late 1970s she worked for the New Zealand Historic Places Trust (known as Heritage NZ since 2019) as Northern Regional Archaeologist. She established an archaeology unit employing more than 20 archaeologists and contract staff, providing employment and training for many students. When the Historic Places Trust was incorporated into the newly formed Department of Conservation (DOC) in 1990, she became a DOC scientist, continuing the work begun for the Historic Places Trust. After her retirement from DOC in 1994 she returned to her New Guinea research projects. Research In 1964 Bulmer co-authored, with her husband Ralph Bulmer, the first paper on the prehistory of the New Guinea Highlands based on evidence from several disciplines. Bulmer’s contribution to New Guinea archaeology was commemorated in a special volume of Archaeology in Oceania in 2016. This volume includes a bibliography of Bulmer's publications spanning both her New Guinea and New Zealand work. Her work in Papua New Guinea is recognised in three areas: as a pioneer of archaeology in the Highlands; for her classification of a coastal pottery sequence and its cultural associations and trade networks; for her investigations of early agricultural practices. Bulmer’s wide-ranging research interests included indigenous agriculture in New Zealand and domestic animals such as the New Guinea Singing Dog. Bulmer was active in the World Archaeology Congress, serving as Treasurer in 1990. Community activism In the mid-1980s Bulmer co-founded the Friends of Maungawhau, a community organization advocating for the care and management of Maungawhau, an extinct volcanic cone and historic pa site in the Auckland inner city suburb of Mt Eden. The 2014 book Maungawhau: A Short History of Volunteer Action is dedicated to Bulmer. In 2005 she received a Living Legend award from Auckland Mayor Dick Hubbard in recognition of her community service. Personal life Bulmer married the social anthropologist and ethnobiologist Ralph Bulmer in 1959. They had three children and divorced in 1979. In 1985 she married psychiatrist Terence (Terry) O’Meara, who was a friend from her high school days in Pasadena. The marriage lasted until his death in 2010. Sweat in the Sun, Mate As a young woman, Bulmer was a keen folksinger, having learned to play guitar while she was a student at the University of Hawaii. She contributed her musical skills to campfire music on summer digs run by the Auckland University Archaeological Society in 1957–60. In 1967 an LP recording, Sweat in the