Biographical note
Anna completed a Bachelor of Arts in Archaeology and Geography at JCU Cairns in 2014, followed by a Master of Social Science in Environment and Heritage in 2016. For her Masters research, Anna’s interest in human-environment interactions and engineered landscapes led to a spatial analytical approach to indigenous stone-walled intertidal fishtraps on Kaiadilt country in the South Wellesley Islands, Gulf of Carpentaria, northern Australia. By documenting the structures through high-resolution photogrammetry, captured by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), Anna digitised the structures and modelled function during past sea-level scenarios, with the aim to improve understanding of fishtraps and standardise recording techniques. After completing her Masters, Anna worked in cultural heritage management for Rio Tinto Alcan. For her current PhD research, Anna is extending remote sensing techniques to the terrestrial environment of the South Wellesley Islands, to assess traditional fire practices as a complex land management technology.
Research topic
Island anthropogenic impacts on Kaiadilt country: a remote sensing approach to documenting long-term land management technologies
Research outline
The extent to which Indigenous Australians intentionally modified and managed their terrestrial and marine landscapes is a hotly debated topic in the field of Indigenous Australian archaeology, with various interpretations of human expression, technological capacities, behaviours and environmental responses promoted. To document patterns of long-term human environment interaction, this research project applies geospatial analytical methods to integrate and interrogate remote sensing, palaeoenvironmental and archaeological records from the South Wellesley Islands. Regional fire histories created from remote sensing data and charcoal proxies will be used to discriminate cultural and natural fire patterns, and model the impacts of anthropogenic and natural fire on the landscape. The project aims to improve understandings of Indigenous engineered landscapes and fire technology, and contribute to contemporary Indigenous fire management practices.
Supervisory Team
Professor Sean Ulm
Dr Christian Reepmeyer
Research Grants and Awards
Richard Brookdale Scholarship
Australian Association of Consulting Archaeologists Inc. Student Support Fund Award
Tropical Archaeology Research Laboratory Prize
Conference papers
Kreij, A., Nagel, T., Scriffignano, J., Boland, M., Rosendahl, D., & Ulm, S. (2015). High resolution UAV photogrammetry of Indigenous stone-walled tidal fishtraps in Northern Australia. Paper presented to the Australian Archaeological Annual Conference, Fremantle, Western Australia, 2-4 December.
Kreij, A., Ulm, S., Scriffignano, J., Boland, M., Rosendahl, D., & Nagel, T. (2016). UAS approaches to documenting Kaiadilt stone-walled intertidal fishtraps, Gulf of Carpentaria. Paper presented to Australian Archaeological Association Annual Conference, Terrigal, 6-8 December.
Nagel, T., Kreij, A., Scriffignano, J., Hacker, J., Rosendahl, D., & Ulm, S. (2017). Sensors in the sky: Airborne close-range remote sensing techniques for recording Kaiadilt stone-walled intertidal fish traps in the South Wellesley Islands, southern Gulf of Carpentaria. Paper to Australian Archaeological Association Annual Conference, 6-8 December, Melbourne.