Timothy Churchill

(MENAFN- The Conversation)

• Adjunct Associate Lecturer, School of Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences, UNSW Sydney

Profile Articles

I am a vertebrate palaeontologist and zooarchaeologist whose research explores the evolution, ecology and extinction of Australian mammals across deep time. I completed my PhD at the University of New South Wales in 2025, where I investigated the origins and diversification of marsupials using fossil evidence from some of Australia's most significant deposits, including the Riversleigh World Heritage Area.

My research combines palaeontology, climate science and other palaeosciences to understand how mammal communities have changed in response to environmental shifts over millions of years. I have described numerous new fossil species and recently established a new order of marsupials, Keeunamorphia, helping to reshape our understanding of early marsupial evolution.

Alongside my palaeontological research, I work as a zooarchaeologist specialising in the analysis of Quaternary faunal assemblages from archaeological sites across Australia. My work with Indigenous communities in the Pilbara focuses on reconstructing past environments and long-term human-fauna interactions using culturally significant faunal records.

Through my research, I aim to use the fossil and archaeological records to better understand the processes that generate and sustain biodiversity, and to apply these insights to contemporary conservation challenges.

Experience

• –present Adjunct Associate Lecturer, UNSW Sydney

Education

• 2025 University of New South Wales, PhD / Palaeontology

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