Gravelmonkeys 2018. Back (L-R): James, Chris T, Michal, Chris Y, Kelly, Prince, Jelle.
Front (L-R): Tegan, Paul, Maree, Eric, Leigh. ​

Gravelmonkeys Team

Supreme Director

Associate Professor Eric M. Roberts 
Head of Geosciences, College of Science and Engineering, JCU

Ph.D. Geology ('05)  University of Utah, USA; 
M.Sc. Geology ('99) University of Montana, USA;
B.A. Geology & Environmental Studies ('96) Cornell College, USA.

Primary supervisor for most of the Gravelmonkeys.

Click Here for Eric's Research Page.




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Vice Director

Dr. Espen Knutsen
Senior Curator of Palaeontology at the Museum of Tropical Queensland
Lecturer, Palaeontology, Geosciences, JCU

Primary supervisor for some of the Gravelmonkeys


Click here for Espen's Research Page



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Current PhD Candidates

Jelle Wiersma, PhD Candidate (2016-) - Primary Supervisor Dr. Eric Roberts
Cave Sedimentation Processes and Geochronology of the Rising Star Cave, Cradle of Humankind, South Africa.

MSc. Geology, 2015. University of Utah, USA.
BSc. Geology, 2011. VU University Amsterdam, the Netherlands.


Click here for more information.
Jess Robbins, PhD Candidate (2016-) - Primary Supervisor Prof. Paul Dirks
Constraining the age and paleoenvironment of Homo naledi, Rising Star Cave, South Africa.



Click here for more information.
Kelly Heilbronn, PhD Candidate (2016-) - Primary Supervisor Dr. Carl Spandler
Establishing a tectonic framework for the eastern margin of Australia during the Jurassic:
Sedimentary provenance, basin analysis and geodynamic modelling of the Queensland Plateau and Lord Howe Rise.

B. Geology (Class I Honours), 2015 - James Cook University

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Click here for more information.
​Tegan Beveridge, PhD Candidate (2017-) - Primary Supervisor Dr. Eric Roberts
Bentonite tephrostratigraphy and high-precision geochronology of richly fossiliferous Upper Cretaceous continental strata in the Western Interior Basin, North America

B. Geology (Class 1 Honours). 2016 - James Cook University.
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​Click here for more information.



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Chris Yule, PhD Candidate (2017-) - Primary Supervisor Dr. Eric Roberts
Seismic stratigraphy and petroleum systems of the Mentelle Basin, south west Western Australia

B. Science (Adv.) Geology (Class 1 Honours). 2016 - James Cook University

Click here for more information.
Leigh Lawrence, PhD Candidate (2017-) - Primary Supervisor Dr. Carl Spandler.
​Geochemistry of titanite-hosted alkaline melt inclusions from Oligocene-aged volcanic tuffs in the Rukwa Rift Basin, southwestern Tanzania

B. Geology (Class 1 Honours), 2016 - James Cook University
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Click here for more information.
Michal Wenderlich, PhD Candidate (2017-) - Primary Supervisor Dr. Eric Roberts
Cenozoic Seismic Stratigraphy of the Great Barrier Reef

Bachelor of Geology (Class I Honours) - James Cook University

Click here for more information.
​Elliot Foley, PhD Candidate (2018-) - Primary Supervisor Dr. Eric Roberts
Sedimentology, stratigraphy, tectonic reconstruction and resource potential of the northern Great Australian Superbasin

MSc. Integrated Petroleum Geoscience (2017) - University of Aberdeen, UK.
BSc. Geology (2016) - University College Cork, Ireland

Click here for more information.
Theresa Orr, PhD Candidate (2018-) - Primary Supervisor Dr. Eric Roberts
Classification and morphology of selected Cretaceous, Paleogene and Neogene paleosols in the Rukwa Rift Basin, southwestern Tanzania. Reconstruction of the Oligocene paleoenvironment and paleoclimate using paleosol horizons

BSc. Geology (Class I Honours), 2017 - James Cook University

Click here for more information.

Gravelmonkeys Photos