Dr Alice Rogers, Dr James Bell
No more applications being accepted
Competition Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)
About the Project
Temperate Mesophotic Ecosystems (TMEs) are communities between 15 and 150 m depth that experience dim light conditions but are strongly linked to the surface waters through food and other nutrients, and the migration of mobile animals such as fish. They are some of the least studied ecosystems in the world, even though they support very high biodiversity and provide important habitat for many economically and ecologically important species. Most of the previous marine biological research globally has either focused on the intertidal and shallow subtidal regions or the deep seas, with TMEs being largely ignored. Within New Zealand these ecosystems occur in many places, including Fiordland, the Poor Knights Islands and on the Taranaki coast, but we know very little about them. These environments are dominated by a number of organisms, particularly sponges, and in Fiordland also by black coral.
The complex structure that stony corals and sponges provide has been shown to have profound impacts on predator-prey dynamics and fisheries productivity in tropical ecosystems. However, it is not clear to what extent that black coral beds and sponge-dominated habitats in TMEs can provide similar benefits to important temperate fisheries targets. With this project we aim to explore in situ associations between black coral, sponge dominated habitats and fish species using ROV and other data. The project will include fieldwork, ROV use and ecological modelling. The outcomes of the study will allow managers to understand the value of the habitat complexity to fisheries productivity.
The student will be registered at Victoria University of Wellington and will be supervised by Dr Alice Rogers and Professor James Bell.
Key attributes/skills/qualifications required: 1) Bachelor’s or Master’s degree with First Class Honours, or a Master’s degree at an equivalent standard; 2) Must hold a minimum of a PADI Rescue Diver certificate (or equivalent); 3) Have experience of working in marine ecosystems.
Desirable skills: 1) quantitative skills and training including statistics, mathematical modelling and programming; 2) experience in designing and running experiments; 3) experience with underwater surveys; 4) experience with ROVs and / or underwater videography
Applications should be made directly to Dr Alice Rogers by 30th May (or sooner if possible) and include a cover letter outlining why you want the position, full CV, academic transcripts, an example of your scientific writing, and the names/contact details of two people who can act as academic references (there is no need to request any reference letters be sent at the initial stage).
Funding Notes
IMPORTANT NOTE: It will be necessary for the PhD student to secure stipend and fees funding, which can be sought from VUW. While we encourage applications from all interested individuals, the VUW PhD scholarship scheme is only likely to fund students with outstanding academic records. The next closing date for VUW scholarships is July 1st 2020, and assistance will be given in preparing for this deadline. An expected start date will be late 2020.
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