[Aqualist] Recent ARC success

[Simon Haberle]

Dear Colleagues,

The ARC have recently announced the outcomes for the Linkage Projects, Laureate Fellowships, Future Fellowships and DECRA's. Below is a list of those who were successful in fields related to Quaternary research (including archaeology).

Congratulations to all.

Regards, Simon



Linkage Projects


University of Western Australia

LP200300886 - Professor Jo McDonald; Professor Peter Veth; Professor Stephen van Leeuwen; Professor Rachel Popelka-Filcoff; Dr Pauline Grierson; Professor Richard Fullagar; Dr Judith Field; Dr Emilie Dotte-Sarout; Mr Peter Jeffries; Associate Professor Douglas Bird; Assistant Professor Stefani Crabtree; Ms Sharon Reynolds; Ms Jessica Chapman; Ms Anneliese Carson; Dr Jade Pervan
>From the Desert to the Sea: Managing Rock Art, Country and Culture.
This Project will expand our understanding of Aboriginal settlement and land-use in north-west Australia by investigating how the mythological narratives of Australia’s deserts enable the transmission of knowledge in water-limited environments. Combining traditional ecological knowledge and novel scientific approaches (e.g. anthracology, remote sensing, oxygen-isotopes) will provide new insights into human behaviours at rock art site complexes. It will develop management regimes and formal certification for Indigenous rangers while building heritage capacity in these partner communities: enabling intergenerational, culturally appropriate knowledge transfer protocols are in place to ensure sustainable economic heritage futures.
MURUJUGA ABORIGINAL CORPORATION; MUNGARLU NGURRARANKATJA RIRRAUNKAJA (ABORIGINAL CORPORATION)RNTBC; WESTERN DESERT LANDS ABORIGINAL CORPORATION; WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LTD.; BHP BILLITON IRON ORE PTY. LTD.; NEWCREST MINING LIMITED; WESTERN AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM; DEPARTMENT OF BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION AND ATTRACTIONS; DESERT SUPPORT SERVICES PTY LTD. $1,035,819.00

University of Canberra

LP200301446 - Professor Tracy Ireland; Professor Jane Lydon; Associate Professor Tim Sherratt; Dr Katherine Bagnall; Ms Sharon Veale; Dr Charlotte Feakins
Everyday Heritage.
This project aims to uncover everyday but overlooked forms of Australian heritage. Working collaboratively to bridge academic and industry practice, it seeks to develop innovative methods with outcomes expected to include enhanced collaboration between heritage, digital humanities, and historical research, and new resources for communities and the heritage sector. This should provide significant social and cultural benefits such as more inclusive forms of heritage, and broader intellectual and practical understandings of shared history and citizenship. The project will promote public debate on the role of the past in modern Australia through a range of new forms of history and heritage, digital resources and heritage management tools. GML HERITAGE PTY LTD. $344,702.00


Laureate Fellowships

Curtin University

FL210100103 - Professor Kliti Grice
Interpreting the molecular record in extraordinarily preserved fossils.
This project aims to unlock a hidden record of our planet’s past and the life it supported, using a novel approach with benefits for environment and industry. Soft tissues preserved in sedimentary concretion fossils will be analysed, extending the traditional inorganic fossil framework of major evolutionary events. Understanding the biofilm entombment and preservation mechanisms responsible for this unique organic fossil archive will extend our knowledge of microbial functionality. Expected outcomes from this new way of interpreting our planet’s past, include improved understanding of extinction events, environmental change and adaptation, with potential benefits in ecosystem management, resource exploration and biofilm uses. $2,968,718.00


Future Fellowships

The University of New South Wales

FT210100459 - Professor Lisa Alexander
Do regional climate models rain too much?
This project aims to provide a best-practice, in-depth assessment of the climate model simulations that are used to support regional climate change impact assessments. The focus will be on rainfall and the hydrological cycle as these aspects are especially impacts-relevant. Innovation comes from the application of a common benchmarking framework which includes observational uncertainty and process-based understanding to address common modelling limitations. Any model failings identified will feed into model development strategies and support enhanced decision-making informed by regional climate model simulations.  $1,038,601.00

The University of Adelaide

FT210100789 - Associate Professor Melissa Nursey-Bray
Pathways for Indigenous and Western knowledge into Environmental Policy.
The aim of this project is to identify the ways in which all knowledge, particularly Western and Indigenous knowledges can work together to inform environmental policy, with a focus on climate change adaptation. Using participatory methodologies and supported by an Indigenous led advisory group, the project will partner with Indigenous Ranger groups to interrogate three key knowledge management concepts: integration, co-production and co-existence. Based on communities of practice, in the Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre Basin, Australia, the Fellowship seeks to produce mechanisms of knowledge co-existence and maintenance that will contribute to stronger environmental policies and create spaces for Indigenous voices to be represented within them.  $1,038,892.00

University of Sydney

FT210100244 - Dr James Flexner
Archaeologies of community and colonialism in Oceania.
This project aims to understand the colonial past, its repercussions for the present and future in Oceania and the relationships between global forces and local experiences. It will use an interdisciplinary approach to historical archaeology and community archaeology. The unique colonial landscapes in Mangareva, French Polynesia will provide a landmark case study with global implications. In addition to internationally significant scholarly outputs and collaboration development, the project will make a substantive contribution to public outreach and education. Benefits would include advancement of Oceanic contributions to global historical archaeology, and increased awareness of the meanings of colonial heritage among Pacific peoples. $905,890.00

Griffith University

FT210100118 - Dr Sally May
Painting Country: the life and legacy of western Arnhem Land rock painters.
This project aims to generate new understandings of Australia’s past by exploring the lives and legacies of known Aboriginal rock art artists. It addresses key questions in global archaeology relating to when, where and why rock art was created. Using innovative methodologies, this project intends to create a unique archive of 20th century rock art and oral history recordings from western Arnhem Land. The anticipated outcomes will include new internationally significant knowledge concerning the impacts of colonisation on artistic practices in Australia. Furthermore, the project aims to contribute new information and data that can be used to inform cultural heritage management and education programs both locally and across Australia. $961,139.00


DECRA

Australian National University

DE220101519 - Dr Mark Hoggard
Sedimentary basins: Windows into the dynamics of Australian lithosphere.
This project aims to investigate the structure and stability of the Australian continent. It will focus on improving predictive models of sedimentary basin development on the edge of thick lithosphere, which host large quantities of metal, hydrocarbons, and freshwater. Understanding their formation will enhance the ability to locate resources in frontier areas. The research combines state-of-the-art geodynamical modelling with the burgeoning quantity of geophysical and geological data collected by the government and research community. The project would build Australian research capability and stimulate novel approaches to critical problems, highlighting opportunities at the interface between academic and industry geoscience. $450,000.00

University of Tasmania

DE220101017 - Dr Taryn Noble
Assessing the vulnerability of East Antarctica to future warming.
This DECRA aims to address major gaps in our understanding of how the Antarctic Ice Sheet will respond to climate change, by enabling critical insights on its sensitivity to past climate warming. The project will apply a suite of geochemical approaches to determine – for East Antarctica’s most vulnerable basin – the extent of ice-sheet loss during past warming, and the impact of glacial meltwater on biological productivity and Southern Ocean circulation. New knowledge of how the ice sheet and ocean respond to climate warming, will lead to more reliable projections of future sea-level rise and climate. The DECRA will benefit Australia by providing a strong evidence base for policy decision-making to manage the impact of sea-level rise.  $456,000.00

Deakin University

DE220100203 - Dr Billy Griffiths
Shadow Continent: Submerged Histories from Sahul.
This project aims to investigate the cultural and environmental histories of Australia's drowned coastlines and what they reveal about past and future sea-level rise in the Australian region. Drawing on scientific understandings of the ancient continent of Sahul, it expects to generate new knowledge about environmental change and people-sea relationships. Expected outcomes of this project include enhanced capacity to build disciplinary collaborations in the fields of history, heritage and archaeology and establishing the first historical overview of Sahul. Benefits include recommendations to protect and manage Australia’s underwater cultural heritage and a narrative framework to advance public knowledge of Australia’s deep human history. $346,646.00

Griffith University

DE220100202 - Dr Jillian Huntley
Colour change: Artistic/ritual responses to climate flux in Australasia .
Art and ritual connect people socially and help them manage stress. Throughout human history, evidence for this is preserved by the collection and use of ochres (coloured earth minerals). Characterising ancient ochre records across Sunda, Wallacea and Sahul, this project aims to understand people’s use of art and ritual in the most climatically dynamic region on Earth. Furthering Australia's reputation for innovative archaeological science, expected outcomes will include the first large-scale interdisciplinary investigations into how art and ritual were used to help mediate climate flux, generating significant new narratives of past cultural resilience to benefit people currently grappling with climate vulnerabilities. $468,027.00


Simon Haberle
Director, School of Culture, History & Language
Professor of Natural History

ANU College of Asia & the Pacific
Coombs Building (Rm 3.378), Fellows Rd
The Australian National University
Canberra ACT 2600
+61 2 6125 5125 (ph)  0424453861 (mob)