Study level

  • PhD

Faculty/School

Faculty of Science

School of Biology and Environmental Science

Topic status

We're looking for students to study this topic.

Research centre

Centre for the Environment

Supervisors

Associate Professor Justine Shaw
Position
Principal Research Fellow
Division / Faculty
Faculty of Science

External supervisors

  • Krystyna Saunders, ANSTO

Overview

Sub-Antarctic islands have unique ecosystems and landscapes under increasingly pressure from climate change. In many cases this is compounded by the introduction of invasive species since their discovery by humans in the 1800s.
Understanding ecosystem and environmental responses to climate change and separating them from human-induced causes of change is essential for their future protection. To do this requires quantifying long-term, natural rates and variability of change, establishing the ‘baseline’ status of ecosystems and the environment prior to human arrival, and using this information to place current observations into context. This is needed to assess the capacity of sub-Antarctic ecosystems and their environments to survive anthropogenic climate change, and in some cases, assess an island’s recovery since the eradication of an invasive species.
The combination of lake surveys and monitoring, with palaeo-data from lake sediment and peat cores collected from sub-Antarctic islands, such as Macquarie Island, can be used to provide critical information on aquatic and catchment responses to a changing climate and nutrient cycling, as well as the health of ecosystems. Meanwhile, lake sediment and peat cores provide the long-term context. These types of information contribute to supporting decision-making for developing successful, realistic conservation strategies.

Research activities

Research activities include:

  • undertaking lake and pond surveys on sub-Antarctic islands, such as Macquarie Island
  • using isotopic and geochemical techniques to understand modern lake water and soil-water-air processes
  • this will be combined with existing vegetation maps to understand the current status and community compositions of aquatic ecosystems and vegetation.

To understand long-term change and variability, lake sediment and peat cores will be analysed using a combination of:

  • biological
  • isotopic, and
  • nuclear methods to reconstruct:
    • past climate
    • aquatic ecosystems
    • vegetation communities and
    • environmental changes over the last ca. 12,000 years.

Outcomes

People have documented changes and collected information on the unique ecosystems and environments of sub-Antarctic islands since their discovery in the 19th century. This means we have some knowledge of what the islands were like in the past, but we do not know what they were like prior to their discovery, and therefore we cannot quantify how much of what we see today is due to human impacts, climate change or natural processes, or how they interact. This research will fill much needed knowledge gaps.
The project will combine lake surveys and lake sediment and peat cores from sub-Antarctic islands, including Macquarie Island, to provide baseline data to support future decision making.
You will become a member of the Australian Research Council Special Research Initiative for Securing Antarctica's Environmental Future, which will provide opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration and a real pathway to informing management of Antarctic ecosystems.

Skills and experience

You must have:

  • an undergraduate degree in:
    • ecology
    • hydrology
    • geography
    • geology, or
    • a related area
  • capacity to undertake long periods of field work in remote environments
  • quantitative skills
  • an interest in statistics, modelling and GIS
  • field work experience in remote natural environments
  • an interest in conservation decision science techniques to provide practical outcomes from the data collected to inform environmental management
  • an interest in working and communicating with a multidisciplinary team of researchers.

Considerations

The applicant may be required:

  • to pass an Australian Antarctic Division medical
  • to travel to and spend periods of time in remote field locations.

We are particularly interested in applicants from groups that have traditionally been excluded from academia, mathematics, and STEM based on:

  • gender
  • sexuality
  • race
  • culture
  • disability status.

Scholarships

You may be eligible to apply for a research scholarship.

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Keywords

Contact

Contact the supervisor for more information.