Tim Adams is a PhD candidate in the School of History at ANU. His research explores the expression of individual, family and community identity within colonial-era cemeteries of the Australian Capital Territory and Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council, placing memorialisation in the region within the broader context of identity in a time where Australia's national identity was developing. His research examines means of identity through family, community, religion, military or municipal service, ethnicity and colonial-era popular culture, as well as exploring how broader communities created shared identities. His honours thesis (2021) 'Reading Riverside: History and heritage in Canberra's oldest public cemetery' explored the history of Queanbeyan's Riverside Cemetery and its importance as both a site of recognised heritage value as well as an active cemetery.

He has published and presented on the history of memorialisation and funerary practices in Australia, the evolution of social identity within colonial Australia, the phenomenon of lost burials, and the uneasy balance between heritage and urban development.

Tim studies part time and works within the Australian Public Service.