ⓘ Applications are now closed.
Looking for an exciting honours project in ecology? I have three openings for 2018.
I also welcome other project ideas from students if they fit with my expertise and research priorities.
To find out more, please refer to the Deakin University website: Honours in Life and Environmental Sciences, or contact me.
Fox, cat and fire interactions in the Grampians National Park
Supervisor: Dr Euan Ritchie
External and co-supervisors: Dr Dale Nimmo (Charles Sturt University) and Dr Tim Doherty, (Deakin University)
Start date: February 2018
This project, a research partnership between Parks Victoria and Deakin University, will examine fox and cat distribution across the Grampians National Park. Specifically, it will aim to examine:
- The effect of fire on fox and cat habitat use.
- Fox diet.
Experience with using R and/or ArcGIS will be advantageous but is not essential. A manual driver’s licence is essential for this project.
The ecological role of eastern barred bandicoots in a newly established island population
Principal Supervisor: Dr Euan Ritchie
External and co-supervisors: Dr Duncan Sutherland (Phillip Island Nature Parks) and Dr Amy Coetsee (Zoos Victoria)
Start date: February or July 2018
Mainland eastern barred bandicoots (EBBs) are listed as extinct in the wild, persisting only in captivity or within fox-free fenced reserves.
Phillip Island Nature Parks, together with Zoos Victoria and the Eastern Barred Bandicoot Recovery Team, have established an EBB population on fox-free Churchill Island, adjacent to Phillip Island.
This project forms part of a broader effort to bring EBBs back from the brink of extinction and off the threatened species list. We seek an honours student for a project to experimentally determine the role of EBBs as ecological engineers, in particular their effect on invertebrate communities.
Experience with using R and/or ArcGIS will be advantageous but is not essential. Field accommodation on Phillip Island is available.
Large herbivore impacts on alpine ecosystems
Principal Supervisor: Dr Euan Ritchie
External and co-supervisors: Professor Don Driscoll and Dr Tim Doherty (Deakin University)
Start date: July 2018
Large feral herbivores, such as horses and deer, threaten alpine ecosystems through overgrazing and trampling of vegetation, spreading weeds, elevated nutrients, and breaking down stream banks and reducing water quality.
This project will examine the impacts of large herbivores on alpine vegetation communities, and in turn on smaller, native vertebrate species.
Experience with using R and/or ArcGIS will be advantageous, but is not essential. A manual driver’s licence is essential for this project.
Applied ecology and conservation research group 
