$31,500 per annum plus RTP tuition offset for 3 years (domestic students)
Applications close 30th September 2023
The Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment (HIE) is
offering a research scholarship to a highly motivated PhD
candidate to work on a project focussed on the role of
rewilding in restoring soil microbial biodiversity and their
functions. Australia’s ecosystems are heavily impacted by
invasions from introduced carnivores, herbivores and the
loss of native vertebrates. The removal of introduced
species and reintroduction of native fauna are being
implemented as strategies for ecosystem restoration. How
this may impact on microbial diversity and their functions is
unknown, but is critical as it will determine overall ecosystem
function and rewilding success. Rewilding poses unique
opportunities to understand these impacts and to explore
ecological interactions at a large scale.
The overall aim of the project is to assess how the removal
and exclusion of introduced fauna, and the rewilding of
native mammals alters the soil microbial community and
related functions across both arid and mesic ecosystems in
New South Wales, Australia. The student will be given an
opportunity to explore direct impacts on the soil microbial
community and fundamental ecosystem functions, such as,
nutrient and carbon cycling through field observations and
experimental manipulations. The student will also have
access to extensive monitoring data collected by
the rewilding program .
The project will be based at the HIE with the opportunity to
work closely with the NSW Department of Planning and
Environment’s (DPE) National Parks and Wildlife
Service and the Restoration Science Team, an expert team
of terrestrial ecologists within DPE’s Science Economics and
Insights Division. The HIE is a research institute within
Western Sydney University that has rapidly become a
research leader in soil biodiversity and ecosystem functions
and has a strong reputation for delivering high-quality
research. The project is co-funded by Western Sydney
University and DPE.
For more information and to apply, visit: The role of rewilding in restoration: soil microbial diversity and ecological functions | Western Sydney University
