UNSW Leaders in Science

Professor Michael Archer AM

Biological Science Building, Room 565
Phone: +61 2 9385 3446 -  Email: m.archer@unsw.edu.au

Career profilePublicationsResearchSupervision & teachingFunding

Career profile

Birth/nationality
Sydney, New South Wales, 25 March, 1945; Dual-citizen Australia & USA

Tertiary and postgraduate education
Princeton University, BA Geology/Biology (Magna Cum Lauda), 1967;
University of Western Australia, PhD Zoology, 1976.

Appointments (principal & sequential)
Fulbright  Scholar, Western Australian Museum: 1967 and 1968
ARC Researcher, WAM:  1968-71
Curator of Mammals, Queensland Museum: 1972-1978
Lecturer, School of Zoology, University of New South Wales: 1978-1980
Senior Lecturer, School of Zoology, UNSW: 1980-1985
Associate Professor, School of Zoology, UNSW: 1985-1989
Professor, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, UNSW: 1989-present
Director, Australian Museum: 1999-2003
Dean of Science, UNSW: 2004-2009
Professor, School of Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences, UNSW-present

Fellowships in learned societies
FRZSNSW (Fellow of the Royal Zoological Society of NSW)
FWAAS (Fellow of the World Academy of Arts & Sciences)
FACE (Fellow of the Australian College of Educators)
FAA (Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science)
FRSN (Fellow of the Royal Society of NSW)

Awards & citations
Eight Gilbert Whitley awards for books written or edited (1982-2007);
Clarke Medal of the Royal Society of New South Wales (1984);
Inaugural Queensland Museum Medal (1987);
Australian Heritage Award for Nature Conservation (1989);
Inaugural Eureka Prize for the Promotion of Science (1990);
Inaugural IBM Conservation Award (with S. Hand & H. Godthelp) (1990);
Fellowship of the Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales--FRZSNSW;
von Mueller Medal of ANZAAS (1994);
Verco Medal of the Royal Society of South Australia (1996);
Skeptic of the Year (1998);
Special Recognition Medal, National Museum of Australia;
Fellowship of the Australian Academy of Science--FAS (from 2002);
Dr Alice Whitley Award for Science Education (2002), Australian College of Educators;
Fellowship of the World Academy of Arts & Sciences--WAAS (from 2003);
Australian Centennial Medal (2003);
TH Huxley Award (2004);
Fellowship of the Australian College of Educators--FACE (from 2006);
Riversleigh Society Medal (2006);
Member of the Order of Australia--AM (from 2007)
Awarded Membership of the Australian Institute of Biology--AIB (from 2008)
Fellowship of the Royal Society of New South Wales (from 2009)

Trusts/councils/advisory boards (not inclusive)
Trustee, Australian Geographic Society (former)
Member, World Wildlife Fund Scientific Advisory Committee (former)
Member, TAFE Advisory Board (former)
Member, Children's Creative Workshop Advisory Board (former)
Member, Australian Geographic Research Advisory Board (former)
Member, Research Advisory Board for Earthwatch Australia (1988-1992)
Member, Council of the National Museum of Australia (1990-1995)
Trustee, Thegotics Trust (international) (1985-present)
Director, Australian Tropical Research Foundation (1995-present)
Member, IUCN Advisory Committee for the ‘Evolution of Australian mammals, Riversleigh and Naracoorte' World Heritage property (1995-2003)
Chairman, Management Committee for ‘Tales from the Kangaroo's Crypt' CD-ROM Project (Federal Govt's ‘Australia on CD-ROM Program') (1996-98)
Member, Australian Academy of Science National Committee for the Environment (1998)
Director, Riversleigh Fossil Interpretive Centre (from 1997)
Chairman, Budget and Priorities Committee, Australian Museum (1999-2003)
Secretary of the Trust of the Australian Museum (1999-2003)
Chairman, Finance Committee of the Australian Museum (2002-2003)
Chairman of the Board of Management of the Australian Museum (2002-2003)
Council Member, The Australian Museum Society (1999-2003)
Member, Council of Australian Museum Directors (1999-2003)
Member, Lizard Island Research Foundation (1999-2003)
Member, National Parks of New South Wales External Advisory Group (2002-2004)
Chairman, External Environmental Advisory Group for the Minerals Council of Australia (2000-2003).
Reader, Australian Research Council (2002-present).
Editor, Ethics in Science and Environmental Politics (2002-present)
Director, The Australian Museum Rheuben Griffiths Trust for the Thylacine Project (2001-2003).
Director, Coral Reef and Marine Science Foundation (USA) (2001-2003)
Member, Advisory Board for international journal Zoological Science (2007-)
Fellow of Australia 21 and Leader of the Ecosystems Project (2002-present)
Chairman of the Blue Mountains World Heritage Research Institute (2006-07)
Co-Chairman, Advisory Board of the Connected Waters Centre (2007-2009)
Editorial Advisory Board for Newton science magazine (2003-2005)
Editorial Advisory Board for Cosmos science magazine (2005-present)
Editorial Advisory Board for  Zoological Science
Director, Crossbow Enterprises (2006-present)
Director, Sydney Institute of Marine Science (2006-present)
Member, Sydney Institute of Marine Science Foundation (2009-present)
Director, Planet Ark (2007-2009)
Member, Management Board, Injury Risk Management Res. Centre (2004-09)
Member, Lifeboat Foundation Scientific Advisory Board (2008-present)
Acting Director Fowler's Gap Research Station (2009)

Research Associateships
Australian Museum, Research Associate (1978-2007)
Queensland Museum, Honorary Associate (1986-present)
American Museum of Natural History, Research Associate (2005-present)
Institute of Environmental Studies, Research Associate (2009-present)
Climate Change Research Centre, Adjunct Professorship (2009-present)

Invited addresses (representative)
International Thegotics Conference, Christchurch, New Zealand; Australian Conservation Foundation; International Ethology Congress; Mammal Phylogeny, American Museum of Natural History, USA; International Dental Association; Conference on Palaeoclimate and Evolution, with Emphasis on Human Evolution, Airlie Conference Centre, Virginia; Gondwanan Heritage Congress, University of Western Australia, Perth; International Theriological Congress, University of New South Wales, Sydney;  Macquarie University, Sydney (Milthorpe Memorial Lecture); Southern Temperate Ecosystems: Origin and Diversification Symposium; Monument Grube Messel: Perspectives and Relationships, Hessiches Landesmuseum Darmstadt, Germany; Biochronologie Mammalienne du Cénozoïque en Europe et Domaines Reliés, Montpellier, France; Landcare National Conference, Adelaide; National Landcare Conference, Conference Centre, Adelaide; Quaternary Deserts and Climatic Change Conference, Univ. Wollongong; Mammal Evolution, Western Australian Museum, Perth (Australian Mammal Society);Minerals Council of Australia, Melbourne; Australian Dental Association; Geological Society of Australia (J.J. Frankel Memorial Lecture); National Museum of Australia; Queensland Museum Society (Stan Colliver Memorial Lecture); Royal Society of South Australia (Verco Memorial Lecture); Young Presidents Organisation (several times most recently in 2007); Keynote address on Science, South Korea (Australia/Korea Foundation); Climate change: the up and down sides (Australian Institute of Biology); Keynote address to CSIRO (2009-details to come);

Whitley Book Awards

Best Symposium Volume (1982): Carnivorous marsupials  (ed. M. Archer);

Best Book on Australian Prehistory (1983): Prehistoric Animals of Australia  (ed. S. Quirk & M. Archer);

Best Textbook (1984): Vertebrate Zoogeography and Evolution in Australasia  (ed. M. Archer, G. Clayton);

Best Book on Australian Mammals (1985): The Kangaroo  (by M. Archer & T. Flannery);

Best Symposium Volume (1988): Possums and Opossums: Studies in Evolution  (ed. M. Archer);

Best Palaeontological Volume (1991): Riversleigh (by M. Archer, S. Hand & H. Godthelp);

Best Popular Zoology (2003): Prehistoric Mammals of Australia and New Guinea (by J. Long, M. Archer, T. Flannery, S. Hand)

Certificate of Commendation in the 2007 Whitley Awards Best Reference Text category (2007): Evolution and Zoogeography of Australasian Vertebrates (ed. J.R. Merrick, M. Archer, M., G. Hickey, M. Lee) 

Editorial committees for research journals
Australian Mammalogy  1982-1985 (Editor);
Australian Zoological Reviews  (inaugural planning committee);
Australian Zoologist  1986-88 (Mbr Editorial Committee);
Carnivore 1979 (Mbr Editorial Committee);
Mammalian Evolution 1991-1995 (Mbr Editorial Committee);
Mastozoologica 1993 (Mbr Editorial Committee);
Zoological Science 2008 (Mbr Editorial Advisory Board).

Research symposia
Organised/co-organised 10 research symposia since 1982 including:

FATE (Future of Australia's Terrestrial Ecosystems) Workshops (three to date; the first launched by the Premier of NSW), 2000-2001. (Supported by many Govt departments and ngos, attended by agencies throughout NSW as well as the NT, South Australia, Queensland and Victoria; now established in UNSW, with Peter Ampt as Manager, and getting research funding.)

Do We Need a Zoological Revolution? 2000. (Organised with D. Lunney; supported by the Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales and the Australian Museum; proceedings to be published.)

Early Mammal Evolution 2002. (Organised with A. Musser and S. Hand; an international Symposium with invited participants that will be part of the International Geological Congress held in 2002 at Macquarie University; Prof. Ruth Mawson is one of the key organisers. As currently planned, the proceedings will be published.)

Riversleigh Symposia. (Organised with S. Hand and H. Godthelp; there have been three of these two of which have led to symposia volumes; the most recent Riversleigh Symposium was run in 2006.)

Unusual projects

FATE (Future of Australian Threatened Ecosystems) Project (http://www.fate.unsw.edu.au/). Over the last year this has become a major initiative engaging scientists, politicians, Govt agencies and NGOs (e.g., Australia 21), Farmers Federation, Landcare, Meat & Livestock Association, Kangaroo Industry Association of Australia, sustainable native forestry groups and key individuals with related foci (e.g., Profs Gordon Grigg, Graham Webb, Tony English, George Wilson etc.). The FATE Team, led by Peter Ampt, is developing and deploying adaptive management programs based on the principle of CSU--Conservation through Sustainable Use.

The Thylacine Project and a related initiative. A controversial project to recover the DNA of the extinct Thylacine  (Thylacinus cynocephalus), started in 2000, has made steady progress. The focus is to recover the genome of the extinct Thylacine from museum specimens with the ultimate aim of contributing to a future effort to clone the Thylacine back into existence. Researchers in four universities are involved. This Project was the subject of a Discovery Documentary provocatively entitled The End of Extinction: Cloning the Tasmanian Tiger.

Another 'reconstitution' project is now under way in collaboration with researchers from multiple institutions to bring back another iconic Australian animal, with significant progress to date (2009).

Institutions established, progressed or initiated

1. Warren Somerville Collection, Bathurst, NSW. $15 million gem & fossil collection donated to the Australian Museum and housed in a purpose-rennovated heritage museum in Bathurst.

2. Australian Museum renovation and expansion. In 2003 the State Government agreed to provide $40m to develop an annex on its eastern flank; the new AM wing constructed using these funds opened in 2008.

3. National Opal Collection, Pitt Street, Sydney. A State Government/Corporate sector partnership conceived and organised with Andrew Cody (National Opal Collection and Cody's Opals) to position Australian Museum opalised fossils in a central city location on the Pitt Street Mall. As of 2007, this partnership has meant revenue to the AM of $500,000 with recurrent income projected for the next 12 years and beyond.

4. Age of Fishes Museum, Canowindra, NSW. Stage 2 of this initiative was progressed and broadened to develop collaborations with the Royal Tyrell Museum in Canada.

5. Lightning Ridge Opal and Fossil Museum, Lightning Ridge, NSW. This initiative, which began in 2003, is now being progressed by local organisations and personnel.

6. Wellington Caves Museum, Wellington, NSW. Discussions began in 2003 between the Australian Museum and the Wellington Shire and Caves Board to establish a major regional museum in Wellington to display the AM's Wellington Collections. Dr Mike Augee (formerly UNSW; now Dep. Mayor of Wellington) manages further development of displays at Wellington Caves.