Prof Buckley, of the University of Otago anatomy department, will hold the James Cook Research Fellowship for two years.
The funding will enable her to undertake research on 19th century "ordinary" Otago immigrants, whose lives were not documented at the time.
Her research proposal, titled "Lost lives, forgotten voices: Rediscovering the microhistories of 19th century miners and settlers through bioarchaeology", will focus on early colonial mining and pastoral settlements in Otago.
Prof Buckley will use the fellowship to support the writing of a book, to "tell the stories of individuals in a way that is accessible to everyone".
She "very pleased" to gain the fellowship and to be "telling the microhistories of specific people" in this way.
Prof Buckley and her fellow researchers' work to date has mostly centred on unmarked graves in Milton and Lawrence, and she is applying to undertake similar research in Drybread, Central Otago, and another goldmining area in Victoria, Australia.
She will undertake bioarchaeology research, or the analysis of human skeletal remains from archaeological contexts.
Telling the stories of people's lives in the past through bioarchaeological methods was "fun and engaging to a wide range of academic and non-academic people".
In the mid-to-late 19th century, waves of European and Chinese immigrants travelled to New Zealand in search of new opportunities from gold prospecting and mining.
Many of these immigrants settled, establishing town centres, industry and farming, and adapting to their new environments.
The research was part of a wider study project, supported by the Marsden Fund and involving co-principal investigator Dr Peter Petchey, and researcher Dr Annie Snoddy, the latter investigating Vitamin D deficiency, Prof Buckley said.