Dr Timothy Heffernan is Lecturer in Anthropology and Development Studies in the School of Archaeology and Anthropology. His research and teaching are driven by a deep curiosity to understand how communities confront and recover from life-altering events. From environmental disasters to political and economic upheavals, his research explores stories of recovery, connection and transformation. Rooted in anthropological fieldwork, he seeks to understand not just how unwelcome change is endured, but how recovery unfolds in complex, unpredictable ways.

His first monograph, Compassionate solidarity: Crisis, recovery and kincentric politics in Iceland (forthcoming, Toronto UP), examined kinship as a vehicle for recovery after national economic crisis. A core feature of the book is its focus on the crisis-recovery nexus, which is used thematically to examine the role of kinship in creating new pathways of connection, belonging and political reform after crisis.

He is also the co-editor of the volume The anthropology of ambiguity (2024, Manchester UP), a book that rethinks ambiguity as essential to human life. It explores how people live with uncertainty and contradiction in times of crisis. Through vivid ethnographies, the book reframes ambiguity as a generative force that shapes meaning, action, and human connection.

Dr Heffernan is currently working on projects to support 'bottom-up' methods for regional communities in Australia and northern Europe to drive recovery after environmental disasters, as well as a project promoting wellbeing in schools to understand the impacts of bushfire and other disasters on mental health.

Grants:

Reducing childhood psychological distress in disasters: Evaluation of Psychological First Aid in Schools, E. Macleod (PI), A. Calear, A. Morse, P. Batterham, S. Stanley, T. Cruwys, T. Heffernan, M. Rogers, L. Farrer, S. McCallum, R. Rodney, MRFF NHMRC (MRF2036034), 2025-27.

Enhancing housing recovery policy and practice for improving community resilience to future disasters, D. Sanderson (PI), M. Vahanvati, T. Heffernan, D. Halvitigala, D. McEvoy, Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, 2023-24. Final Report: www.ahuri.edu.au/research/final-reports/439

Courses taught:

ANTH2027 - EthnoLab 1: Ethnographic Methods
ANTH8059 - Doing Ethnography: Research Practicum on Applied Anthropology