Sean’s research focuses on persistent problems in the archaeology of northern Australia and the western Pacific where understanding the relationships between environmental change and cultural change using advanced studies of archaeological and palaeoenvironmental sequences are central to constructions of the human past. His priority has been to develop new tools to investigate and articulate co-variability and co-development of human and natural systems.

A major strand of this research has been in the field of archaeological science, where Sean leads integrated research programmes designed to improve methods used to establish chronologies and taphonomic sequences to increase confidence in data resolution underpinning models of past human behaviour. This ongoing work refines chronologies of human occupation in tropical coastal areas and allows calibration of archaeological datasets with terrestrial environmental records, creating the potential for much closer integration of these two key sources of information. Sean has applied these understandings to key archaeological issues, including establishing correlations between archaeological and climate records in northern Australia and evaluating the evidence for Polynesian voyaging to the Americas.

His publications include more than 100 articles on the archaeology of Australia and 5 books. Sean has conducted research in Australia, Honduras, Chile, Papua New Guinea and the Pacific.

Interests

Professional

• Professional development courses
• Professional accreditation
• Benchmarking

Research

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander archaeology
• Archaeological science
• Archaeology of New Guinea and Pacific Islands
• Coastal and island archaeology
• Radiocarbon dating of marine materials
• Impacts of people on new environments
• Cultural heritage management and climate change
• Refining archaeological chronologies

Teaching

• Improving archaeology teaching and learning
• Problem-based learning
• Research-led teaching

Experience

• 2016 to present - Professor, James Cook University (Cairns)
• 2013 to 2017 - ARC Future Fellow, James Cook University (Cairns)
• 2013 to 2015 - Associate Professor/ARC Future Fellow, James Cook University (Cairns)
• 2011 to 2012 - Lecturer, James Cook University (Cairns)
• 2010 to 2011 - Senior Lecturer, The University of Queensland (Brisbane)
• 2005 to 2010 - Lecturer, The University of Queensland (Brisbane)
• 1999 to 2005 - Senior Researcher, The University of Queensland (Brisbane)
• 2000 to 2004 - Lecturer, The University of New England (Brisbane)
• 1993 to 1998 - Researcher, The University of Queensland (Brisbane)

Research Disciplines

• Archaeology (2101)

Socio-Economic Objectives

• Understanding Past Societies (9505)

Awards

• 2014 - The Bruce Veitch Award for Excellence in Indigenous Engagement
• 2008 - Life Membership for Outstanding Contribution to the Australian Archaeological Association Inc.
• 2007 - Martin Davies Award for Best Public Archaeology Initiative
• 2004 - Dean’s Commendation for Outstanding Research Higher Degree Thesis, The University of Queensland
• 2000 - Royal Society of Queensland – Colliver Prize
• 1995 - University Medal, The University of Queensland

Fellowships

• 2017 - Honorary Fellow, School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia
• 2015 - Fellow, Australian Academy of the Humanities
• 2011 - Fellow, Society of Antiquaries of London
• 2011 - Fellow, Cairns Institute
• 2007 - Honorary Research Fellow, Queensland Museum
• 2013 to 2017 - Future Fellow, Australian Research Council
• 2013 to 2016 - Fellow, Australian Research Council (ARC) College of Experts
• 2011 to 2014 - Honorary Senior Fellow, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Unit, The University of Queensland

Memberships

• 2017 - Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology (CAA) Australia Inc.
• 2014 - The Prehistoric Society
• 2011 - Centre for Tropical Environmental and Sustainability Science
• 2011 - Centre for Language and Culture Research
• 2006 - Society for American Archaeology
• 2005 - International Council for Archaeozoology Archaeomalacology Working Group
• 2003 - Australasian Institute of Maritime Archaeology
• 2003 - Archaeological and Anthropological Society of Victoria
• 2002 - Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association
• 2002 - Australasian Society for Historical Archaeology
• 2002 - Australasian Quaternary Association
• 2001 - Australian Association of Consulting Archaeologists Inc.
• 2000 - Royal Society of Queensland
• 1998 - Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
• 1992 - World Archaeological Congress
• 1989 - Australian Archaeological Association

Other

• 2017 - Theme Leader, Cultural and Linguistic Transformations, The Cairns Institute
• 2016 - Deputy Director, ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage
• 2014 - Editorial Board, Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society
• 2013 - Editorial Board, The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology
• 2013 - Editorial Board, Journal of the Australian Association of Consulting Archaeologists
• 2010 - Editorial Board, Queensland Historical Atlas
• 2006 - Member, World Archaeological Congress Code of Ethics Committee
• 1999 - Editor, Queensland Archaeological Research
• 2015 to 2016 - Deputy Chair, Humanities and Creative Arts (HCA), Australian Research Council (ARC) College of Experts
• 2012 to 2016 - Deputy Director, Centre for Tropical Environmental and Sustainability Science
• 2011 to 2014 - Editorial Advisory Board, Australian Archaeology
• 2011 to 2013 - National Chair, Australian National Committee for Archaeology Teaching and Learning
• 2003 to 2013 - Representative, Southeastern Asia and the Pacific, World Archaeological Congress
• 2011 to 2012 - Convenor, Archaeology and Geoscience Specialist Committee, Australian Institute of Nuclear Sciences and Engineering
• 2006 to 2011 - Editor, Australian Archaeology
• 2008 to 2010 - Member, Archaeology and Geoscience Specialist Committee, Australian Institute of Nuclear Sciences and Engineering
• 2003 to 2008 - Managing Editor, The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education
• 2002 to 2003 - President, Australian Archaeological Association

These are the most recent publications associated with this author. To see a detailed profile of all publications stored at JCU, visit ResearchOnline@JCU. Hover over Altmetrics badges to see social impact.

Journal Articles

• Disspain M, Ulm S, Santoro C, Carter C and Gillanders B (in press) Pre-Columbian fishing on the coast of the Atacama Desert, northern Chile: an investigation of fish size and species distribution using otoliths from Camarones Punta Norte and Caleta Vitor. Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology, pp. 1-23
• Moss P, Ulm S, Mackenzie L, Wallis L, Rosendahl D and Steinberger L (in press) Robust local vegetation records from dense archaeological shell matrixes: a palynological analysis of the Thundiy shell deposit, Bentinck Island, Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, pp. 1-10
• Twaddle R, Wurster C, Bird M and Ulm S (2017) Complexities in the palaeoenvironmental and archaeological interpretation of isotopic analyses of the Mud Shell Geloina erosa (Lightfoot, 1786). Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 12. pp. 613-624
• Veth P, Ward I, Manne T, Ulm S, Ditchfield K, Dortch J, Hook F, Petchey F, Hogg A, Questiaux D, Demuro M, Arnold L, Spooner N, Levchenko V, Skippington J, Byrne C, Basgall M, Zeanah D, Belton D, Helmholz P, Bajkan S, Bailey R, Placzek C and Kendrick P (2017) Early human occupation of a maritime desert, Barrow Island, north-west Australia. Quaternary Science Reviews, 168. pp. 19-29
• Asmussen B, Hil L, Ulm S and Knowles C (2016) Obligations to objects: tangled histories and changing contexts of the Burnett River Rock Engravings. Museum Worlds: advances in research, 4. pp. 78-94
• Bird M, O'Grady D and Ulm S (2016) Humans, water, and the colonization of Australia. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113 (41). pp. 11477-11482
• David B, Jones-Amin H, Richards T, Mialanes J, Asmussen B, Petchey F, Aplin K, Leavesley M, McNiven I, Zetzmann C, Rowe C, Skelly R, Jenkins R, Faulkner P and Ulm S (2016) Ruisasi 1 and the earliest evidence of mass-produced ceramics in Caution Bay (Port Moresby Region), Papua New Guinea. Journal of Pacific Archaeology, 7 (1). pp. 41-60
• Disspain M, Ulm S, Izzo C and Gillanders B (2016) Do fish remains provide reliable palaeoenvironmental records? An examination of the effects of cooking on the morphology and chemistry of fish otoliths, vertebrae and scales. Journal of Archaeological Science, 74. pp. 45-59
• Disspain M, Ulm S and Gillanders B (2016) Otoliths in archaeology: methods, applications and future prospects. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 6. pp. 623-632
• Mate G and Ulm S (2016) Another snapshot for the album: a decade of Australian Archaeology in Profile survey data. Australian Archaeology, 82 (2). pp. 168-183

Book Chapters

• Aplin K, Rowe C, Peck H, Asmussen B, Ulm S, Faulkner P and Richards T (2016) The natural setting of Caution Bay: climate, landforms, biota, and environmental zones. In: Archaeological Research at Caution Bay, Papua New Guinea: cultural, linguistic and environmental setting. Caution Bay Studies in Archaeology, 1. Archaeopress, Oxford, UK, pp. 75-111
• David B, Richards T, Mcniven I, Mialanes J, Aplin K, Petchey F, Peck H, Asmussen B, Ulm S, Szabó K, Jones-Amin H, Faulkner P, Perrette C, Rowe C, Leavesley M and Barker B (2016) The Caution Bay Project field and laboratory methods. In: Archaeological Research at Caution Bay, Papua New Guinea: cultural, linguistic and environmental setting. Caution Bay Studies in Archaeology, 1. Archaeopress, Oxford, UK, pp. 145-175

Current and recent Research Funding to JCU is shown by funding source and project.

Advisory Accreditation: I can be on your Advisory Panel as a Primary or Secondary Advisor.

These Higher Degree Research projects are either current or by students who have completed their studies within the past 5 years at JCU. Linked titles show theses available within ResearchOnline@JCU.

Current

• Ancient Ceramics at Vilabouly: Pottery Productions and Society in a Prehistoric Mining Community in Laos. (PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Environmental Change and Anthropogenic Fire in northern Australia during the late Holocene (PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• An Archaeozoological Approach to Characterising the Impacts of Long-Term Shellfish and Fin-fish Resource Use on the Great barrier Reef, Australia (PhD , Primary Advisor)
• Engineered Land and Seascapes: Using UAVs and Photogrammetry to Investigate Kaiadilt Aboriginal Stone-Walled Intertidal Fish traps in the South Wellesley Islands, Gulf of Carpentaria (PhD , Primary Advisor)

Completed

• Geophysical Explorations of Archaeological Shell Matrix Sites: Evaluating Geophysical Techniques in Determining the Boundaries, Structure and Volume of Buried Shell Deposits (2017, PhD , Primary Advisor)
• A novel application of sclerochronology: forging new understandings of Aboriginal occupation in the South Wellesley Archipelago, Gulf of Carpentaria (2016, PhD , Primary Advisor)
• The application of ecological models and trophic analyses to archaeological marine fauna assemblages: towards improved understanding of prehistoric marine fisheries and ecosystems in tropical Australia (2016, PhD , Primary Advisor)
• Health, diet and migration prior to the establishment of the pre-Angkorian civilisation of Southeast Asia (2014, PhD , Secondary Advisor)

These are the most recent metadata records associated with this researcher. To see a detailed description of all dataset records, visit the JCU Research Data Catalogue.

• Kenady, S. (2016) Thundiy and Cairns experimental site, survey data: ground-penetrating radar and electrical resistivity. James Cook University
• Twaddle, R. (2016) Temperature data from Mirdidingki Creek, Bentinck Island, June 2013 - July 2014. James Cook University
• Ulm, S. (2012) Index of Dates from Archaeological Sites in Queensland data. James Cook University

The map shows research collaborations by institution from the past 7 years.
Note: Map points are indicative of the countries or states that institutions are associated with.