Masters Research (1996 to 1998)
Colonialism and Architecture in Hawai'i — Oxford University
Archival research and interviews conducted with architects to look at the history of colonialism through architecture in Honolulu and the revival of traditional Hawaiian architectural forms through the Center of Hawaiian Studies at the University of Hawai'i, Manoa.Field Research (2000)
Post-Tsunami Experiences in Aitape, West Sepik Province — Dartmouth College
Helped document communities experiences post-1998 tsunami in the Aitape region with Dr. Robert L. Welsch (Dartmouth) (August-September)Collaborative Project (2000)
Survey of art and material culture in the Papuan Gulf — Dartmouth
Assisted in a survey of the state of art and material culture in the Papuan Gulf of Papua New Guinea with Dr. Rob Welsch (Dartmouth) (September). As part of this work, used photographic material from the University of Cambridge Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology to assess communities knowledge of historic practices and art. Extending from Orokolo Bay to the Kikori River we visited 32 communities.PhD Research (2001 to 2002)
Material Culture and Social Transformation in the Purari Delta of Papua New Guinea — Oxford University
Carried out 19 months of fieldwork in the Purari Delta for my D.Phil at Oxford University with a primary focus on the social, economic and ecological impacts of logging.Museographic Research (2008 to now)
Sweetness of the Stone Age - 1928 USDA Sugarcane Expedition — Smithsonian Institution
Museum and archive based project that examines the narratives found in, and around, the dispersed botanical, ethnographic and visual collections made during the 1928 United States Department of Agriculture's Sugarcane Expedition to New Guinea.Collaborative Project (2008 to 2011)
Basketry: Making Human Nature — University of East Anglia/Arts and Humanities Research Council
Contributed curatorial content and expertise to this exhibit on the basketry traditions/technology of the Purari Delta of Papua New Guinea curated by Professor Sandy Heslop at the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, University of East Anglia (8th Feb 2011 - 22nd May 2011)Museographic Research (2008 to now)
Melanesian Networks — Smithsonian Institution
Working to map out the extent of the cultural and natural history collections at the National Museum of Natural History from Melanesia to understand how the social relations, both near and far, professional and personal, facilitated this materials coming to Washington, DC. Another aspect of the project is to examine how knowledge of human and nonhuman communities from this area of the world were constructed through these collections, and what they can tell us about regional history.
Collaborative Project (2010 to now)
Weaving Worlds: Biocultural Heritage of the Purari Delta of Papua New Guinea. — Smithsonian Institution/Christensen Fund
Working with collaborators in Purari Delta to document biocultural heritage of the Purari Delta - specific focus on botanical knowledge and song traditions that variously encode knowledge and history. This has involved fieldwork in the Purari Delta (2010), in Port Moresby (2011) and in Washington D.C. (2012, 2013 and 2014). |
