Indigenous research and innovation
Find out about our Indigenous research activities and how our Indigenous academics and students are contributing to science.
We are committed to completing Indigenous research that works with and for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. A summary of some of our research themes and projects is provided below.
Jobs, land, water and economy
We run several programs relating to Indigenous land use, monitoring and management, including our flagship program run in close collaboration with the Yawuru people of in and around Broome, Western Australia. This partnership with the Fenner School of Environment & Society focuses on developing practical uses of GIS to support Native Title decision making and provided the community with strategic intelligence for post native title governance.
Some of our other projects include:
- Landscape archaeology at Lake Mungo, Research School of Earth Sciences
- Biodiversity discovery in northern Australia, Research School of Biology
- Marginal socio-ecological systems in a changing climate, Fenner School of Environment & Society
- Is there a role for storm water channels in a water sensitive world?, Fenner School of Environment & Society.
Cultural and social issues and history
We are involved in multiple research projects that relate to Indigenous cultural and social issues and Indigenous history. One of our strengths in this area is dating historical and pre-historical events, including though the following projects:
- Radiocarbon dating of multiple Australian archaeological sites, Research School of Earth Sciences.
- Birth of a new language: Gurindji Kriol, Research School of Biology (led by the University of Queensland).
- Dating events in Indigenous history using methods from bioinformatics and molecular evolution, Mathematical Sciences Institute.
- STEM the gap: science belongs to us mob, too, Mathematical Sciences Institute.
Education
The ANU College of Science runs three education programs in Indigenous communities, covering the fields of biodiversity and land management, seismology, rock art dating and mathematics.
- Australian Seismometers in Schools, including collaborations with APY Lands communities, Research School of Earth Sciences.
- Both-ways learning and research on biodiversity in remote Arnhem Land communities, including capacity building for rangers and youth in remote communities, Research School of Biology.
Highlights
- Impact story (giving)
- Research story
ANU ecologists and a cohort of New South Wales Local Aboriginal Land Councils are joining together on a project to re-introduce cultural burning in box-gum grassy woodlands and to monitor the…
- Research story
There's a growing movement to decolonise mathematics. Professor Rowena Ball explains what this means and why it is important.
- Research story
The biologists and the linguists at ANU might sit on different sides of the campus, but Professor Lindell Bromham from the ANU Research School of Biology says it wasn’t difficult to see the benefits…
- Research story
“Imagine how different it could be?” Kate asks. “Even if you didn’t get rid of the concrete, if you could just get the channel looking attractive!”
- Research story
Where does an ANU researcher go when they need to get a meteorite cut?
- Academic profile
During the drought that dominated Australian life at the start of the 21st Century, Dr Virginia Marshall noticed something was missing.
- Research story
Associate Professor Rowena Ball shares her experiences of working with students in remote Queensland communities for the STEM Professionals in Schools program.