DrNatali Pearson

Natali Pearson is a DECRA Fellow (DE250100827) and Senior Lecturer in Heritage Studies in the Discipline of Archaeology, School of Humanities, at the University of Sydney, with Adjunct Academic Status at Flinders University. Her research focuses on maritime heritage in Southeast Asia, with particular attention to heritage diplomacy, ocean governance, and the politics of underwater cultural heritage.

Her first book, Belitung: The Afterlives of a Shipwreck (University of Hawai‘i Press, 2022; NUS Press, 2023), examined the ethics and politics of a 9th century shipwreck salvaged from Indonesian waters. Her forthcoming monograph explores maritime heritage diplomacy and the complex legacies of sunken World War II warships in Southeast Asia.

Natali has secured competitive funding from the Australian Research Council, the ASEAN–Australia Centre, and the Australia–Indonesia Institute, and her work has been published in leading journals including Historical Archaeology and Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde.  

Prior to joining the School of Humanities, Natali worked at the Sydney Southeast Asia Centre for seven years, where she built a vibrant postgraduate and early-career researcher community and led New Colombo Plan field schools across the region.

Natali 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. She is co-editor of Perspectives on the Past at New Mandala and a regular contributor to the media, including Channel News Asia, The Jakarta Post and The Conversation.