Projects
One of the areas most impacted by the rapid rate of advances in high throughput DNA sequencing has been the study of microbial ecology. Sequencing of the microbial marker gene 16S rRNA is typically used to survey the species composition of microbial communities.
Theme
- Bioinformatics and bio-mathematical modelling
- Evolutionary genetics and genomics
- Phylogenetics, population genetics and biodiversity
Student intake
Open for Bachelor, Honours, Master, PhD students
Status
Current
People
- Gavin Huttley, Principal investigator
The analysis of molecular sequence divergence is central to phylogenetic reconstruction and to dissecting the relative contributions of mutation and natural selection. Phylogenetic reconstruction is the estimation of the relationships amongst a group of sequences.
Theme
- Bioinformatics and bio-mathematical modelling
- Evolutionary genetics and genomics
- Phylogenetics, population genetics and biodiversity
Student intake
Open for Bachelor, Honours, Master, PhD students
Status
Current
People
- Gavin Huttley, Principal investigator
Our group works a lot on developing new methods to improve how phylogenies are estimated.
Theme
- Bioinformatics and bio-mathematical modelling
- Evolutionary genetics and genomics
- Phylogenetics, population genetics and biodiversity
Student intake
Open for Bachelor, Honours, PhD students
Status
Current
People
- Robert Lanfear, Supervisor
Why do some species become threatened with extinction while others remain safe, even when they are exposed to similar threatening processes?
Theme
- Phylogenetics, population genetics and biodiversity
Student intake
Open for Honours, PhD students
Status
Current
People
- Marcel Cardillo, Principal investigator
We are focusing on the diverse Australian plant family Proteaceae (which includes such iconic genera as Banksia, Hakea and Grevillea) to explore plant diversification processes generally, and the diversity of Australia's southwest corner in particular.
Theme
- Evolutionary genetics and genomics
- Phylogenetics, population genetics and biodiversity
Student intake
Open for Honours, PhD students
Status
Current
People
- Marcel Cardillo, Principal investigator
Comparative, meta-analytic and empirical approaches to understanding the impacts of phenotypic plasticity on population persistence
Theme
- Bioinformatics and bio-mathematical modelling
- Behavioural, evolutionary and physiological ecology
A broad comparative study using analysis of DNA sequence data from a wide range of parasites and their non-parasitic relatives.
Theme
- Phylogenetics, population genetics and biodiversity
- Evolutionary genetics and genomics
- Bioinformatics and bio-mathematical modelling
Most of the plants that browsing mammals eat contain a complex series of natural toxins. How do these influence the plants animals choose to eat?
Theme
- Behavioural, evolutionary and physiological ecology
- Phylogenetics, population genetics and biodiversity
Student intake
Open for Summer scholar, Honours students
Status
Current
People
- Karen Marsh, Supervisor
Snow gums of the Australian Alps are undergoing a mass mortality event. Researchers and land managers are seeking to understand biotic and abiotic drivers of this dieback and identify future-ready lineages. Research efforts on this project will provide managers with informed intervention options.
Theme
- Behavioural, evolutionary and physiological ecology
- Evolutionary genetics and genomics
- Plant environmental biology and functional ecology
Student intake
Open for Summer scholar, Honours, Master, PhD students
Status
Current
People
- Adrienne Nicotra, Principal investigator
- Callum Bryant , Researcher
- Hilary Rose Dawson, Researcher
- Lucy Zarew, Scholar
- Zachary Brown, Researcher
Sexual selection and the evolution of sex roles in fiddler crabs.
Theme
- Behavioural, evolutionary and physiological ecology
Student intake
Open for Bachelor, Honours, Master, PhD students
Status
Current
People
- Michael Jennions, Supervisor
Sexual selection in changing in environments.
Theme
- Behavioural, evolutionary and physiological ecology
- Evolutionary genetics and genomics
The proposed PhD research program will use the relationship between the orchid genera Chiloglottis and Arthrochilus and their obligate mycorrhizae to examine speciation in co-evolved taxa. It has been suggested the evolution of the recently diverged Chiloglottis may be attributable to its association with a particular mycorrhizal species however evolution of this sexually-deceptive orchid genus is known to be influenced by a species-specific pollinator relationship
Theme
- Host-microbe biology
- Phylogenetics, population genetics and biodiversity
- Plant-microbe interactions
Student intake
Open for PhD students
Status
Current
People
- Celeste Linde, Supervisor
- Rod Peakall, Supervisor
Investigating the potential for a cultural arms-races in bin-opening and bin-protection behaviour between sulphur-crested cockatoos (Cacatua galerita), and local human residents.
Theme
- Behavioural, evolutionary and physiological ecology
Student intake
Open for Bachelor, Honours, Master students
Status
Current
People
- Lucy Aplin, Principal investigator
Much of our understanding of how evolution has operated stems from analyses of genetic differences between species. One feature of our work has been application of very parameter rich models for modelling DNA sequence evolution. Using these models raises numerous challenges that are both statistical and computational.
Theme
- Bioinformatics and bio-mathematical modelling
- Evolutionary genetics and genomics
- Phylogenetics, population genetics and biodiversity
Student intake
Open for Bachelor, Honours, Master, PhD students
Status
Current
People
- Gavin Huttley, Principal investigator
Opportunities for students now available at the Sequeira Group
Theme
- Behavioural, evolutionary and physiological ecology
Student intake
Open for Bachelor, Honours, Master, PhD students
Status
Current
People
- Ana M. M. Sequeira, Supervisor
The causes and consequences of dispersal in seed beetles.
Theme
- Behavioural, evolutionary and physiological ecology
The ecology and evolution of aposematism.
Theme
- Behavioural, evolutionary and physiological ecology
- Evolutionary genetics and genomics
Genital evolution in insects.
Theme
- Behavioural, evolutionary and physiological ecology
Potential Honours students: please contact Dan Noble for more information on this project.
Theme
- Behavioural, evolutionary and physiological ecology
The Farine Lab at The Australian National University is seeking a PhD candidate to work on the movement ecology of keystone Australian pollinators: large honeyeaters.
Theme
- Behavioural, evolutionary and physiological ecology
Student intake
Open for PhD students
Status
Current
People
- Damien Farine, Supervisor
- James Klarevas-Irby, Supervisor