With my new position as Matthew Flinders Fellow in Global Ecology at Flinders University, I am in the agreeable position to be able to offer two PhD scholarships to the best candidates from around the world. If you feel that you’re up to the challenge, I look forward to hearing from you.
These projects will be in the following palaeo-ecology topics:
PhD Project #1. Ecological networks to examine community cascades of Late Quaternary megafauna extinctions Read the rest of this entry »
Recently, the Global Ecology Group at the University of Adelaide has had the immense privilege and pleasure of welcoming a new senior member to the fold – Dr. Phill Cassey. The slightly Pommefied-Kiwi-Now-Coming-To-Terms-With-Being-Australian ;-) represents a wonderful new addition to our lab’s expertise and vision.
Phill is a distinguished Australian Research Council Future Fellow. He conducts research on the subject of human contributions to changes in biodiversity through the dual processes of species extinction and introduction. Phill’s research encompasses a broad range of analytical and applied skills and has led to significant advances in the discipline of global change biology.
Phill has also hit the ground running here in Adelaide, and now offers two PhD projects for people interested to work at the forefront of invasive species research in Australia. Students will be members of the School for Earth and Environmental Sciences, which includes world-class researchers in the disciplines of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Global Ecology as well as ongoing research links with the South Australian Museum, Adelaide Zoo, and State Herbarium of South Australia. Successful candidates will be part of a strong research group with a highly successful and innovative culture of scientific communication and study. Read the rest of this entry »
Two new APAI (Australian Postgraduate Award – Industry) PhD scholarships are available at the University of Adelaide, both in marine ecology and conservation.
Molecular Systematics and Ecology of Marine Macroalgae
Dr. Frederico Gurgel at the University of Adelaide is seeking 2 PhD students interested in working on several aspects of the marine green macroalgal genus Caulerpa. Honour students are also welcome to apply. APAI PhD scholarships are the best-paid scholarships from the Australian Research Council (fees + AU$26,000 p.a. for 3 yrs). Possible co-advisors: Prof. Corey Bradshaw (University of Adelaide/South Australian Research and Development Institute – SARDI), Dr. Jason Tanner (SARDI), and Dr. Marty Deveney (SARDI). External collaborators: Dr. Peter Grewe (CSIRO Marine), Dr. John Runcie (University of Sydney). Starting date: any time.
Integrative approach to the study of Caulerpa taxifolia in Australia: Ecological, Physiology, Phylogeography and DNA barcoding
The students will perform comparative ecological and physiological assays among Australian native and invasive strains of C. taxifolia (and related species) to study their response (e.g., growth, reproduction, photosynthesis, gene expression) to distinct abiotic factors and global climate change scenarios (e.g., pCO2, pH, temperature, light, salinity, nutrients). Students will perform a multi-marker comparative phylogeographic study among 14 invasive (NSW and SA) and 4 native (QLD, NT, WA) populations to determine the origin of introduced populations in temperate Australia. Students will build a dual-marker DNA barcode database of all species of Caulerpa in Australia as a tool to identify morphologically compromised specimens. Additionally, they will perform a molecular-assisted evolutionary (phylogenetic) study of the genus and develop demographic models to predict the fate of Caulerpa populations under different abiotic scenarios. The students will have the option to choose the components of the project they desire.
Desirable skills: 4WD and manual driving, snorkelling, SCUBA diving certification (open water minimum), molecular biology experience.
For more information please contact Dr. Fred Gurgel (e-mail or telephone: +61 8 8222 9291).
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The way that eels migrate along rivers and seas is mesmerising. There has been scientific agreement since the turn of the 20th Century that the Sargasso Sea is the breeding home to the sole European species. But it has taken more than two centuries since Carl Linnaeus gave this snake-shaped fish its scientific name before…
We are currently seeking a Research Fellow in Eco-epidemiology/Human Ecology to join our team at Flinders University. The successful candidate will develop spatial eco-epidemiological models for the populations of Indigenous Australians exposed to novel diseases upon contact with the first European settlers in the 18th Century. The candidate will focus on: The ideal candidate will…
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