Almost $3.5 million in federal government funding will kickstart three innovative projects that could have long and extensive benefits for efforts to protect First Nations cultural heritage and engage communities in the clean energy space.
Researchers from the University of Western Australia will lead the trio of initiatives focused on green hydrogen production, Indigenous history and climate change impacts on ancestral wetlands.
UWA’s Ingrid Ward (Biological Sciences), Hongqi Sun (Molecular Sciences) and Shino Konishi (Humanities and Indigenous Studies) this week received the funding grant from the Australian Research Council’s 2024 Future Fellowships scheme.
Associate Professor Konishi will research innovative approaches to Aboriginal history by combining truth-telling imperatives with story retelling.
She hoped to produce an Indigenous-centred Aboriginal history of Western Australia in time for the State Bicentenary in 2029.
“We want to create an academic, methodical and culturally appropriate historical resource for communities, students, researchers and the general public,” she said.
“It will serve as a model for future general histories of Aboriginal people which seek to truly embrace Indigenous perspectives.”
Professor Sun’s research is focused on large-scale green hydrogen production, based on solar power, to generate new learnings and cheaper technology, which would aid the economic integration of Indigenous businesses and communities with Australia’s renewables transition.
Dr Ward’s project would explore how post-glacial, sea-level rises are impacting ancestral coastal wetlands along WA’s southern coast.
The Esperance Tjaltjraak Native Title Aboriginal Corporation (ETNTAC) would aid his research, which is focused on providing rare insight into cultural narratives and songlines through mapping ever-changing coastal palaeogeography and historical biodiversity.
ETNTAC said the project, developed over many years is based on the aspirations of Elders to explore submerged cultural corridors of their Wudjari Ancient Coastlines.
“A project we developed has been supported by Parks Australia and Lotteries West, and includes working with Dr. Ingrid, a geo-archaeologist that has developed a close working relationship with our team over many years,” ETNTAC said.
“The pathway to true collaborative and effective research and applied management is a cultural leadership model and having individuals like Dr. Ward that take time to build relationships of trust and connection with our community and cultural landscape.”
Dr Ward hoped long-term records of wetland ecology and fire history would result from the detailed analysis, which included researching ancient environmental DNA, organic compounds and plant biomarkers.
“The findings will guide adaptive management strategies to safeguard the ecological and cultural significance of coastal and marine landscapes in the face of future environmental change,” she said of the project.