This project refocuses attention on the importance of 
South East Australia for understanding the role of exchange in social 
change amongst hunter-gatherers. Our study will develop new perspectives 
on Aboriginal hunter-gatherer societies by tracing changing patterns of 
stone axe exchange over time using a new non-destructive provenancing 
technique (PXRF).

Total $305,000.00; Primary FoR 2101 Archaeology

The University of Queensland

DP120100969: Fairbairn, Dr Andrew S; Baird, Dr Douglas D

Project Title: The emergence of farming beyond the Fertile Crescent at 
Boncuklu Hoyu?k, Central Turkey.

Project Summary: International collaborative research at Boncuklu Hoyu?k 
will identify when farming first spread beyond Asia's Fertile Crescent 
10,500 years ago. In answering whether migrating farmers caused this key 
event in global history it will refine our knowledge of the link between 
migration and culture change relevant to understanding both past and 
present.

Total $245,000.00; Primary FoR 2101 Archaeology

DP120101752: Price, Dr Gilbert J; Feng, Dr Yuexing; Joannes-Boyau, Dr Renaud

Project Title: Developing reliable chronologies for extinct Australian 
Pleistocene megafauna from museum fossil collections.

Project Summary: Our ability to understand the timing of prehistoric 
extinction events is critical, but can only be achieved by reliable 
dating methods. This project will adopt several new and exciting 
methodologies in the direct dating of fossils to determine the 
chronological sequence and the timing of extinction of the Pleistocene 
megafauna.

Total $115,000.00; Primary FoR 0403 Geology

DP120101793: Webb, Prof Gregory E; Webster, Dr Jody M; Nothdurft, Dr 
Luke D; Zhao, Prof Jian-xin; Braga, Prof Dr Juan C; Tudhope, Prof 
Alexander W

Project Title: Geomorphological development of coral reefs, southern 
Great Barrier Reef: an integrated record of Holocene palaeoecology and 
palaeoclimate from cores.

Project Summary: Very little is known about how the Great Barrier Reef 
(GBR) has responded or may respond to predicted environmental change 
and/or degradation. The project will reconstruct the recent biological 
and physical history of reefs in the southern GBR in order to better 
understand how they may react to future environmental changes.

Total $490,000.00; Primary FoR 0406 Physical Geography and Environmental 
Geoscience

The University of Sydney

DP120102257: Miller, Prof Margaret C; Beaumont, Dr Lesley A; Paspalas, 
Dr Stavros A

Project Title: Settlement sustainability and societal change in the 
ancient Mediterranean: the case of Zagora.

Project Summary: A settlement becomes a community when its physical 
design supports its social structure and thrives when diversity secures 
its economic base. Probing the failure of once-prosperous centers like 
8th-century BC Zagora will illuminate past approaches to issues of 
settlement sustainability in the face of environmental, social and 
economic challenge.

Total $450,000.00; Primary FoR 2101 Archaeology

Monash University

DP120104320: Baker, Dr Patrick J; Cook, Dr Edward R; Palmer, Dr Jonathan G

Project Title: The divergence phenomenon in tree-ring-reconstructed 
temperatures: global problem or Northern Hemisphere anomaly?

Project Summary: Concerns about recent global warming derive from 
comparisons of current temperatures and past temperatures reconstructed 
mainly from tree-rings. There is some evidence that tree-rings are 
becoming less sensitive to temperature at some high-latitude sites. The 
project will determine the scale and extent of this problem across the 
Southern Hemisphere.

Total $540,000.00; Primary FoR 0406 Physical Geography and Environmental 
Geoscience

DP120104322: Baker, Dr Patrick J; Mooney, Dr Scott D

Project Title: Has Twentieth Century warming changed southeastern 
Australia's fire regimes?

Project Summary: This project will reconstruct extreme fire seasons and 
fire events for the past 500 years in three temperate regions of 
southeastern Australia. This baseline information will extend our 
historic records of fire, quantify the controls on fire in our 
landscapes and place recent catastrophic fire events in historical context.

Total $310,000.00; Primary FoR 0501 Ecological Applications

LIEF

Southern Cross University

LE120100201: Bush, Prof Richard T; Burton, A/Prof Edward D; Scheffers, 
Dr Sander R; Scheffers, A/Prof Anja M; Rose, A/Prof Andrew L

Project Title: High-resolution laser ablation inductively coupled plasma 
mass spectrometer for cutting edge geochemistry research.

Project Summary: The new-generation laser ablation inductively coupled 
plasma mass spectrometer is a highly versatile precise analytical 
instrument for palaeo-environmental, palaeoclimate, archaeological and 
geochemical studies. With this instrument Australia will continue to 
lead the way in cutting-edge geoscience research.

Total $200,000.00; Primary FoR 0402 Geochemistry

The University of Melbourne

LE120100180: Drysdale, Dr Russell N; Woodhead, Prof Jonathan D; 
Hellstrom, Dr John C; Treble, Dr Pauline C; Baker, Prof Andrew

Project Title: An Australian fluid-inclusion facility for climate-change 
science

Project Summary: Understanding past temperature and rainfall changes is 
essential for improving climate projections. The proposed facility will 
generate new palaeotemperature and palaeorainfall information from cave 
deposits, leading to a better understanding of natural climate 
variability and change.

Total $150,000.00; Primary FoR 0402 Geochemistry; Partner/Collaborating 
Eligible Organisation(s): Australian Nuclear Science and Technology 
Organisation, The University of New South Wales

The University of Adelaide

LE120100054: Gillanders, Prof Bronwyn M; Robinson, Prof Sharon A; 
Walker, A/Prof Stewart; Kennedy, Prof Martin J; Watling, A/Prof Jennifer 
R; Soole, A/Prof Kathleen L; Tibby, Dr John; Guan, Dr Huade W; Cooper, 
Prof Alan; Ball, Prof Andrew S

Project Title: Stable isotope analysis of environmental and 
physiological samples.

Project Summary: Mass spectrometers capable of isotope analysis are 
essential tools for the earth and environmental sciences, physiology and 
palaeoecology. This project will provide mass spectrometers for both 
laboratory and field conditions which will ensure Australia remains at 
the forefront of international research, attract collaborations and lead 
to outcomes of global significance.

Total $420,000.00; Primary FoR 0402 Geochemistry; Partner/Collaborating 
Eligible Organisation(s): Bio Innovation SA, The Flinders University of 
South Australia, University of Wollongong

Curtin University of Technology

LE120100077: Grice, Prof Kliti; Oliver, Prof Richard P; Charrois, A/Prof 
Jeffrey W; Greenwood, Dr Paul F; Linge, Dr Kathryn L; Flematti, Dr Gavin 
R; Tan, Dr Kar-Chun; Dodson, Prof John R

Project Title: Automated preparative gas chromatograph for isolating 
unique and important organic components for structural identification.

Project Summary: The rapid capability to purify and identify significant 
and important organic compounds, present at low levels within complex 
mixtures, is fundamental to geochemistry, plant biology, chemistry, and 
environmental science. This facility's automated gas chromatograph will 
assist in isolating and purifying new compounds from microbes, plants, 
humans, animals, and environmental and geological samples.

Total $150,000.00; Primary FoR 0402 Geochemistry; Partner/Collaborating 
Eligible Organisation(s): Australian Nuclear Science and Technology 
Organisation, The University of Western Australia

The Australian National University

LE120100181: Botten, Prof Lindsay C; Leinweber, Prof Derek B; Radom, 
Prof Leo; Gready, Prof Jill E; England, Prof Matthew H; Mark, Prof Alan 
E; Blackburn, Prof Hugh M; Hogg, Dr Andrew M; Jakob, Prof Christian; 
Pitman, Prof Andrew J; Powell, A/Prof Benjamin J; Rasmussen, Prof Kim J; 
Moresi, Prof Louis N; Yu, Prof Aibing B; Knackstedt, Prof Mark A; Bilek, 
Prof Marcela M; Ragan, Prof Mark A; Schmidt, Prof Brian P; Muller, Prof 
Dietmar; Pukala, Dr Tara L; Soria, Prof Julio; Turney, Prof Chris S; 
Hourigan, Prof Kerry; Adelson, Prof David L; Khanna, A/Prof Rita; 
Denier, A/Prof Jim; Pailthorpe, Prof Bernard A

Project Title: Strengthening merit-based access and support at the new 
National Computing Infrastructure petascale supercomputing facility.

Project Summary: World-leading high-performance computing is fundamental 
to Australia's international research success. This facility will 
provide access to the new National Computational Infrastructure facility 
by world-leading researchers from six research universities, and sustain 
ground-breaking work in an increasingly competitive environment.

Total $650,000.00; Primary FoR 0401 Atmospheric Sciences; 
Partner/Collaborating Eligible Organisation(s): Monash University, The 
University of Adelaide, The University of New South Wales, The 
University of Queensland, The University of Sydney

LE120100218: Roberts, Prof Andrew P; Heslop, Dr David C; Pillans, Prof 
Bradley J; De Deckker, Prof Patrick; Lister, Prof Gordon S; Li, Prof 
Zheng-Xiang; Rosenbaum, Dr Gideon; Vasconcelos, Prof Paulo M; Aitchison, 
Prof Jonathan C; Pisarevsky, Dr Sergei A; Tohver, Dr Eric; Schmidt, Dr 
Phillip W; McWilliams, Prof Michael O

Project Title: A world-class rock magnetic facility to support 
Australian palaeomagnetic and environmental research.

Project Summary: Magnetic properties of rocks and environmental 
particles provide information about a vast range of geological and 
environmental processes. We propose to develop a facility that will 
enable detection and interpretation of these magnetic signals to aid 
understanding of climate change, mineral exploration, and the geological 
development of Australia.

Total $254,078.00; Primary FoR 0403 Geology; Partner/Collaborating 
Eligible Organisation(s): Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial 
Research Organisation, Curtin University of Technology, The University 
of Queensland, The University of Sydney, The University of Western Australia

LINKAGE

The University of Western Australia

LP120100310: Grierson, A/Prof Pauline F; Skrzypek, Dr Grzegorz D; 
Turney, Prof Chris S; Greenwood, Dr Paul F; Cook, Dr Charlotte G; 
Dogramaci, Dr Shawan

Project Title: Climate-related regime shifts in inland semi-arid 
ecosystems through ecohydrological proxies.

Project Summary: This project will investigate the dynamics of climate, 
especially rainfall, of the northwest of Australia over the last few 
thousand years. Our findings will increase understanding of climate 
variability and contribute to sustainable management of water and 
biodiversity in semi-arid Australia.

Total $330,000.00; Primary FoR 0406 Physical Geography and Environmental 
Geoscience; Partner Organisation(s): Rio Tinto

FUTURE FELLOWSHIPS

The University of Adelaide

FT110100793: McInerney, Asst Prof Francesca A

Project Title: Palaeoclimate reconstructions from the isotopic 
signatures of fossilised leaf waxes.

Project Summary: This project develops a method for using the chemical 
signature of fossilised leaf waxes to reconstruct hydrologic change in 
south-eastern Australia during the Holocene (last 10,000 years) and 
Eocene (56-34 million years ago). Understanding climate in the geologic 
past is essential for testing models and projecting future climate with 
rising carbon dioxide.

Total $714,418.00; Primary FoR 0402 Geochemistry

The University of Western Australia

FT110100352: Skrzypek, Dr Grzegorz D

Project Title: How warm and how wet? New perspectives on paleoclimate 
records and hydrological regimes in arid zones of Australia

Project Summary: This project will develop a new and precise 
palaeotemperature record for southern Australia, and will investigate 
the hydrologic dynamics of inland Australia. Together, this research 
will lead to new discoveries in the way Australian ecosystems respond to 
climate variability and will enable better understanding of its impacts.

Total $706,128.00; Primary FoR 0402 Geochemistry

DECRA

The University of Melbourne

DE120102504: Pickering, Dr Robyn

Project Title: Old stalagmites, new techniques: South African 
palaeoclimate records linked to early human evolution.

Project Summary: Caves in South Africa preserve a rich hominin (early 
human) fossil and archaeological record dating back over two million 
years. This project uses stalagmites from various South African caves to 
provide a new, detailed record of the palaeoclimate, forming the 
backdrop to the evolutionary changes that took place during this period.

Total $375,000.00; Primary FoR 0402 Geochemistry

The University of Queensland

DE120101533: Price, Dr Gilbert J

Project Title: Understanding faunal responses to climate change and 
environmental perturbations through the Quaternary in north-eastern 
Australia.

Project Summary: To understand life, it is essential to know its 
history; and to conserve biodiversity into the future, it is essential 
to learn lessons from the past. This project will use information from 
the fossil record to identify climate- and human-forced threats to the 
environment and fully understand the adaptive response of native fauna 
to climate change.

Total $375,000.00; Primary FoR 0403 Geology

The University of Melbourne

DE120102530: Sniderman, Dr J.M. Kale

Project Title: Are northern- and southern-hemisphere climates 
synchronised on orbital timescales? New insight into Earth's climate 
history.

Project Summary: This project will generate a very high (1-100 year) 
resolution palaeoclimate record in order to test whether southern 
hemisphere ice age climate changes 1.5 million years ago were 
synchronised with the northern hemisphere. This will provide a critical 
test of theories on the mechanisms driving glacial- interglacial climate 
changes.

Total $375,000.00; Primary FoR 0406 Physical Geography and Environmental 
Geoscience

University of Wollongong

DE120103033: May, Dr Jan-Hendrik

Project Title: The wet and dry of tropical Australia: past, present and 
future.

Project Summary: This project investigates rivers in the tropical 'Top 
End' of Australia and how flooding and long-term flow have changed over 
the recent geologic past. Such knowledge adds important components to 
our understanding of past climate in Australia, and is crucial in 
assessing the impacts of future global change on the continent's water 
resources.

Total $375,000.00; Primary FoR 0406 Physical Geography and Environmental 
Geoscience

The Australian National University

DE120100069: Calo, Dr Ambra

Project Title: The archaeology of the north coast of Bali: a strategic 
crossroads in early trans-Asiatic exchange.

Project Summary: New archaeological excavations on the north coast of 
Bali and a comparative study of materials across Southeast Asia aim to 
document the growth of Trans-Asiatic exchange networks during the Late 
Metal Age, and particularly the strategic significance of Bali and 
eastern Indonesia for the trade in spices that linked Asia with the 
Mediterranean.

Total $375,000.00; Primary FoR 2101 Archaeology