Ronika K. Power is an Australian archaeologist who is a Professor of Bioarchaeology in the Department of History and Archaeology and Director of the Centre for Ancient Cultural Heritage and Environment at

Macquarie University Macquarie University ( ) is a public research university based in Sydney, Australia, in the suburb of Macquarie Park. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the metropolitan area of S ...

. Power is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London and the

Royal Society of New South Wales The Royal Society of New South Wales is a learned society based in Sydney, Australia. The Governor of New South Wales is the vice-regal patron of the Society. The Society was established as the Philosophical Society of Australasia on 27 June ...

Early life and education

Power became interested in mummies as a child. She became ill with glandular fever and missed her high school leaving exams. She was left with

chronic fatigue syndrome Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), also called myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) or ME/CFS, is a complex, debilitating, long-term medical condition. The causes and mechanisms of the disease are not fully understood. Distinguishing core symptoms are ...

and remained unwell for eight years. Power was an undergraduate student at

, where she studied ancient history. She graduated with the University Medal. After graduating Power moved to the United Kingdom, where she completed a master's degree in Palaeography at the University of Bradford. Power returned to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, where she completed her doctoral research in egyptology at

. Her doctorate evaluated burials in the early Dynastic period. She was a postdoctoral fellow at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research.

Research and career

Power worked as a

European Research Council The European Research Council (ERC) is a public body for funding of scientific and technological research conducted within the European Union (EU). Established by the European Commission in 2007, the ERC is composed of an independent Scientific ...

postdoctoral researcher at the University of Cambridge. As part of this work, she looked to understand the nature of connectivity in the Trans-Saharan zone. In 2014, she started working on the ERC Fragility and Sustainability in the restricted island environments of Malta (FRAGSUS) project, which studied why certain cultures maintained civilisations for centuries whilst other collapsed more quickly. FRAGSUS was the outcome of a long-term collaboration between the University of Malta and the University of Cambridge, largely driven by Caroline Malone. Power worked with the British Museum to develop ''Egyptian Mummies: Exploring Ancient Lives'', an exhibition that ran from 2016 to 2017. In 2016, Power returned to

, where she was made a lecturer in bioarchaeology. Her research considers ancient human remains to better understand human health and migration. She studied the fossilised skeletons of a massacre that occurred 10,000 years ago in

Lake Turkana Lake Turkana (), formerly known as Lake Rudolf, is a lake in the Kenyan Rift Valley, in northern Kenya, with its far northern end crossing into Ethiopia. It is the world's largest permanent desert lake and the world's largest alkaline lake. B ...

. This study was named by '' Archaeology'' as one of the Top Ten Discoveries of 2016. Alongside her research, Power taught courses on the archaeology of death and burial. She delivered a TED talk at TEDxMelbourne in 2019.

Awards and honours

* 2018 Elected Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London * 2018 Appointed a Superstar of STEM * 2019 Elected Fellow of the

* 2019 Australian Academy of the Humanities Max Crawford Medal * 2019 Union Académique Internationale Kwang-su Lim Early Career Award * 2019 Australian Institute of Policy in Science Tall Poppy Award

Selected publications

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Power, Ronika Living people Macquarie University alumni Alumni of the University of Bradford Academic staff of Macquarie University Bioarchaeologists 21st-century Australian scientists Australian women archaeologists Year of birth missing (living people)