Aquifer microbial and stygofaunal biodiversity

Project description

Recent investigations by members of the lab have discovered hundreds of previously unknown organisms living in subterranean water sources in Australia. These organisms range from the cause of beak and feather disease to previously unknown families of invertebrates.  It appears hundreds or perhaps thousand more species remain to be discovered in these environments. We have very little idea of how the food web functions in these environments or even what organisms are at the bottom of the food web since our investigations to date have focused on top predators. There are a wide range of potential projects available to study the biodiversity and ecology of invertebrates, protozoa, bacteria and archaea throughout South Australia and Western Australia. Interested students are encouraged to come and talk to me about developing projects that suit their interests.

Co-supervisors

multiple co-supervisors are available

Assumed knowledge

Third year level knowledge in one of the areas listed above.

Note: You need to register interest in projects from different supervisors (not a number of projects with the one supervisor).
You must also contact each supervisor directly to discuss both the project details and your suitability to undertake the project.