Rate My Professor Jessie Birkett-Rees

Dr. Jessie Birkett-Rees is a Senior Lecturer in Archaeology and Ancient History at Monash University, within the School of Philosophical, Historical and Indigenous Studies in the Faculty of Arts. She obtained her PhD in Archaeology and Geomatic Engineering from the University of Melbourne in 2009, a BA (Hons) in Classics and Archaeology in 2005, and a BASc in Classics and Archaeology and Earth Sciences in 2005 from the same university. As a landscape archaeologist, her research explores the mutual shaping of people and environments over time, employing Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and geospatial analyses to reconstruct past landscapes and model future conditions. Her work addresses long-term human-environment relationships from archaeological, ecological, and cultural perspectives, spanning river systems, coastal zones, and highland regions in Australia, Canada, Türkiye, and Georgia.

Birkett-Rees has contributed to diverse projects, including the Joint Historical and Archaeological Survey of the Gallipoli Battlefields (2011-2015), Landscape Archaeology in Georgia (2012-2019), Metepenagiag Cultural Landscape in maritime Canada (2018-2020), and ongoing efforts such as the Buchan Valley and Gippsland Lakes GunaiKurnai Cultural Mapping Project, the Kura Route shaping the human landscape in the Caucasus highlands, settlement and fortification of rivers in eastern Canada, environmental and cultural change along the Central Murray River, and a millennia-scale approach to the lost shellfish reefs of the Gippsland Lakes. Key publications include 'The palaeogeography of the Bass Strait land-bridge, a vital zone of human and biological connectivity across southeastern Australia' (Quaternary Science Reviews, 2025), 'Finger flutings at New Guinea II Cave, lower Snowy River valley (Victoria), GunaiKurnai country' (Australian Archaeology, 2025), 'Events, trends and the “Pompeii Premise”: Telling stories of the Old Ancestors in Australian archaeology' (Australian Archaeology, 2025), and 'An Australian Overview: The Creation and Use of 3D Models in Australian Universities' (Journal of Computer Applications in Archaeology, 2025). She received the Faculty Citation for Overseas Programs that Enhance Learning in 2018 (shared with Andrew Connor), delivers public lectures including on technology in Australasian archaeology (2021) and archaeology in the Caucasus (2019), and serves as an editor for Ancient Near Eastern Studies Journal (2019-2029).