Associate Professor Lynnath Beckley

Room: PhSc/3.033

Research

Biological oceanography (especially ichthyoplankton), fisheries biology, coastal zone management, assessment of marine resource use, marine protected areas and marine ecology.

Students are welcome to discuss projects in these fields with me.

Projects

SRFME Biophysical Oceanography Programme
Opportunities exist for honours students to participate in the ongoing, multi-institutional SRFME biophysical oceanography programme off the Perth coast, in particular, investigating aspects of zooplankton or ichthyoplankton ecology.

Depth stratification of krill and mesopelagic fishes in the Perth Canyon.

Blue whales aggregate in the Perth Canyon west of Rottnest island over the summer months and have been observed feeding on krill swarms. During summer 2004, depth-stratified tows of macrozooplankton in the Perth Canyon were taken from depths of 500m to the surface using a multiple opening and closing EZ net operated from the RV Southern Surveyor. Simultaneous acoustic back scatter and oceanographic measurements were also taken. This project is offered in collaboration with Dr Rob McCauley of Curtin University and will examine stratification of the krill and mesopelagic fishes and try to link this with acoustic data and feeding observations of blue whales.

Spatial footprint of human usage at Ningaloo Reef.

This project will involve the use of GPS trackers on recreational boats and charter vessels to build up a spatial database of the patterns of human usage (e.g., fishing, diving etc) from various access points at Ningaloo Reef.  This project will be part of a large research programme at Ningaloo Reef. Only students who are competent in the use of GIS and are interested in conservation planning should apply.

Testing the ecological validity of remotely-sensed, marine benthic habitat classifications at Rottnest Island

This project involves the collection of benthic habitat data at a scale that reflects the spatial resolution of hyper-spectral imagery currently being used to classify the shallow marine habitats off Rottnest Island.  Habitats are differentiated by the spectral reflectance of the dominant benthic substrate in the area covered by an image pixel (3m x 3m). The project aims to test the validity of these benthic habitat classifications using a multivariate statistical approach. Students applying to undertake this project should have a good statistical background, an Advanced SCUBA diving qualification and senior first aid.  It would also be advantageous to have a TL3 or equivalent boat handling qualification.

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