Emma is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage. Her research focuses on interactions between people and their environments in the tropics through deep time, with particular emphasis on the late Holocene (~4000 years ago to present). Her previous work included testing a novel methodological approach to recording past fires (palaeofire) to better understand human influence on past fire regimes in northern Australia. Emma is also a scientific communicator and illustrator, specialising in cartoon graphics and infographics to make science accessible and engaging.
She is currently working on data compilation for the SahulArch OCTOPUS database, collecting age determinations from archaeological sites in New Guinea. This project will create an open access database of age determinations across Sahul (Australia, New Guinea and their shared continental shelf) from archaeological and sedimentary archives.