Jim Wheeler
Director, Chief Technical Officer
“It is a great privilege to work on Country and undertake research in partnership with Traditional Owners and Knowledge Holders. I love taking a multi-disciplinary approach to heritage research, with the scope to engage analytically and creatively – I think we are at our very best when we are drawing on cutting-edge scientific analysis and combining that knowledge with a deep understanding of the social values of places to communities.”
Jim is a founding Director at Extent Heritage, and Chief Technical Officer. Jim is also an Honorary Senior Lecturer in the School of Archaeology and Anthropology, ANU and is the current Chairperson of the Australian Association of Consulting Archaeologists Inc - Victoria State Chapter. He has wide ranging experience on public sector, commercial and academic archaeology projects in Australia and internationally and is one of the most experienced consulting archaeologists in Australia. Jim has a range of research interests and has published peer reviewed journal articles and presented conference papers on the archaeology of submerged terrestrial sites, non-site landscape archaeology, cultural values mapping and heritage policy.
Jim is currently overseeing a number of groundbreaking initiatives in cultural values engagement work, research partnerships, strategic assessment and Sea Country research. Jim would provide technical oversight on the project and play an active role in the establishment of project scope and parameters with BLCAC, trouble-shooting any issues that may emerge and ensuring risks and key relationships are effectively managed throughout the project. Jim is a senior cultural heritage advisor, archaeologist and manager with diverse experience in cultural heritage management, strategic planning, heritage policy, stakeholder consultation, interpretation and heritage assessment projects. He has wide ranging experience on public sector, commercial and academic archaeology projects in Australia and internationally.
Jim has a range of research interests and has published peer reviewed journal articles and presented conference papers on the archaeology of submerged terrestrial sites, non-site landscape archaeology, heritage policy and cultural values mapping. Jim leads an experienced team of heritage professionals that produces innovative high-quality heritage work that provides certainty and value for money for development proponents and aims to set industry benchmarks for excellence. Jim was a past member of the Aboriginal Affairs Victoria Technical Advisory Group (TAG), he is a full member of the Australian Association of Consulting Archaeologists Inc (AACAI) and a full member of Australia ICOMOS. Jim’s work was recognised with the 2010 Laila Haglund Prize for Excellence in Consulting Archaeology. Jim was a 2019 ICCROM Research Fellow and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.