Jennifer Porter holds an Honours degree in Archaeology, and has been working in the heritage industry for over seventeen years. Jen is a specialist in faunal analysis, historical and Aboriginal artefact analysis, and is an experienced public speaker.
With an extensive and varied academic history that includes a Bachelor of Applied Science, Jen is currently undertaking an Associate Degree in Professional Writing and Editing, and has been the recipient of a number of literary awards in recent years. Jen has a strong record of producing publications and oral presentations about her archaeological work, including several papers presented at the 2003, 2005, 2009 and 2010 Australasian Historical Archaeology (ASHA) Conferences. In 2009, an artefact report authored by Jen formed part of a document that was awarded the ‘Best Heritage Report’ by ASHA.
Jen is an experienced independent heritage consultant who is familiar with undertaking stakeholder liaison, research and analysis; production of reports, interpretive materials and procedural guidelines; excavation; artefact processing; database management; supervision and management of other staff; site management; and mapping. As artefact manager on several large excavations, Jen established procedures and systems from scratch and produced documents to ensure the continuation of these systems into the future. As an example, Jen was responsible for the management and analysis of some 60,000 artefacts at the Menzies Research Centre, Hobart, the production of an associated report as well as a paper that was delivered at the 2010 ASHA conference.
An example of a long-term project managed by Jen is one undertaken at the site of the Eynesbury Township. A satellite town was established in this archaeologically rich zone situated on the Werribee River. As Project Archaeologist over a number of years, Jen project-managed this complex zone containing multiple and varied Indigenous and historic sites. This required effective communication with the land managers, land owners, Aboriginal communities, developers and construction crews over a vast area and in challenging circumstances. Jen produced numerous reports and successful permit applications for this project, working closely with Heritage Victoria and Aboriginal Affairs Victoria (now Aboriginal Victoria). Jen’s historical research at Eynesbury culminated in a paper presented at an ASHA conference.