The Fenner School of Environment and Society has three scholarships on offer for postgraduate students who are looking to study bats and birds, population diversity and genetic diversity.
The three scholarships are funded by the Australian Research Council and each run for three years, with $29,844 for each year. There will be top ups provided by the Fenner School.
The projects, supervised by ARC Laureate Fellow, Professor David Lindenmayer, will feed into a broader theme of examining surrogate ecology and using that information to determine where environmental management could be improved.
One of the areas involved will include biodiversity surrogates.
“This is an opportunity for a student to learn some new perspectives on how to do modern conservation biology, and on how to make a real difference in terms of not only conserving threatened species, but conserving lots of other biodiversity threatened with those threatened species,” Professor Lindenmayer said.
“So the idea is that, if I conserve a Bristle Bird or a Leadbeater’s Possum or a Bilby, how many other species will I get by doing conservation work on that target, flagship, high-profile charismatic species? Often we don’t know, so this is some of the first work to get a good understanding of how many other species we can conserve with targeted conservation efforts.”
Professor Lindenmayer says they’re looking for outstanding people who have completed a first-class honours degree, those who have a passion for conservation and contributing to policy development Australian environmental issues.
“This is an opportunity to work with some of the best statisticians, the best conservation biologists, some really bright and up and coming post-doctoral researchers, within a dynamic and vibrant, passionate group of people all working to make a difference to the future of Australia and its environment.”
Successful candidates would produce a high quality project that will be written as a series of scientific papers in peer-reviewed national and international publications.
“We will assist them to do the design of their study, we’ll help ensure they do the field work in the best possible way, and we’ll also help them write up the material so that they will be the lead authors on a series of high-quality scientific articles,” Professor Lindenmayer says.
“That will mean that they are well-positioned either to go on to further research or go into government consulting areas or a whole range of other activities associated with environment and biodiversity conservation.”
For more information contact Professor Lindenmayer on 6125 0654, or david.lindenmayer@anu.edu.au or visit the Fenner School of Environment and Society website.
