[Aqualist] PhD opportunity at ANU/UNSW

[Scott Mooney]

Dear Colleagues,

Could you kindly help us publicise this opportunity? The student could be based at either ANU or at UNSW.

Best wishes
Scott


Testate amoebae: a new biomarker of climate change and human impact in peatlands.

A PhD project is offered to develop testate soil amoebae to provide a new measure of the hydrological status of peatlands through time. In other regions it has been established that some species of soil amoebae form tough resting spores under quite specific conditions of drying of the soil matrix. By studying a range of testate forms species it should be possible to reconstruct the hydrological state of the substrate where the testate form of the amoebae occur.  Changes over time in the resting spores in peat sections can provide a history of wetting and drying phases which can be used to understand ecological responses, test climate models and determine the impact of different management of peatlands.
The project will concentrate on the last 2000 years of peatland development in temperate highland peatlands in the Sydney Basin but will also extend up to high altitude in other highland swamp settings. Extensive field collections will sample a wide range of peatlands and hydrologies to establish a training set of resting spores. Well dated peat sequences will be available to determine the historical changes and test for regional responses to climate change. The study will be one of several in a multi-disciplinary research program on the climate, biota and hydrology of wetlands in the Sydney Basin with particular emphasis on the impact of underground mining on surface wetland environments. This will provide opportunities for the researcher to work on sites that are being studied for other proxies and to access new data on the microclimate, hydrology and sedimentology of study sites.
Funding will provide a three year stipend (currently A$25,406 per annum tax free), and field and analytic expenses. The work will involve field sampling, laboratory preparation and microscopy in well-equipped laboratories in either the Department of Archaeology and Natural History, at ANU or in the Centre for Ecosystem Science at UNSW. A good Honours result (or equivalent) with a background in biology , geography or environmental monitoring is required.

Further information about this project is available from Dr Scott Mooney (UNSW) s.mooney at unsw.edu.au<mailto:s.mooney at unsw.edu.au> or Prof. Geoff Hope (ANU) Geoffrey.Hope at anu.edu.au<mailto:Geoffrey.Hope at anu.edu.au>



Dr Scott Mooney FIAG
Presiding Member
Faculty of Science
UNSW AUSTRALIA

T: +61 (0) 2 9385 8063
E:  s.mooney at unsw.edu.au<mailto:s.mooney at unsw.edu.au>
W: http://www.bees.unsw.edu.au/staff/scott-mooney
P: School of BEES, UNSW, 2052 AUSTRALIA

CRICOS Provider Code: 00098G