The National Museum of Australia undertakes a range of research projects into Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and history, Australian history and society since 1788 and people's interaction with the environment.

Combaning Creek waterhole.

If we consider a global issue in local terms, what insights might we gain? The Waterhole Project investigates the global problem of anthropogenic climate change from the perspective of place.

Museum curator and environmental historian George Main explores the histories and contemporary realities of a waterhole and its surrounds at Combaning, a productive farming district in southern New South Wales, to consider the cultural and historical dimensions of global climate change. Might explorations of the local guide our responses to this global crisis? See this and other material related to climate change and place.

> View the Waterhole Project blog

> View the Changing places Flickr group

Conservator David Hallam

Staff at the National Museum of Australia have worked to authenticate the first known artefact from explorer Ludwig Leichhardt's 1848 expedition.

Evidence from the historical record and extensive scientific analysis established that a nameplate found in western Australia was the first authenticated relic from the journey.

> More on authenticating the Leichhardt nameplate