I am an archaeologist who has worked in Australia,the UK and Egypt. I am primarily interested in the archaeology of 19th century Western Australia, and in particular, how subaltern and underclass people negotiated their lives in the Swan River Colony. My current research focuses on the incarceration of Aboriginal people in WA during the 19th century.

I am currently an Adjunct Lecturer at UWA and am engaged in a range of research projects.

My day job is as the Cultural and Statutory Fire Coordinator for Wagyl Kaip Southern Noongar (WKSN) Aboriginal Corporation, based in Albany, Western Australia. This job combines fire management and heritage for the Noongar Land Estate in the WKSN area, which comprises over 100,000 ha of land. All application of fire to landscapes by Aboriginal people is necessarily a cultural process, and it is my job to manage the program that allows that to happen.

As an adjunct I am involved in a range of teaching and research projects at UWA. I occasionally teach individual classes within archaeology units, and I currently supervise two PhD students.

Currently my main research focus is on sites of incarceration for Aboriginal people in WA during the 19th century. A network of police stations and gaols was used across the state to remove Aboriginal people (usually men and boys) from their land, and transfer them to the gaol at Wadjemup (Rottnest). I am interested in the materiality of this system, both the physical structures used to underpin it (ie sites of incarceration), and the evidence left by the Aboriginal people incarcerated within them (usually artefacts recovered from underfloors in cells, from exercise yards, and from other evidence such as graffiti). 

Excavations were conducted at Wadjemup in 2024, and the network of cells constructed at colonial gaols and lock-ups are being recorded across the southwest.

I maintain an ongoing research interest in convict and subaltern sites across WA. I have also worked extensively at Fremantle Prison for the past 17 years, and at a range of other 19th century sites in WA where subaltern people lived. 

Barrow Island Research Systems Manager for the Barrow Island Archaeology Project.

Lecturer in Archaeology, UWA.

Consultant Archaeologist, Winterborne Heritage (2015-2020), and Snappy Gum Heritage (2021-2024)

My primary teaching comprises co-supervision of two PhD students:

Meg Drummond-Wilson, who is studying underfloor assemblages from cells within Fremantle Prison. Co-supervisors Martin Porr and Alistair Paterson.

David Windsor, who is studying First Nations' governance systems specifically related to cultural burning in WA. Co-supervisors Alison Lullfitz and Christina Estima Ramalho.

I occasionally teach a class or two at uni, in particular helping out with field instruction at the annual field school.