Postgraduate

This project is appropriate for both honours/master (1 year) and PhD students (3.5 years).

Oyster reefs, once abundant along the east Australian coastline and an important source of food and trade for Indigenous Australians, are now functionally extinct (<1% remaining) because of years of over harvesting, habitat modification, pollution, sedimentation and disease.

We're seeking a highly motivated PhD student to join a research program focused on understanding the role sediment microbes play in the functioning and resilience of seagrasses in estuarine ecosystems.

Disease events are increasingly impacting critical marine habitats.

Microplastics have been identified in remote locations far from urban centres, including Antarctica, the Mariana Trench and the Great Australian Bight

Clothing fibres are the most abundant form of plastic found in the ecosystem. This global pollution has increased by 450% in 60 years.

The world’s coastlines are becoming rapidly urbanised, with marine life affected by a range of stressors.

Marine debris is a global environmental concern.

The deep, dark ocean is inhospitable, but oases of life are sporadically found in reefs made out of corals and sponges.

Human activities have degraded extensive areas of coastal habitats.  Abiotic and biotic stressors (e.g. temperature, artificial light, invasive species and noise) may interact to produce combined impacts on biodiversity, physiological responses (e.g. reproduction and growth) and ecosystem functioning.

The world’s coastlines are becoming rapidly urbanised, with marine life affected by a range of stressors.

The aim of this project is to define and develop bacterial consortia that have beneficial effects on growth, health and environmental adaptation.

It is proposed that with increases in anthropogenic stressors of coastal systems (pollution/ climate change) there comes an increase in the prevalence of disease caused by opportunistic pathogens. 

Disease events are increasingly impacting critical marine habitats.

In this project, we worked closely with scientists at the NSW DPI Port Stephens Fisheries Institute (PSFI) to understand the importance of gut health.