Richard ROBERTS

Title:   Professor
Position:   ARC Australian Professorial Fellow
Room:   41.268
Phone No:   +61 2 4221 5319
Email:   rgrob@uow.edu.au
Lab/other loc:   41. G18
Lab Phone:   +61 2  4221 5391
 

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 Brief Biography

   

Research Interests

  • Application of luminescence dating methods in the Earth and archaeological sciences
  • Development of optically stimulated luminescence dating techniques for individual sand grains
  • Timing of human evolution, dispersal and impact in Southeast Asia and Australia
  • Dating of prehistoric rock art and palaeoecological records
  • Timing and causes of megafaunal extinction events
  • Quaternary landscape evolution and environmental changes
  • Sediment mixing in natural and anthropogenic deposits

"Hobbit" Home page

Representative Publications

Morwood, M.J., Soejono, R.P., Roberts, R.G., Sutikna, T., Turney, C.S.M., Westaway, K.E., Rink, W.J., Zhao, J.-x., van den Bergh, G.D., Rokus Awe Due, Hobbs, D.R., Moore, M.W., Bird, M.I. and Fifield, L.K. (2004) Archaeology and age of a new hominin from Flores in eastern Indonesia. Nature 431, 1087-1091.
 PDF (341k)

Olley, J.M., Pietsch, T. & Roberts, R.G. (2004) Optical dating of Holocene sediments from a variety of geomorphic settings using single grains of quartz. Geomorphology 60, 337-358.
 PDF (793k)

Roberts, R.G., Flannery, T.F., Ayliffe, L.K., Yoshida, H., Olley, J.M., Prideaux, G.J., Laslett, G.M., Baynes, A., Smith, M.A., Jones, R. & Smith, B.L. (2001) New ages for the last Australian megafauna: continent-wide extinction about 46,000 years ago. Science 292, 1888-1892.
 PDF (996k)

Roberts, R.G. (1997) Luminescence dating in archaeology: from origins to optical. Radiation Measurements 27, 819-892.
 PDF (1671k)

Roberts, R., Walsh, G., Murray, A., Olley, J., Jones, R., Morwood, M., Tuniz, C., Lawson, E., Macphail, M., Bowdery, D. & Naumann, I. (1997) Luminescence dating of rock art and past environments using mud-wasp nests in northern Australia. Nature 387, 696-699.
 PDF (295k)

Searchable Publication List

Current Students

 

Suggested Topics for Future Students

1. Timing of key turning points in human evolution and archaeology in Southeast Asia, India and Africa

2. Timeframe for evolution and dispersal of flora and fauna (including humans) across northern Asia and North America (Beringia)

3. Dating of recent burial events of forensic and anthropological interest.

4. High-precision dating of (a)synchronous inter-hemispheric climate changes

5. Improvements to luminescence dating methods for volcanic minerals, especially using the red emissions.

6. Developments in optically stimulated luminescence dating of individual sediment grains, including statistical applications.

Abbreviated CV

University qualifications:

1991 The University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia Degree: Ph.D in Geography

1984 The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada Degree: M.Sc. in Geography (by research)

1981 The University of Wales, Aberystwyth, Dyfed, United Kingdom Degree: B.Sc. (Honours) in Geography (1st Class)

Positions held post-PhD:

2001–present: ARC Senior Research Fellow
School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong

1996–2001: ARC Queen Elizabeth II Fellow
Dept of Earth Sciences, La Trobe University & School of Earth Sciences, University of Melbourne

1994–1996: Research Fellow
Division of Archaeology and Natural History, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University

1992–1994: Postdoctoral Fellow
Dept of Prehistory, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University

1991–1992: Visiting Fellow
Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, Oxford University, UK & Dept of Prehistory, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University.

 

 
Last reviewed: 3 September, 2009

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