IMAS PhD student wins national AMSA award

IMAS and ACE CRC PhD student Paige Kelly has won a national award from the Australian Marine Sciences Association (AMSA).

The Allen Award supports an outstanding postgraduate student to attend an overseas conference to gain international experience and contacts.

Ms Kelly is already on the road, in the UK presenting at the 3rd International Symposium on Krill, and the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) Biology Symposium 2017, in addition to the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and the Scottish Oceans Institute.

In announcing the award, AMSA President Dr Will Figueira said Ms Kelly's PhD research is "examining the co-occurrence of salps and Antarctic krill in the Southern Ocean; she is applying a range of techniques from classic microscopy to chemical assays such as bomb calorimetry and stable isotope analysis, and finally incorporating modelling designed to understand energy flow to higher predators.

"In particular, Paige is examining two important energy pathways in the Southern Ocean: that which moves primary production through krill to top predators and the alternative and poorly understood HNAN-salps-higher predators pathway," Dr Figueira said.