Key Info

  • Position Title
    PhD Candidate, ANU and Australian Museum
  • Section
    Palaeontology Collection
    Branch
    Life and Geosciences
    Division
    Australian Museum Research Institute

Joshua first started volunteering in the Palaeontology collection at the Australian Museum whilst finishing his Bachelor of Science degree at Macquarie University in 2018. He subsequently did his honours at University of New South Wales (UNSW) where he investigated the diet of an extinct giant marsupial from Papua New Guinea by using 3D modelling and a topographic analysis. After receiving first class honours, Joshua took up work as a collections’ assistant at Geoscience Australia in 2020. During this time, he photographed, documented and recorded specimens from their unregistered palaeontology collection and helped establish the ACT Fossil emblem.

Now, as a PhD student, Joshua is working on understanding the relationship between tooth morphology and their function in extinct marine reptiles. This will involve micro-CT scanning various extinct marine reptile from public collections around Australia and use cutting-edge software. The results of his work will allow us to infer the diet of ancient marine reptiles. His future aspiration is to become a successful museum curator.


Grants, awards and scholarships

Australian Research Council Training Centre for M3D Innovation 2021-Current

Australian Museum Research Institute Postgraduate Award 2021


Qualifications

University of NSW: Bachelor of Science (First Class Honours), Palaeoscience – 2019

Macquarie University: Bachelor of Science, majoring in Palaeobiology – 2018