Archaeology Professor Continues Work on Marine Plastics

John Schofield, Director of our Cultural Heritage Management programme is currently in Australia, where he is Visiting Professor in Archaeology at the University of Queensland, Brisbane.

As well as exploring new research partnerships, John has delivered a number of lectures, and conducted some fieldwork on Stradbroke Island. His lectures have been on his current research work exploring archaeological approaches to marine plastic pollution (given at University of Queensland, Griffith University on the Gold Coast, University of South Queensland in Toowoomba, and University of Sunshine Coast).

These lectures have included audiences of animal ecologists and civil engineers, specialising in beach dynamics, as well as archaeologists. He also gave the keynote lecture at the Queensland launch of the annual Australian Heritage Festival, and a seminar for the Department of Environment and Science within the Arts and Heritage Division of the Queensland Government.

When not lecturing, John has spent time on Stradbroke Island with students and staff of University of the Sunshine Coast working on marine debris from an archaeological perspective, involving collection and analysis of the material recovered, in partnership with marine ecologists.

John also attended a meeting of the Australian members of the Galapagos research network in Sydney. Further visits (and hopefully research funding to continue this work) will follow, as this exciting and innovative archaeological project continues to develop.