image: Griffith University, in Queensland, Australia, is delighted to announce renowned archaeologist and 2019 Father of the Year Dr Bandit Heeler of Bluey fame has been offered a professorial chair for his academic contributions to the understanding the origin of canines.
Credit: Ludo / BBC
Griffith University is delighted to announce renowned archaeologist and 2019 Father of the Year Dr Bandit Heeler has been offered a professorial chair.
Dr Bandit Heeler, a Brisbane-based blue heeler of international repute, is celebrated for his fieldwork in the remote jungles of Indonesia, his landmark publications on the ritual significance of dance-mode freezing in pre-literate societies, and his seminal studies on the development of a language capacity in the Cockapoo.
Griffith University’s Vice Chancellor and President Professor Carolyn Evans said the appointment was a natural fit.
“Dr Heeler’s ability to unravel the mystery of the origin of canines while simultaneously being an active and engaged parent, makes him a wonderful example of our commitment to academic excellence and living our values,” Professor Evans said.
“We are particularly impressed by his work on the evolution of the first dogs to walk upright.”
The announcement coincided with another major milestone this week when Griffith University was awarded an Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence for Transforming Human Origins Research, the first federally funded research centre in Australia to focus on the evolutionary history of humanity and one of very few globally.
The $85-million-dollar centre will explore critical questions about our species’ origins, adaptation and cultural development as we spread out of Africa to eventually inhabit all corners of the globe.
Professor Adam Brumm, a Griffith professor of archaeology and chief investigator in the Centre of Excellence, said the ARC funding aas a game-changer for human origins research in Australia.
“It will put Australia at the forefront of research into our evolutionary history. It will transform this field from a colonial-era model in which ‘once in a generation’ discoveries were made by lone figures working in isolation to a more concerted endeavour drawing on dedicated facilities and the knowledge and expertise of Indigenous communities and Global South researchers from across Asia and Africa,” Professor Brumm said.
To further add to the philosophical complexity, Professor Brumm’s career was said to be the inspiration for the character Bandit’s profession.
In a related development, Griffith can confirm Joe Brumm – the multi-BAFTA winning creator of Bluey, proud graduate of Griffith Film School, Professor Brumm’s brother, and the actual human being responsible for bringing Bluey and her family to the world – has been awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University in recognition of his extraordinary contribution to children’s storytelling and animation.