Student (Hons, Msc or PhD) projects available!

Honours scholarship available from Department of Environment and Conservation and School of Environmental Science.

Purnululu National Park was only discovered by tourism in the 1980s, being declared a national park around the same time. It now has world heritage status. This iconic park has never had a comprehensive visitor survey completed.

This honours project, with Dr Sue Moore, Associate Professor in the School of Environmental Science, is a visitor survey for the Park. It will include designing and conducting the survey and analyzing the results. The research will be conducted in close collaboration with the Department of Environment and Conservation. The questionnaire used for the survey, the research design and the approaches to analysis will be based on approaches taken previously by Professor Moore in her protected area research.

This project will suit students who have a distinction average, can work independently, are able to spend 4-6 weeks in the Kimberley, and like talking to people.

Contact: Assoc Prof Sue Moore (S.Moore@murdoch.edu.au or phone 9360 6484) if you are interested.

The scholarship is for up to $6,000 to cover fieldwork and other research expenses.

Wetlands and their surrounding bushland are an integral part of large scale healthy ecosystems.

The Cockburn Wetlands Centre aims to raise awareness of the importance of this precious resource, and the need for ongoing
management. The centre achieves these aims through delivery of a range of services and activities, including a school and a community education program.

The Cockburn Wetlands Centre is currently seeking to review, evaluate and expand its education program and is offering the opportunity for an honours student to be involved in this process.

Supervisors & Contacts:

Dr Jane Chambers (J.Chambers@murdoch.edu.au, ph. (08) 9360 2739, room PS3.040)
and
Dr Catherine Baudains (C.Baudains@murdoch.edu.au, ph. (08) 9360 6393, room ES2.051)

We are seeking a PhD candidate to join an ARC-funded project on “Balancing Water Quality and Ecosystem Health with Water Yield -- Ecosystem Response to Thinning in Wungong Catchment”.

Reduced rainfall in past decades and future climate uncertainty have added a sense of urgency in Australia to the search for new water resources to sustain a growing economy and population. Past research in WA has provided understanding about stream flow increases following catchment thinning, but the forest ecosystem responses and water quality benefits of this management activity are yet to be fully tested.

The Water Corporation has set up a comprehensive research and monitoring programme to assess the water and environmental impacts of thinning, This PhD project will assess ecological responses to forest thinning and prescribed burning particularly vegetation dynamics, restoration pathways and forest health issues to define levels of disturbance, biotic and abiotic responses, and the capacity of catchment ecosystems to sustain thinning intervention.

Applicants should hold a BSc (Hons- 1st Class or 2A) or masters degree in ecology, environmental science or related area and an interest in forest ecosystems. The applicant will be expected to enrol for a PhD at the School of Environmental Science, Murdoch University and will work with the Water Corporation. A scholarship valued at $ 25,118 pa is available to the selected candidate for 3.5 years duration.

For further information please contact: Richard Bell, 08 93602370/ 0405 131429 R.Bell@murdoch.edu.au or Richard Hobbs, 08 93602191 R.Hobbs@murdoch.edu.au

The project involves working with data on dolphins in Cockburn Sound collected in the last 3 years. Data will be analysed in a GIS. There are 650 surveys where all the members of a group of dolphins were identified.

Each encounter with a dolphin group is a new ‘survey’. Data collected include date, time, lat. and long., depth and water temp, identity/sex/age class of each member, predominant group behaviour (forage, feed, rest, socialise, travel) and group size.

Possible questions for data analysis:
- do adult males have larger ranges than adult females or other age/sex/classes?
- do females shift their ranges when they have a calf?
- what are the ranges of different social groups of dolphins?
- are there relationships between behaviour and the marine habitat (e.g. depth, substrate type) and are there daily or seasonal ranging patterns?
- and lots more questions!

If you are interested, contact Dr Halina T. Kobryn (9360.2411, H.Kobryn@murdoch.edu.au).

Identification of plant species capable of surviving alkaline and saline conditions is critical to sustainable rehabilitation of bauxite processing residue.

An honours student is required to undertake glasshouse and field studies to:
(1) identify plant species that can successfully establish on residue sand embankments,
(2) determine species richness in amended (gypsum, fertiliser and/or residue mud treated) residue sand, and
(3) undertake seed germination and emergence studies for a range of coastal plant species that could be grown on residue sand.

The project would suit a student with interests in ecology, plant sciences, and/or soil-plant relationships. The honours student will work closely with a PhD candidate, and with research staff from Alcoa World Alumina. The student will need to be fit for field work at residue drying areas, and be prepared to comply with safety and health regulations on an industrial site.

Contact: Dr Richard W. Bell, Professor in Land Management, School of Environmental Science, Phone: 61-8-9360.2370 (w) Email: R.Bell@murdoch.edu.au

Visit the web site for the Land Management group, http://www.land.murdoch.edu.au

Management of micronutrients such as copper, zinc and manganese in potatoes is an important issue for the potato industries both in Australia and SE Asia. The application of these micronutrients in both fertilisers and fungicides has lead to their over application in a number of growing areas. This has resulted in yield loss from poor emergence and growth and reduced profitability for growers (see photo below for an illustration of the poor potato growth).

It may also result in a long term legacy of soil contamination. This work aims to examine micronutrient toxicity in potatoes and develop sustainable management strategies to alleviate the problem. We are seeking expressions of interest from honours, masters or PhD students who may be interested in pursuing this line of research as a collaborative activity between Murdoch University (A Prof Richard Bell) and the Department of Agriculture (Dr Ian McPharlin).

For further details please contact:
- Dr Richard W. Bell, Professor in Land Management, School of Environmental Science, Phone 61-8-9360.2370 Email: R.Bell@murdoch.edu.au
Visit the web site for the Land Management Group
- Dr Ian McPharlin Email: imcpharlin@agric.wa.gov.au