New positions
Understanding the impacts of thinning on ecological networks (PhD scholarship)
This PhD project will generate new knowledge on how global environmental change drives the loss of individuals from communities, and how this could change interactions between species with flow-on effects through ecological networks.
About the project
This PhD project will generate new knowledge on the consequences of global change drivers, including fire, drought, floods, habitat loss, and disease, for community abundance – a process called “thinning”. Understanding how thinning will alter ecological functions that rely on species interactions, like pollination and seed dispersal, is critical to understand how global changes will shape ecosystems in future. The student will work with some of the world’s leading experts in community ecology, novel ecosystems and ecological networks, through an Australian Research Council Discovery Project. They will also conduct fieldwork to investigate an insect-centred ecological network as a model system for understanding functional consequences of abundance changes in networks.
The project will be supervised by Professor Melodie McGeoch (see melodiemcgeoch.com), with Australian and international co-supervisors. The PhD candidate will be based at Monash University, Australia.
Eligibility
You need to meet the entry requirements for a Monash Doctor of Philosophy. Additionally, required skills/experience includes:
• A BSc (Hons) or Masters degree in Ecology
• A background in statistics, modelling and/or data science
• Competency in the use of R.
• Ecological field work experience
How to apply
Interested candidates should submit a CV and a cover letter (max. one page), outlining their qualifications, research interests, motivation to apply and potential ideas for the project via email to: melodie.mcgeoch@monash.edu.
Understanding species dispersal across Antarctica under climate change (PhD scholarship)
This PhD project will generate new knowledge on how species will disperse into and around Antarctica’s ice-free regions in response to a changing climate.
About the project
This PhD project will generate new knowledge on how climate change may alter the distributions of Antarctica’s unique biodiversity by changing the way plant and animal species move across the region. Modelling has shown that ice-free areas in Antarctica may expand by up to 25% by 2100, and this could have large consequences for the distribution of terrestrial species that are restricted to ice-free regions of the continent. The student will work with some of the world’s leading experts in Antarctic science as part of the Australian Research Council Special Research Initiative ‘Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future’ (SAEF) to explore current ecological hypotheses about biodiversity change in an Antarctic context.
The project will be supervised by Professor Melodie McGeoch (see melodiemcgeoch.com), and the candidate will be based at Monash University, Australia. Co-supervisor/s will include international research partners.
Eligibility
You will need to meet the entry requirements for a Monash Doctor of Philosophy. Additionally, required skills/experience includes:
• A BSc (Hons) or Masters degree in ecology/environmental science/earth sciences
• A background in statistics, modelling and/or data science
• Competency in the use of R.
How to apply
Interested candidates should submit a CV and a cover letter (max. one page), outlining their qualifications, research interests, motivation to apply and potential ideas for the project via email to: melodie.mcgeoch@monash.edu.