Dr Natali Pearson is a Senior Lecturer in critical heritage studies at the University of Sydney, with Adjunct Academic Status at Flinders University. She is Curriculum Coordinator at the Sydney Southeast Asia Centre, and is affiliated through her research with the Discipline of Archaeology (School of Humanities).
Natali's research focuses on maritime heritage in Southeast Asia, with current projects focusing on orphaned objects from the sea, shared heritage through museum collections, and maritime heritage diplomacy and sunken warships in Southeast Asia. Her first book, "Belitung: The Afterlives of a Shipwreck," is published by the University of Hawai'i Press (2022) and NUS Press (2023).
Natali is President of the Indonesia Council, a sub-regional association of the Asian Studies Association of Australia, and has served as a Councillor for the Australasian Institute for Maritime Archaeology since 2019. She is an Expert Member of the ICOMOS International Committee on Archaeological Heritage Management and on the Editorial Board of The Great Circle. She is also host of the SSEAC Stories podcast, syndicated globally on the New Books in Southeast Asia network.
She has worked at the Asia Society’s galleries in New York and Hong Kong, and as a consultant to the Asia Society Arts & Museum Summit. She is an alumni of the Australian Consortium for In-Country Indonesian Studies (2000) and the Asialink Leaders Program (2009). Prior to this, she worked in Asia-focused defence and anti-money laundering / counter-terrorism financing roles in the Australian federal government.
PhD, Museum and Heritage Studies, The University of Sydney. 2019.
Master of Museum Studies, The University of Sydney. 2013.
Master of Arts (Strategy and Policy Studies), UNSW@ADFA. 2007.
Bachelor of Arts (Asian Studies), Honours Class One. The University of New South Wales. 2002.
Experience
2018–present
Sydney Southeast Asia Centre, University of Sydney
Education
2019
University of Sydney, PhD
2013
University of Sydney, Master of Museum Studies
2007
University of New South Wales, Master of Arts (Strategy and Policy)
2002
University of New South Wales, Bachelor of Arts (Asian Studies) Hons Class 1
Publications
2024
The Multispecies Shipwreck, International Journal of Heritage Studies
2024
Reuniting Orphaned Cargoes: Recovering cultural knowledge from salvaged and dispersed underwater cultural heritage in Southeast Asia, Marine Policy
2023
Saving Two Fish with One Wreck: Maximizing synergies in marine biodiversity conservation and underwater cultural heritage protection, Marine Policy