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Professor Roberts is trained in geomorphology and geochronology, specialising in thermoluminescence (TL) and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating of Quaternary sediments.
In 1997, he developed the use of ‘single aliquot’ and ‘single grain’ OSL dating techniques for quartz and has since applied these methods to questions of Quaternary landscape evolution and the human prehistory of Australia and Indonesia.
His current Senior Research Fellowship from the Australian Research Council is focused on improving the reliability of single-grain OSL techniques for dating of archaeological and geological sediments. Professor Roberts has dated the earliest human occupation sites in Australia, which show that people initially reached the continent 50,000–60,000 years ago. He also redated the Jinmium and Lake Mungo archaeological sites, and has contributed to debates on the age of Aboriginal rock art and the timing and cause of the mass extinction of the Australian megafauna. He has published many articles on archaeological applications of luminescence dating, including several in the journals Nature and Science, and has also reported on recent developments in single-aliquot and single-grain OSL dating, including new applications to archaeologically relevant materials.
In the course of his career, Professor Roberts has received several awards, including Queen Elizabeth II and Senior Research Fellowships from the Australian Research Council, and a J.G. Russell Award for young scientists from the Australian Academy of Science. His research has been funded by these organisations, the Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering and the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, and his work has been the subject of television, radio, newspaper and magazine reports in Australia and overseas. Professor Roberts is on the Editorial Boards of three peer-reviewed journals (Ancient TL, Journal of Human Evolution and Quaternary Science Reviews) and is often asked to review papers for international journals and grant proposals for research funding agencies.
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