Sean Ulm

Distinguished Professor Sean Ulm MAIATSIS FSA MAACAI FAHA FQA is a professional archaeologist with core expertise in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander coastal and island archaeology. Over the last 25 years he has led large collaborative networks of Indigenous communities and researchers (archaeologists, geomorphologists, chemists, geologists, ecologists, palynologists, palaeoclimatologists, oceanographers, and zooarchaeologists) to recast understandings of coastal occupation by integrating environmental data with detailed analyses of archaeological sites.

Sean’s research increases confidence in the resolution of data underpinning models of past human behaviour. A major strand of this research has been in the field of archaeological science, where Sean leads a research program designed to improve methods used to establish chronologies and taphonomic sequences (i.e. understanding when and how archaeological deposits form).

He is highly regarded for his coordination of large-scale, multidisciplinary projects in partnership with Indigenous communities investigating people-environment relationships across Australia. His team-based approach to tackling persistent research questions in close collaboration with Indigenous communities, government, and industry, and his multiauthored approach to publication, are hallmarks of his research.

His publications include more than 150 articles on the archaeology of Australia and 5 books. Sean has conducted research in Australia, Honduras, Chile, Papua New Guinea and the Pacific.

Sean’s latest book is The First Inventors: How People Shaped a Continent (Allen & Unwin, June 2026) authored with Billy Griffiths and Larissa Behrendt.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander archaeology

Archaeology of the Great Barrier Reef

Research-led teaching

Improving archaeology teaching and learning

Problem-based learning