Liz Reed

Dr Liz Reed

Senior Lecturer

School of Biological Sciences

Faculty of Sciences, Engineering and Technology

I am a vertebrate palaeontologist specialising in Quaternary cave deposits, notably in the south east region of South Australia. My particular interests are vertebrate taphonomy and site history, Quaternary palaeoclimate, biodiversity records from caves and refining megafauna extinction records.

I am a Senior Lecturer within the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology in the School of Biological Sciences and a member of the Environment Institute.

I completed an Honours degree in vertebrate palaeontology at Flinders University, studying how kangaroo skeletons decompose and disarticulate in a natural environment. I was awarded my PhD in 2004. My thesis research involved taphonomic (fossil forensics) studies of large mammal fossils from the Pleistocene-aged deposits within the World Heritage listed Naracoorte Caves National Park. Since then I have taught at undergraduate and graduate level and continue to study cave deposits in the South East region of South Australia.

My current research projects centre on Quaternary aged vertebrate fossil deposits from caves in the Naracoorte area of the Limestone Coast region of South Australia. In collaboration with colleagues from University of Adelaide's Environment Institute and various institutions in Australia and overseas, I am working on refining the age and palaeoenvironmental context of key deposits at Naracoorte.

Current projects -:

  • Refining the chronology and environmental context of megafauna extinctions at Naracoorte.
  • Palaeontology and taphonomy of Naracoorte fossil assemblages.
  • Investigation of cave deposits found in limestone quarries at Naracoorte.
  • Review of fossil faunas including megafauna marsupials, bats, frogs and reptiles.

I am a member of the Environment Institute and Sprigg Geobiology Centre at University of Adelaide. I am also a Research Associate with the South Australian Museum.

I was named Unsung Hero of Science Communication for 2018 at the South Australian Science Excellence Awards.

Our latest article in The Conversation.

Sprigg Geobiology Centre LogoEnvironment Institute Logo

The Environment Institute Annual Report 2015 features a great story about research at Naracoorte Caves.

Check out the July 2015 issue of e-Science magazine to see my article on the fossils of Naracoorte. http://escience.realviewdigital.com/?iid=122820#folio=24

Don't forget to visit the amazing Naracoorte Caves!

 

Below - Digging for megafauna, Naracoorte Caves National Park. During the Pleistocene, megafauna and other animals fell into caves and became trapped with their remains accumulating in the cave below. Over time these remains were buried by sediments that washed or blew into the cave. Fossil bones are delicate, so we use small dental picks and brushes to expose the long buried fossils. The position of each bone is recorded in detail and samples of charcoal, bone, sediment and cave formations (speleothems) are used to determine the age of the deposits. Photo Steve Bourne. 

Digging for megafauna, Naracoorte Caves National Park. Photo Steve Bourne.

Below - Peeling back the layers in time - Liz Reed excavating in Blanche Cave (Naracoorte Caves National Park), assisted by Cath Loder. The finely layered strata are visible in the sandy cave sediments. Each layer represents a period of time. Like chapters in a book each has a story to tell about the past animals and environment at Naracoorte. Photo Steve Bourne.  

Peeling back the layers in time - Liz Reed excavating in Blanche Cave (Naracoorte Caves National Park), assisted by Cath Loder. Photo Steve Bourne.

 Below - One of the many exceptionally well preserved fossils from Naracoorte Caves. This is the skull of an extinct short-faced kangaroo. The fossil caves of the Naracoorte Caves National Park are deemed so signficant that they are World Heritage listed. Much of my research centres on these deposits. Photo Steve Bourne.

One of the many exceptionally well preserved fossils from Naracoorte Caves. This is the skull of an extinct short-faced kangaroo. Photo Steve Bourne.

Below - A tiny fossil bat dentary from the late Pleistocene of Naracoorte. Bats have lived in caves at Naracoorte for hundreds of thousands of years. Their fossil remains accumulated from natural deaths beneath roosts in the caves. Other small vertebrates such as rodents and dasyurids fell victim to owl predation, forming large accumulations derived from owl pellets. Photo Liz Reed 

A tiny fossil bat dentary from the late Pleistocene of Naracoorte. Photo Liz Reed

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • 2022 Australian Research Council Linkage Project Scheme. LP21020070. Louys J, Arnold LJ, Demuro M, Reed E, Moss P, Price GJ, Duval M, Wolf P. Deep time extinctions and environments in Australian underwater caves. $260,820.

  • 2021 Australian Government, Australian Heritage Grants 2020-21. AJG111000084 Natural values assessment and conservation monitoring of Naracoorte Caves. $189,869.

  • 2018 Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) Research Portal grant - proposal 11688. Reconstructing Quaternary climate sequence at Alexandra Cave using single-grain OSL dating and environmental proxies. Priya, P. Gadd, J. Tibby, L.J. Arnold, E. Reed, M. Demuro.

  • 2017 Australian Research Council Linkage Project Scheme. LP160101249 Dr Lee Arnold, Prof. Bob Hill, Dr Elizabeth Reed, Prof. Alan Cooper, Assoc. Prof. Jeremy Austin, Dr John Tibby, Associate Professor Russell Drysdale; Dr John Hellstrom; Dr Gilbert Price; Dr Helen Macdonald; Dr Daniel Rogers; Dr Mark Hutchinson; Adjunct Professor Nigel Spooner. Naracoorte caves: a critical window on faunal extinctions and past climates. $669,000.

  • 2017 Babara Kidman Women's Fellowship, Dr Elizabeth Reed, University of Adelaide. $20,000.
  • 2016 DVCR Interdisciplinary Research Grants University of Adelaide - Dr Elizabeth Reed, Professor Alan Cooper, Dr Lee Arnold, Dr John Tibby, Professor Nigel Spooner. Preliminary investigation of Quaternary vertebrate fossil sites from caves in central and northwest Tasmania: testing a multi-proxy approach for reconstructing past biodiversity and environment. $23,600.
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  • 2015 Environment Institute grant - Refining the timing and palaeoenvironmental context for megafauna extinction records at Naracoorte, South Australia. EI Investigators – Dr Liz Reed (CI), Dr Lee Arnold, Dr Francesca McInerney, Dr John Tibby, Dr Jonathan Tyler and Dr Juraj Farkas. $50,000.

My current undergraduate teaching:

PALAEO3500 Field Palaeontology - teacher

PALAEO3005 Geochronology, Fossils and Palaeoenvironments III - teacher

ENVBIOL3590 Evolutionary Biology III - Coordinator and teacher

 

Below - The reconstructed skeleton of Thylacoleo carnifex looms large over the fossil bed in Victoria Fossil Cave, Naracoorte Caves NP. Photo Steve Bourne

The reconstructed skeleton of Thylacoleo carnifex looms large over the fossil bed in Victoria Fossil Cave, Naracoorte Caves NP. Photo Steve Bourne

 

  • Current Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)
    Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
    2024 Co-Supervisor Shaping palaeoherpetology in Australia: a spatial and temporal view of the palaeoecology of Varanus. Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Miss Isabella Donato
    2024 Co-Supervisor A phenotypic and genetic approach to identify fossil frogs from Naracoorte caves with comparison to modern Australian species in the southeast. Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Miss Natasha Lee Hiotis
    2022 Co-Supervisor Miocene marine fossils of southern Australia Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Miss Mahala Ann Fergusen
    2021 Co-Supervisor Examining Fossil Preservation Histories at the UNESCO World Heritage Naracoorte Caves National Park Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Andrew Jeremy Chua
    2019 Principal Supervisor Quaternary Vertebrate Fauna of Naracoorte, South Australia Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Miss Nerita Kai Turner
    2019 Co-Supervisor Optically Stimulated Luminescence Dating and Palaeoenvironmental Proxies on Quaternary Sediment Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Ms . Priya
    2016 Principal Supervisor Palaeoecology of vertebrates of the Late Quaternary from the Naracoort Caves fossil deposits Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Miss Jessie-Briar Treloar

  • Past Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)
    Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
    2014 - 2015 External Supervisor New approaches to explore the past and present diversity of Australian sandalwood species -- from palaeobotany to next generation sequencing. Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Ms Patricia Fuentes-Cross

  • Other Supervision Activities
    Date Role Research Topic Location Program Supervision Type Student Load Student Name
    2023 - 2023 Principal Supervisor Identifying fossil frog ilia from Naracoorte Caves via the comparison of their geometric morphometric measurements to ilia of extant Limestone Coast frogs The University of Adelaide Bachelor of Science with Honours in Evolution and Palaeobiology Honours Full Time Natasha Lee Hiotis

  • Memberships
    Date Role Membership Country
    2018 - ongoing Member Victorian Speleological Association Australia
    2016 - ongoing Member Geological Society of Australia Australia
    2016 - ongoing - Australian Mammal Society Australia
    2009 - ongoing Member Australasian Quaternary Association -
  • Position: Senior Lecturer
  • Phone: 83132044
  • Email: liz.reed@adelaide.edu.au
  • Campus: North Terrace
  • Building: Benham, floor 1
  • Org Unit: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
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