PhD Scholarship in Conservation Genetics: Platypuses and Theory

Scholarship Information

Level of study: Postgraduate

Nationality: Australian and New Zealand

The PhD scholarship is for the project 'Genetic assessment of threats to platypus due to river modification'. The iconic platypus is classed as 'near-threatened' despite its wide distribution in Eastern Australia. The genetic work forms part of a larger ARC-funded project to assess and model threats and then to implement decision analyses that focus effective conservation actions. It will use genetic methods to assess population structure and movements, in platypus upstream and downstream, in pairs of rivers with different levels of artificial fragmentation. Experience with next-generation genotyping-by-sequencing, microsatellites, and mitochondrial DNA is desirable. Experience in field work would be an advantage. A full driver's licence is desirable. Another PhD scholarship is available for the project 'Forecasting and managing biodiversity'. New biodiversity has been produced, based on information theory (eg, Molecular Ecology 15:2857). The PhD student would apply this theory to a wide range of existing datasets in genetic and community biodiversity, using data from koalas, dolphins, flies, trees and various other species. The student would also be encouraged to further develop this theory in response to findings from the data analysis. A range of skills and interests can be accommodated. Biologists who are comfortable with first-year undergraduate mathematics would find this work rewarding. Also, applicants from a maths/physics background are encouraged, particularly if they have an interest in analytical approaches to stochastic systems including information theory.