Available projects for research degrees

Landfast (stationary) sea ice has considerable influence on the location of coastal polynyas, which are “hotspots” of intensive sea ice formation. This PhD will investigate the effects of representing realistic landfast ice on the ocean in an ocean-sea ice model.

Landscape-scale mapping of sedgeland organic soil loss

Salmon Rickettsial Syndrome (SRS) is an emerging disease in Atlantic salmon aquaculture, present also in Tasmania. Using CRISPR toolkit, project aims to identify genes that influence SRS resistance in salmonid cells, and provide basic understanding of the host-pathogen interaction.

Investigate chemical composition and functional properties of expeller meal, filter meal, and cold-pressed canola oil, targeting value-added innovations through optimizing expeller meal for ruminant nutrition and advancing oil refinement, labeling, and marketing strategies to enhance food-grade quality and commercial potential.

This project examines how the public value of early childhood intervention can be better measured and demonstrated. While early intervention is widely recognised as a cost-effective investment with long-term benefits for children, families, and public systems, current accountability frameworks focus on short-term outputs rather than meaningful outcomes. This research will develop an innovative, outcome-oriented indicator framework that captures the long-term social and economic impacts of early intervention. Using an action research approach in partnership with CatholicCare, the project will co-design and test indicators across areas such as child and family wellbeing, service quality, and cross-system impacts. The findings will support more effective decision-making and strengthen the case for sustained investment in preventative services.

This PhD project will assess the value of saltmarsh ecosystems from ecological, socio-economics and stakeholder perspectives, contributing to a holistic understanding of their role in supporting biodiversity, ecosystem service and climate resilience.

This project will harness the latent reactivity of iodine (V) reagents for chemical synthesis by exploiting knowledge of a newly discovered mechanism and reaction pathway.

This will be part of the new GRDC project to identify barley heat stress tolerance mechanisms.

This project will target the development of screening tools for barley heat stress tolerance and the identification of QTL for the tolerance.

Develop small bespoke classifiers for wildlife vocalisations, for deployment on power-efficient remote sensors.

Seismic surveys, used to locate oil and gas deposits beneath the sea floor, have been shown to harm marine invertebrates. However, we do not understand how they cause harm and what other factors may play a role.

This project will use adjoint data assimilation to integrate observations and models, reducing uncertainty in Antarctic ice shelf basal melting and ocean circulation, and guiding future observing system design.

The Hamilton Literary Society, founded in 1889 by Lady Teresa Hamilton, is the oldest continuously operating women's literary society in Australia. Based in Tasmania, the Society has provided generations of women with a space for intellectual exchange, literary engagement, and...

This PhD will characterise species- and strain-level diversity within the Kareniaceae (harmful algal bloom dinoflagellates) through integrated molecular phylogenetics, ecophysiology, mixotrophy experiments, and toxin profiling, to improve understanding of bloom dynamics and inform HAB risk assessment in temperate Australian waters.

This PhD investigates applied approaches to improving dairy calf health with a focus on antimicrobial stewardship. The research will examine disease management in calf rearing systems and explore strategies to reduce reliance on antibiotics while maintaining animal welfare and productivity.

Only a tiny fraction of construction and demolition waste is currently reclaimed through reuse or recycling. This project uses Tasmania as a critical case through which to understand barriers and opportunities for building industry waste reclamation in regional places.

This project invites a text-based study that will explore Japanese henreki shousetsu or fantasy travel narratives. There is scope for Japanese to English language translation, or a close reading of travel narratives.

Climate change disproportionately affects rural and low-income communities, yet they are marginalised in decision-making and limited in adaptive capacity. This PhD addresses this gap, examining how artmaking and facilitated conversation can counter systemic disadvantage to support inclusive engagement and capacity-building.

Vertebrate community dynamics

This PhD will investigate the distribution, ecology, and conservation of Tasmania’s endemic Astacopsis crayfish through macroecological modelling, targeted field surveys, and analysis of environmental drivers, to generate insights that support evidence-based management and conservation of these iconic freshwater species.

Settler colonialism has historically relied upon the extraction of minerals, non-human animals, land-based and marine resources, and Indigenous knowledge, labour, and land. In recent years, scholars of environmental history have been paying closer attention to the complex interactions between extraction...

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is the most common neurological disorder in younger people, with age at diagnosis typically 20-40 years. Yet, as the overall population lives to older ages in better health, and treatments for MS improve, people living with MS now are afforded the privilege of getting old.

Neurological disorders are rapidly rising globally and there is an urgent need to find new tools that can identify people at risk as early as possible in the disease course. The common neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimers disease and Parkinson's...

Understanding how MS-associated gene variants influence microglial responses

Using replicated translocations of eastern quolls to identify drivers of population declines.

This PhD will evaluate the biodiversity and socioeconomic outcomes of community protected areas in Cambodia and explore the potential to scale these up to unlocking the power of community-based management.