Professor Alistair Paterson is an archaeologist, Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellow and professor at the UWA School of Social Sciences. His research examines the historical archaeology of colonial coastal contact and settlement in Australia’s North West and the Indian Ocean. 

Professor Paterson’s key interests lie in Western Australian and Indian Ocean history, Aboriginal Australia, historical archaeology, the Dutch East India Company and its shipwrecks, colonialism and exploration, rock art, and the history of collecting in Western Australia. 

Originally from Tasmania, Professor Paterson completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Melbourne before starting work in eastern Turkey. He later travelled to Sydney, NSW, to complete a PhD on Central Australia before landing in Perth and UWA in 1999, where he set up a historical archaeology program. Since his arrival, Professor Paterson has been consumed by research prospects in Western Australia, heavily focused on situating the State in bigger stories of encounter, discovery, European colonisation and indigenous history. He is currently developing the research project ‘Collecting the West’ which looks at the history of WA’s collections, in partnership with the WA Museum, the WA Art Gallery, the State Library and British Museum. The output from ‘Collecting the West’ feeds into his Future Fellowship examining North West Australia through historical archaeology.

Denis Rose is a Gunditjmara traditional owner from South West Victoria, and has had a long involvement in natural and cultural heritage management. He is employed at Gunditj Mirring Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation as a Program Manager and manages the Budj Bim Cultural Landscape which was inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List in July 2019. The development of the Budj Bim Cultural Landscape World Heritage nomination was first proposed in 2002.  In 1982 Denis commenced as a trainee Ranger with the Victorian National Parks Service in south west Victoria, then moved to the Mallee and then to Gariwerd (Grampians National Park). 

Peter Jeffries is the CEO of Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation. Peter is a Pinikura man who has lived in the Pilbara region of Western Australia for his entire life. He is well respected on the Pilbara Law grounds and has a wealth of professional experience which includes roles with the WA Police Force, Rio Tinto, the Yamatji Marlpa Aboriginal Corporation, Woodside and his own business offering consulting services and Aboriginal cultural tourism. As CEO of MAC, Peter has played a key role in creating a stable and sustainable Corporation to ensure that traditional owners and custodians have a strategic role in the management of Murujuga land and sea country.

Amy Stevens is the Heritage Research Manager at Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation. Amy is a Darug woman who first began working in the Pilbara approximately 20 years ago. She is an archaeologist and social researcher, specialising in heritage management and the social justice outcomes of heritage practice. Amy has worked in various roles across Australian heritage and Aboriginal social justice for 20 years as a consultant, heritage manager, senior policy advisor and research director in Aboriginal policy. As Heritage Research Manager of MAC, Amy is currently working with the WA State Government to draft the World Heritage nomination for the Murujuga Cultural Landscape.