DrSanja Van Huet

Lecturer and Research Supervisor. Research projects available to eligible
students: Third year semester projects: Contribution to data set showing
trend in climatic events in southeastern Australia over the Quaternary era.
Sediment analysis of fossil bearing strata Morphological differences in the
post cranial limbs of extinct dwarfed island emus Honours projects:
Development of a quantitative method of evaluating abrasion on fossil and
sedimentary material using Imagej. Assessment of abrasion and weathering in
the post cranial limbs of extinct Australian megafauna Field work projects

My main interest is in the link between climate change and the megafaunal
extinctions during the Quaternary in Australia.

I have done research at Lancefield Swamp in Victoria and King Island,
Tasmania.

I love swamps sand dunes and bogs - strange that I am.

I am a sedimentologist and taphonomist specialising in sand dunes, swamps and
bogs.

I am interested in the environment of the Quaternary age (the last 2 million
years) and the animals that lived at the time, known as megafauna. These
animals include the extinct giant Diprotodon (like a giant wombat), Sthenurus,
Macropus titan (giant kangaroo) and Thylacoleo (marsupial lion).
My Masters work involved studying a mass of vertebrate fossil megafaunal bones
deposited in a coarse sedimentary 'raft' at Lancefield Swamp, north of
Melbourne. This included a study of the Quaternary local climate and fluvial
conditions that would have influenced the deposition.
As part of this study I also examined all fossil bones and mandibles found in
the swamp for signs of disease to determine if climatic stress may have
influenced the demise of local fauna, and also determined the number of cut
marks (either from predation or indigenous hunting practices) in all elements.
My PhD focused on King Island, Bass Strait, where I explored the palaeosol
(fossil soil) layers in the sand dunes that ring most of the Island.
I aimed
to link these deposits to Late Quaternary to Holocene sea level changes and
storm surge events.
My PhD also included a comparison the leg bones (tarsometatarsi and
tibiotarsi) of the now extinct dwarf King Island Emu (Dromaius ater) to the
now extinct Kangaroo Island Emu (Dromaius baudinianus) in view of resolving
the relationship between these two isolated species.

My current research interests are in Quaternary environmental changes,
megafaunal extinction processes and taphonomical determination related to
palaeontological sites.
Previous to joining Deakin, I worked in the exploration mining industry.