Blog Archives

Exciting Masters or Honours fire ecology projects available!

26/7/2017

Fire & Fragmentation Project: several projects available

Start dates are flexible, so please contact Julian any time if you are interested.

A key knowledge gap is how the characteristics of fragmented landscapes (e.g. patch size and isolation) interact with the characteristics of fire regimes (e.g. fire size, patchiness and spatial distribution) to influence animal conservation. The broad objective of this project is to determine how both fragmentation and aspects of the fire regime influence the occurrence and movement potential of reptiles, mammals, birds and invertebrates.

We have project opportunities focused on each animal group. Data will be collected from sites previously established in western Victoria and eastern South Australia as part of the larger project.

Fire, Landscape Pattern & Biodiversity: "Fire and the ecology of flying insects"

Please contact Alan for further information.

Flying insects (e.g. butterflies, moths, beetles, flies) are an important part of forest ecosystems. They contribute to ecosystem function through services such as pollination, provide a large food resource for vertebrate fauna, and are extremely interesting in their own right. This project will examine how fire affects the abundance and community composition of flying insects. Fieldwork will be conducted in the beautiful Otway Ranges and complements Sandra's project examining the impacts of fire on micro-bats.

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New PhD opportunity with our research group

12/7/2017

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We're offering an exciting PhD opportunity within the Fire & Fragmentation Project. The aim of project will be to determine the arrangement of fires that maximises habitat suitability, movement capacity and gene flow for mammals or invertebrates in a fragmented landscape.

Please find further information here.

The project will run between 2018 and 2021 and is based at the University of Melbourne's Creswick campus. We are committed to supporting PhD students by providing:

an experienced supervisory team
a collaborative research environment
fieldwork support
project operating expenses
computing resources
a top-up scholarship of $24,500 ($7,000/year for 3.5 years)

Applicants should send a written expression of interest, including CV and statement of results, to Holly by 25 September 2017. Holly can also be contacted with any enquiries.