POTENTIAL SUPERVISORS AND
THEIR AREAS OF RESEARCH
Not
all of the researchers listed below will offer Special Topics courses each
year. An important first step is to email them and ask if they have any courses
on offer for the following semester.
Often
supervisors do not have specific projects designed for Special Topics students,
but will carve off a piece of their own research project, or design a project
that suits the needs of the particular students. For this reason, the list
below covers the general areas of research. Where available,
individual projects have been included.
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DR. PAT BACKWELL
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BEHAVIOURAL ECOLOGY OF FIDDLER CRABS I take Special
Topics students to I have a specific
project for 2007: Winner-loser effect
in fiddler crab fights. In many animals, males that won their last fight
tend to win their next fight, and those that lost last time tend to lose
again. This strange phenomenon appears to occur in fiddler crabs and will
make an excellent Special Topics project for a keen second or third year
student. MARINE BIOLOGY I accept Special
Topics students who have a strong interest in a particular area of marine
biology that is not covered by the two marine courses we offer in the
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DR. ROD PEAKALL
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BIOLOGY
OF ORCHIDS Orchids are renowned for their
diversity of pollination systems. Among the most intriguing is pollination by
sexual deception. This predominantly Australian pollination strategy
involves the attraction of male pollinators by sex pheromones. These
unique and specialised systems are ideal for exploring a range of
evolutionary questions. My research
team is working on the sympatric speciation in sexually deceptive Australian orchids.
This is a multidisciplinary project involving the fields of plant
reproductive biology, insect ecology, molecular ecology, phylogenetics and
chemical ecology. Our substantial progress has opened up a range of
exciting opportunities for undergraduate students. Interested,
enthusiastic and highly motivated students are invited to contact
Rod about possible Special Topics courses. Some possible
projects are listed below. Does hybridisation occur between cryptic
sexually deceptive orchids?-a preliminary evaluation using novel nuclear and
chloroplast markers. This
project would use recently developed molecular methods to genetically assess
whether hybridisation occurs between indistinguishable cryptic orchid
species. A strong
background population genetics is desirable for this project. Pollinator behaviour and
movement-implications for gene flow in sexually deceptive orchids This field base project would combine
pollinator experiments and mark-recapture f pollinators to study pollinator
behaviour and movement. This knowledge
will provide insights into the likely patterns and extent of pollen flow
mediated by sexually deceptive orchids. A strong
background in ecology and entomology is desirable for this project. Development of new nuclear DNA markers for
population studies in orchids. This challenging project would commence with
Genbank searches to locate introns
in nuclear genes that may exhibit DNA sequence variation below the species
level. Subsequently, the development
of PCR assays and DNA sequencing would be required with the ultimate goal to
identify nuclear DNA sequence variation within and among cryptic orchid
species. A strong
background in molecular biology and population genetics is desirable for this
project.
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PROF. BILL FOLEY
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NUTRITIONAL ECOLOGY OF HERBIVORES We work on the nutritional ecology of herbivores - particularly
the effects of toxic and poisonous plants on herbivores. This field covers
the interaction between plants and animals, spanning a wide range of topics
from molecular genetics and physiological studies through to the use of
airborne remote sensing as a way of measuring the quality of forests. Our current work includes the population and molecular genetic
studies of plant defenses; the chemistry of natural plant toxins and the
inter-specific variation in animal feeding. We are also interest in forest
conservation and the use of natural resistance mechanisms to protect forests
from browsing insects and mammals. We regularly offer Special Topics courses to keen undergraduate
students, giving them the opportunity to do hands-on research both in the
laboratory and the field.
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DR. CELESTE LINDE
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PLANT PATHOLOGY I work on plant pathology, trying to
figure out what makes pathogens evolve and which of the evolutionary forces plays the
most important role. Pathogen populations evolve in response to the control
measures deployed against them, with some pathogens evolving to counteract
the control measures more rapidly than others. In plant agricultural
ecosystems, the most common control measures are the deployment of resistance
genes and the application of pesticides (mainly fungicides). Pathogens are important components of all ecosystems and affect
all human societies either directly (e.g. sick people, crops, and animals) or
indirectly (e.g. higher food costs and contaminated food supplies, burden on
health-care systems). Pathogen evolution is well-recognized as a major
problem in agriculture and medicine [e.g. antibiotic and fungicide
resistance, host jumps (SARS recently, numerous other viruses such as HIV and
fungal plant pathogens in the past), overcoming plant resistance genes and
evasion of mammalian immune systems]. Interested
students can apply to undertake a Special Topics course in this field. I run
both reading-based and laboratory-based projects.
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DR. MICHAEL
JENNONS
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Sexual SELECTION in Black Field Crickets Our main study animal is the Australian black field cricket.
This is the species you can hear calling on warm summer evening in SEXUAL SELECTION IN FISH In late 2007, we will have established breeding stocks of
mosquito-fish. These are exotic pests in Australian waterways. There is no
apparent female choice and males continually harass females, trying to
inseminate them. We will be exploring
sources of variation in male mating success and whether or not females show
cryptic choice for certain males. SEXUAL SELECTION THEORY I also offer 6-point reading courses in sexual selection
theory. I expect students to read widely on the agreed topics, to write a
review article as well as an essay, and to attend seminars and discussion
groups. The course runs for the full duration of either semester.
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DR.
JOHN TRUEMAN
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ENTOMOLOGY
This lab offers Special Topics projects in Entomology
(often but not always in collaboration with research scientists at the CSIRO
Division of Entomology). The projects can be reading-based courses or
hands-on research projects. COMPUTATIONAL
PHYLOGENETICS We also offer projects
in computational methods for phylogenetic research and the delivery of
biological data. WEB-BASED
ENTOMOLOGY We have just
begun a major project to provide web access to Australian entomological
information, which will include a new, on-line edition of The Insects of Australia.
This project combines the two elements and will include many opportunities
for Special Topics over the next 2-3 years. Some of these topics will be
about making systems to deliver web products in real time from distributed
databases while others will supply the taxon-based content including, for
example, collating bibliographic or other information about a taxon and
developing new, illustrated, interactive identification keys.
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ASSOC. PROF. SCOTT KEOGH
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PHYLOGENETICS OF AUSTRALIAN REPTILES AND
AMPHIBIANS Much
of the work that we do concerns elucidating the higher-level (between
species) and phylogeography (within species)
phylogenetic relationships of Australian amphibians and reptiles using large
molecular data sets. At the moment we have major projects underway on
Australian elapid snakes, myobatrachid frogs, and
several groups of scincid lizards. We then use
these phylogenies to address evolutionary questions. In the past I have
run a number of Special Topics courses on related subjects, and these have
all been based around a major literature review and report. A number of these
students have gone on to do Honours in my lab on
related topics.
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PROF. MIKE CRISP
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PLANT SYSTEMATICS My research in systematics investigates the evolutionary origins and
patterns of diversification of organisms, especially plants, in time and
space. My research group estimates phylogenies (evolutionary trees) as a
framework for testing hypotheses in biogeography and macro-evolution, and for
classifying and naming organisms. A diversity of evidence is used, including
DNA sequences, morphology and secondary plant compounds. There are often
areas of research that are suitable for Special Topics students to work in,
and keen undergraduates should email me to find out what is on offer.
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DR. ROB MAGRATH
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Behavioural ecology of birds I
have broad interests in avian breeding biology, behaviour and acoustic
communication, and the work in my group falls into several overlapping
themes: Alarm calls and acoustic communication; breeding biology and parental
behaviour; hatching asynchrony; brood division; cooperative breeding and mating
systems.
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dr. dave
rowell
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Population
genetics, karyology and phylogeography of terrestrial invertebrates My main research interest is in the historical and environmental
causes of genetic differentiation at the population level, and the genetic
phenomena associated with speciation. I believe that the role of chromosomal
change is especially important in the speciation process, and this has been
the focus of much of my research to date. Terrestrial invertebrates of limited vagility
are prone to the formation of small, inbred populations in which mutations
are rapidly fixed. This makes them excellent models for examining patterns of
population divergence and allelic frequency change that underlie the
evolutionary process. My research is primarily involved with the Australian spider
fauna and Australian representatives of the phylum Onychophora.
I also have an active interest in spider social behaviour and the impact
different forms of social behaviour have on population differentiation,
through the effects of strong inbreeding, skewed sex ratios, and other
population phenomena. Special
Topics students should apply for projects that involve either hands-on
research or a theory-driven reading course.
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DR. LINDELL BROMHAM
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MOLECULAR
EVOLUTION Tempo and mode of
molecular evolution. The use of genetic data to investigate evolutionary
history is revolutionizing biology, across fields ranging from the origin of
animals over half a billion years ago to the emergence of new viral diseases.
But if the rate of molecular evolution can vary between species, can we trust
molecular date estimates? We make use of the vast databases of DNA
sequences available on the internet to investigate aspects of a species
biology, ecology or evolution that might influence rates of
molecular evolution - such as body size, population size, social structure, rate of adaptation, speciation
rate, and parasitism.
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DR.
PAUL COOPER
Gonadotropin releasing hormone cells (red) found in
crustacean antennae |
Insect physiology, salt and water regulation I can
offer keen undergraduates Special Topics courses in these areas, or
alternative topics involved with physiological ecology of invertebrates or
vertebrates either based on laboratory work or reading projects.
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DR. CHRIS FULTON
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FISH BIOLOGY / ECOLOGY
FUNCTIONAL MORPHOLOGY OF AQUATIC ORGANISMS
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DR. CHRIS FULTON
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FISHERIES
The course runs for the entire first or second semester and assessment will be based on assignments such as a research proposal and final research report (i.e. no final exam).
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DR.
DAVID GORDON
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Population biology of micro-organisms I can offer Special Topics courses that are either lab-based or
reading-based.
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DR.
JOCHEN ZEIL
DRR.
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ANIMAL HOMING AND NAVIGATION animal homing and navigation
The projects will be co-supervised by Dr. Ajay Narendra and Dr. Jan Hemmi. kn gg
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DR.
JAN HEMMI
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animal signals and communication These projects will be co-supervised by Dr. Richard Peters and Dr. Jochen Zeil. T is
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DR.
NAOMI LANGMORE
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COEVOLUTION BETWEEN AUSTRALIAN CUCKOOS AND THEIR HOSTS
Cuckoos lay their
eggs in the nests of other species, provoking an evolutionary arms race in
which hosts evolve defences against parasitism and
cuckoos evolve ever more cunning tricks to fool their host. My research
involves field experiments, analysis of egg mimicry using museum collections
and molecular genetic techniques to test hypotheses about coevolutionary
processes. Field-based special topics projects may sometimes be available
over spring/summer. The Evolution of Female Song I am also
interested in the adaptive significance of song in female birds. The next
stage of this research involves a literature survey, which would be suitable
for a special topics student.
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THE 6th ACEVS-CVS 26 - 30 NOVEMBER 2007
ARC Centre of Excellence in Vision Science & Centre for Visual Sciences
VENUE: Robertson Seminar Room |
Target GroUP: 3rd year, Honours and PhD students of Biology, Psychology and Robotics Topics: OPrinciples, concepts and experimental techniques in animal and robot navigation; landmark guidance, view-based homing, path integration, odometry, biological compasses and animal migration. Optic flow processing and neuro-ethological robotics.PICS lecturers: ((Preliminary) Nick Barnes, Andy Barron, Norbert Boedeker, Javaan Chahl, Ken Cheng, Allen Cheung, Matt Garrat, Ajay Narendra, David O'Carroll, Jochen Zeil, Shaowu Zhang, Uwe Zimmer and others. deadline for applications: 5 october 2007 for FURTHER INFORMATion and to discuss requirements & asseSsment plan, contact The Summer School is an accredited course. The mechanisms of animal navigation are internationally a hot research topic, not only in biology, but also in robotics. The Summer School aims to introduce students from Australia and New Zealand to a fascinating and rapidly developing multi-disciplinary research field. We plan to have daily sessions of lectures, seminars and practical demonstarations, in a discussion-based, round-table environment, on the following topics: Day 1: Animal Navigation: An Overview of Phenomena and Mechanisms Day 2: The Knowledge Base of Insect Navigation Day 3: Navigation by Path Integration Day 4: Neurobiology of Optic Flow Processing & Spatial Representation Day 5: Robot Navigation: Engineering Solutions vs Biological Inspiration how to apply: Send it to: or by email: jochen.zeil@anu.edu.au deadline for applications: 5 october 2007 We will notify you of the outcome of your application by 15 October 2007. is
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