About the Project
The Western Australian Museum has secured funding from the Net Conservation Benefits fund (NCB) to undertake a five year project on the Conservation Systematics of the western Pilbara fauna. In this project we are using molecular tools to provide a systematic framework for understanding the diversity, evolutionary relationships, and distributions of marine and terrestrial fauna in the Pilbara region. Included under this broad objective are specific questions pertaining to evolutionary history, understanding the drivers of speciation, species delimitation, phylogeography, taxonomy, and co-speciation.
This project has funding to support two PhD projects that broadly align with the NCB project objectives.
The PhD projects will be aimed at using molecular markers to investigate biodiversity in invertebrates from the Pilbara region, and surrounds. One project will focus on marine invertebrates (eg, sponges, soft corals, nudibranchs, crinoids, or other groups) and the other will focus on terrestrial invertebrates (eg, trap-door spiders, opiliones, millipedes, or other arachnid or insect groups). The PhD students will be enrolled in the School of Animal Biology at the University of Western Australia, and based jointly at the new Molecular Systematics Unit laboratory, Western Australian Museum, Welshpool, Perth, where the successful applicants will have the opportunity to work directly with specialists in these fields. The specific project aims, questions, design and methods will be developed collaboratively by the students and supervisors.
The work will include opportunities for field work in the Pilbara region, and lab costs will be generously supported by the NCB project.
Currently, this opportunity is open to domestic students (Australia and New Zealand). Although the position is fully funded, students will be expected to put in an application for an Australian Postgraduate Award (APA or University Postgraduate Award (UPA) (http://www.scholarships.uwa.edu.au/search?sc_view=1&id=341&page=1&q=Australian+Postgraduate+Award&s=1&old_key=0) through UWA. The NCB funding will provide an additional top-up scholarship of $5k per year, bringing the total stipend to approx. $34k per year (tax free). Any international student should contact personnel below.
Applications open 2 June, and close 11 July for a 1 Aug 2014 start. However, we encourage any applicants to contact us and begin discussions as soon as possible. Those interested in marine invertebrates should contact Nerida Wilson ([Email Address Removed]) and cc Jason Kennington ([Email Address Removed]). Those interested in terrestrial invertebrates should contact Joel Huey ([Email Address Removed]) and cc Raphael Didham ([Email Address Removed]).
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