Developing a river connectivity index in the northern Murray Darling Basin to improve management of native fish communities
Project Title
Developing a river connectivity index in the northern Murray Darling Basin to improve management of native fish communities.
Project Information
We are seeking a motivated, independent PhD candidate with an understanding of water policy relevant to the northern Murray Darling Basin to undertake an exciting PhD project.
This is a multidisciplinary project to develop a river connectivity index that incorporates flow-ecology dynamics with water management policy in the northern Murray Darling Basin. The developed river connectivity index will then be applied to assess how management of native fish communities in the Northern Murray Darling Basin can be improved. This PhD project is aligned with research objectives in the Darling-Warrego Area of the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder’s national flagship monitoring and research program, Flow-MER.
The successful applicant will be working with the Aquatic Ecology Lab at UNE. We are a multidisciplinary team of 10 scientists who work on the ecological outcomes of environmental flows in the northern Murray Darling Basin. Other research projects are in the northern rivers of NSW, focused on catchment-scale drivers of poor water quality.
The Aquatic Ecology Lab is based in the School of Environmental and Rural Science (ERS). ERS is a research-intensive School that attracts external and internal competitive funding to support research at the leading edge of ecological and agricultural research, nationally and internationally. The School comprises seven disciplines including agronomy and soil science, animal science, botany, genetics, earth sciences, ecosystem management and zoology.
Scholarship Information
The Research Training Program (RTP) Domestic Scholarship for conducting this research is valued at $36,862 per annum (2025 rate) tax-free and paid in fortnightly installments.
The scholarship is tenable for three years and six months (3.5) full-time for a doctoral degree. The duration of an RTP stipend scholarship cannot be extended.
For more information regarding the Research Training Program (RTP) and the scholarship terms and conditions please visit the following website.
Applicant Status: Domestic Students only
How to Apply
- For new candidates - After you complete the Expression of Interest (Step 2), if you meet all the requirements, you will be sent an invitation to apply which will include the link to the application portal where you can complete both your candidature and scholarship application.
For more information on submitting a candidature application please see our web page on how to apply/enrol for candidature
General Enquiries
Contact: Dr Sarah Mika
Email: sarah.mika@une.edu.au
