Supervisor team may include:
Projects relating to core nutrition and animal performance research themes: Fishmeal replacement, nutrient requirement, digestive physiology or feed assessment in Atlantic salmon, trout, abalone, barramundi or prawns. Links with IMTA Nutrition-Environment and modelling. Please discuss directly with supervisors.
Supervisory Team:
Prof Andrew Bowie
Dr Thomas Holmes
Dr Scott Meyerink (AAPP, IMAS, University of Tasmania)
Research advisor:
Dr Morgane Perron (IUEM, France)
Brief project description:
The atmosphere transports mineral dust, bushfire particles and anthropogenic emissions from terrestrial and human sources. These aerosols contain micronutrients and pollutants which can impact marine ecosystems and affect human health. This project aims to quantify the atmospheric deposition of trace metals contained in aerosols in the Hobart region of southern Tasmania (Australia). We will use data and samples collected from a unique archive from two different study sites. Since 2016, a fortnightly sampling program has collected aerosol samples at the top of kunanyi/Mount Wellington (MW). Aerosols and rainwater samples collected on the IMAS roof since 2017 provide a second time-series for this study. This urban collection site will allow the identification of anthropogenic pollution to the atmosphere in the Hobart region and focus on anthropogenic sources (e.g., from vehicles, cruise ships, wood burning, etc). Pollution fingerprints found in IMAS rooftop samples will be compared to kunanyi/MW aerosols which may capture pollutants from Tasmania and mainland Australia upwind along the atmospheric transport pathway.
We will focus on pollutant aerosols (e.g., Pb, Cu, V, Cu), whilst also obtaining important information on lithogenic trace elements (e.g., Al, Fe, Th, Ti) and micronutrients needed for biological productivity (e.g., Fe, Zn, Mn), and how the transport of these elements may vary seasonal and interannually. If time allows, we will also examine major ions (e.g., nutrients, oxalate, sulfate) and biomass burning tracers (e.g., levoglucosan) in the IMAS roof samples. The project will use existing aerosol data from kunanyi/MW (Perron et al., 2022) and acquire new geochemical data through the analysis of aerosol and rainwater samples collected from the IMAS roof. The aerosol data will be interpreted in the context of remotely sensed aerosol deposition and atmospheric transport models.
Specific questions addressed by the project:
1. How does the particle concentration and chemical composition of trace elements vary seasonally and interannually at the IMAS roof study site, including comparison of PM sensor data at both sites?
2. Does the IMAS roof study site allow for the identification of local pollution compared to the kunanyi/MW time series site? How different is the deposition of trace elements from the IMAS rooftop compared to the more pristine kunanyi/MW sampling station?
3. What are local sources of pollution to southern Tasmania and do they mostly originate from the Hobart region or from upwind along the atmospheric transport pathway.
4. How do lithogenic tracers in aerosols (e.g., Fe, Al, Ti, Th) on the IMAS roof compare to their atmospheric dry deposition at kunanyi/MW study sites?
Skills students will develop during this research project:
The student will learn laboratory skills and techniques including acid digestion and ICP-MS trace metal analysis following GEOTRACES clean protocols. The student will also learn data processing techniques, including script-based methods (Matlab, R) associated with these analytical methods and with the analysis of remotely-sensed environmental data.
The student will also participate in field sampling at the kunanyi/ Mt Wellington sampling site and on the IMAS roof. The student will need to be comfortable working in a clean lab, have exceptional record keeping skills and attention to detail, and be familiar with basic concepts in environmental and analytical chemistry.
Supervisory Team:
Primary supervisor: Zanna Chase
Co-supervisor: Lennart Bach
Brief project description:
The calcium carbonate cycle in the ocean plays an important role in the global carbon cycle on timescales of decades to millions of years. Production of calcium carbonate in surface waters lowers alkalinity and increases pCO2, thus decreasing the ocean’s uptake of carbon from the atmosphere. The dissolution of CaCO3 on the seafloor will neutralise anthropogenic CO2 additions to the ocean in the coming centuries (Archer et al., 2009; Ridgwell & Hargreaves, 2007). Indeed, a recent study suggests such dissolution has already started in some parts of the ocean (Sulpis et al., 2018). However, an accurate prediction of this effect is hampered by our incomplete understanding of what controls carbonate burial in the deep sea (Sulpis 2019).
The CaCO3 cycle in the ocean is relatively simple (see figure), and one can expect a simple mass balance at the seafloor, where B = P – W – S. That is carbonate burial (B) is equal to the production of carbonate in the upper ocean minus dissolution in the water colum (W) and dissolution in the sediment (S). However, major uncertainties persist in our understanding of CaCO3 cycling in the ocean.
In particular, the following key components of the carbonate cycle are poorly constrained:
This project will take advantage of a number of recently published datasets and model results to test the carbonate mass balance in the ocean. Specifically, the project will use recent estimates of carbonate burial in sediments, carbonate production in surface waters, and dissolution at the seafloor, to test the extent to which carbonate burial can be predicted based on estimates of carbonate production and dissolution.
If a mass balance can be demonstrated, this will be a strong confirmation of the accuracy of current theory and observations. Discrepancies in the mass balance can be used to diagnose any gaps in understanding.
Supervisor team may include:
The 2000/01 National Recreational Fishing Survey provided the first comprehensive assessment of recreational fishing in Australia. At the time an estimated 3.4 million Australians fished at least one a year, representing almost 20% of the total population. Participation rates did, however, vary widely by age, gender and area of residence. More recent surveys highlight a trend of declining participation that can be linked in part to changing population demographics. This project will review results of surveys of recreational fishing participation in the context of population demographics and the implications for future participation in recreational fishing.
Supervisory Team:
Brief project description:
International liver oil trade is a major driver of targeted fisheries and retention of bycatch for deepwater sharks. Sharks are targeted for the squalene content in their liver oil, which is used for cosmetic and human health applications. The preferred shark liver oil species are the gulper sharks, one of the most threatened shark groups. Nearly all gulper sharks are assessed as threatened by the IUCN Red List and most are at a high risk of extinction due to overfishing. Other sharks that are used for liver oil include dogfishes, sleeper, cow, and bramble sharks. Liver oil fisheries are not sustainable, however, these fisheries are understudied and overshadowed by more visible global trades of other shark and ray products. The aim of this project is to develop a protocol for extracting DNA from liver oil products and identify shark species within. This project will determine the best methods for extracting DNA from shark liver oil products and provide a tool for enhanced traceability and management in liver oil fisheries.
Skills students will develop during this research project:
Supervisory Team:
Brief project description:
Durvillaea (bull kelp) is a large brown seaweed with diffuse growth with separate male and female plants (i.e. dioecious). It grows in wave-exposed intertidal and subtidal environments, due in part to its unique cellular structure and biomechanical properties which allow it to tolerate high wave energy. Durvillaea reaches high biomass and there is a small but valuable (~AU$1.5 million GVP) commercial industry for Durvillaea in Australia, based wholly on beach cast stock. For this industry to expand and improve sustainability there have been efforts to cultivate the species.
Like most seaweeds, Durvillaea cultivation includes two phases; (1) the indoor hatchery phase, and (2) the out-door grow-out phase at sea. During the indoor hatchery phase environmental factors such as temperature, light level/period, and nutrients for optimal fertilisation rates can be controlled. However, optimal conditions have thus far not been examined.
In this project, the aim is to examine optimal conditions for fertilisation to improve hatchery outcomes. The work will have a huge impact underpinning future aquaculture practice in Tasmania and will be associated with the Blue Economy CRC.
Skills students will develop during this research project:
The student will gain knowledge on seaweed reproductive biology, microbiological methods, experimental design, data analysis, PAM-fluorescence, microscopy, seaweed physiology, and seaweed aquaculture practices.
Supervisory Team:
Brief project description:
Aerosol, tiny solid or liquid particles suspended in the atmosphere, are one of the most uncertain aspects of climate modelling, having an important influence on the simulation of clouds and radiation (IPCC AR5, WG1, Ch8, 2013). Marine aerosol, such as sea salt or biogenic aerosol, make up a large part of this uncertainty (Carslaw et al. 2013, Nature). Over the last five years, numerous observations have been made of marine aerosol, providing an opportunity to evaluate models with recent and high-quality data. The Australian Community Climate and Earth System Simulator - Coupled Model 2 (ACCESS-CM2) model has an online aerosol scheme which can simulate the formation and influence of aerosol (Bi et al. 2020, JSHESS). This project will evaluate the ACCESS-CM2 aerosol output, including its size and composition, against the recent field observations to understand how well the model is able to simulate aerosol variability and where the model might be improved.
Skills students will develop during this research project:
In this project the student will learn to code in python on the national supercomputer Gadi, giving them experience in high performance computing environments. They will also learn to handle and manipulate large climate model output, and how to use observational data effectively for model evaluation. Furthermore, the student will gain an understanding of marine aerosol variability, how well our current climate model is able to reproduce this and what the impacts of model aerosol biases are on the climate.
Supervisory Team:
Jawahar Patil(IMAS, UTAS), Morgan Brown (CSIRO).
Brief project description:
The Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) is one of the most farmed temperate fish species, accounting for nearly all of finfish production in Tasmania. Monosex (all-female) farming underpins this production. In practice, this is made possible by an ability to produce neo-males (genetic females with functional male phenotype), which are used as broodstock to sire all-female offspring. However, the current practices used for neo-male production yield varying levels of success. This unreliability has consequences for operational efficiency, cost of production and farm/hatchery footprint. This student project will build on the existing IMAS work on physiology of neo-males (de Castro and Patil 2019; Brown et al., 2021) and genetic variability of sex (Brown et al., 2020) in Atlantic salmon to both characterise and understand the drivers of reproductive dysfunction in neo-males with a view to inform and streamline neo-male production practices.
The student will work closely with partners and will receive industry mentorship and project support.
References:
de Castro, PL, Patil,JG. 2019. Aquaculture Res 50: 3171– 3180. https://doi.org/10.1111/are.14271
Brown, M.S., Evans, B.S. & Afonso, L.O.B. 2020. Scientific Reports 10, 9651
Brown, M. S., Evans, B. S., & Afonso, L. O. 2021. Aquaculture 545, 737216.
Skills students will develop during this research project: Developmental morphology, immunohistochemistry and molecular genetics (inc. Transcriptomics) as applied to the reproductive physiology of fish.
Supervisory Team:
Brief project description:
Naming geographical features is a human social behaviour. As the global ocean and its seafloor have been the focus of increased exploration, concern had been expressed over the arbitrary nature of the naming of undersea features. In 1987 the UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) and the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) “strongly encourage[d] marine scientists wishing to name significant undersea features to follow a number of guidelines rather than to name an undersea feature arbitrarily” (Bouma 1990: 119). Naming undersea features focuses on ensuring standardization and consistency in relation to their geomorphological characteristics, but also gives rise to to potential geopolitical issues in disputed areas (e.g., South China Sea) and those beyond national jurisdiction (e.g., the ‘Area’ or ‘High Seas’, where naming a feature can be a proxy for national claims and interests.
This project focuses on the roles of the IOC, IHO, and the GEBCO Sub-Committee on Undersea Feature Names (SCUFN) as a technical advisory body in an increasingly politicised environment. It will consider the principles, rules, norms, and processes in naming undersea features; outline and evaluate SCUFN’s operating procedures and status of decisions; and assess current mechanisms for addressing disputes over naming undersea features.
Skills students will develop during this research project:
This research will contribute to understanding of a neglected and under -researched area of international oceans governance. This work will be of interest and benefit to ocean governance researchers, government officials, as well as the public with interests in, and concern over, ocean governance
Supervisory Team:
Brief project description:
Surface canopy cover of the giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera, in Tasmania has declined by ~90% since records began in 1940s. There are ongoing projects around Tasmania to restore Macrocystis beds by artificially seeding sites with juveniles that have been raised in the laboratory and transplanted as juveniles into the field. However, for full restoration the population needs to be self-sustaining such that there is natural recruitment into the ‘restored’ population. Kelps have a bi-phasic life cycle, and at present we have little understanding of where the microscopic male and female gametphophtes reside naturally. In the USA, kelp gametophytes have been found growing inside understory red seaweeds, and it is possible that red seaweeds facilitate kelp recruitment by providing a habitat (or seed bank) for the microscopic stage. Knowledge of where Macrocystis gametophytes naturally grow will greatly assist in its future restoration.
The aim of this project is to use laboratory culture, microscopy and DNA barcoding methods to determine where kelp gametophytes are found naturally in the field, including within benthic red seaweeds (calcifying and non-calcifying).
Skills students will develop during this research project:
Culture methods for kelp gametophytes, microscopy methods, laboratory skills including DNA barcoding, experimental design, data analyses and interpretation, report writing, paper writing, critical and creative thinking; experience working with a kelp restoration team.
Supervisory Team:
Brief project description:
Seismic surveys are used around the world to explore for oil and gas deposits below the sea floor. They are conducted using air guns that vent highly compressed air into the water column, which creates an intense sound signal that is repeated every ca. 10 seconds over the course of weeks to months, ensonifying 100s-1000s km2 of the ocean. These impulsive, low-frequency sound signals have been found to harm marine invertebrates, including the southern rock lobster (Jasus edwardsii), scallops (Pecten fumatus) and zooplankton, with effects ranging from mortality, behavioural impacts, physiological impairments, compromised immune function, and damage to mechanosensory system.
In this project, the novel seismic survey sources, reduced volume seismic and the bandwidth limited eSource, will be compared against traditional seismic exposure. To compare these sources, damage to the southern rock lobster mechanosensory system will be assessed. The primary organ of the mechanosensory system of lobster, like many marine invertebrates, is the statocyst, which is comprised of an accretion of hard particles within a fluid filled sac. These particles contact sensory hairs to detect gravity, motion and vibrations in the environment. Previous research has shown that seismic exposure damages these sensory organs which has resulting behavioural effects on juvenile and adult lobsters.
Skills students will develop during this research project:
The student in this project will gain extensive experience with the preparation, imaging and analysis of scanning electron microscopy images of the lobster mechanosensory organ. This will provide a strong basis for any future morphology focused research and a highly specialised skillset in microanalysis. They will have the opportunity to be the primary author on a high impact publication on a topic of high interest.
Supervisory Team:
Brief project description:
Seismic surveys are used around the world to explore for oil and gas deposits below the sea floor. They are conducted using air guns that vent highly compressed air into the water column, which creates an intense sound signal that is repeated every ca. 10 seconds over the course of weeks to months, ensonifying 100s-1000s km2 of the ocean. These impulsive, low-frequency sound signals have been found to harm marine invertebrates, including the southern rock lobster (Jasus edwardsii), scallops (Pecten fumatus) and zooplankton, with effects ranging from mortality, behavioural impacts, physiological impairment, compromised immune function, and damage to mechanosensory systems.
We have several projects available to investigate the impact of exposure to seismic surveys on invertebrates including the pale octopus (Octopus pallidus), southern rock lobster (Jasus edwardsii) and the commercial scallop (Pecten fumatus). These species are ecologically and environmentally important to Tasmanian ecosystems, so understanding the potential impacts to their physiology is a crucial aspect towards understanding the impacts of seismic surveys on the marine environment.
To investigate the impacts of seismic survey exposure, this project will investigate a range of biochemical parameters in samples collected from octopus, lobsters and scallops that were exposed to a 2,780 cubic inch seismic survey. For the latter two taxa, experiments were also conducted using novel seismic sources to facilitate development of methods with reduced impact to marine life. By measuring the impacts to immune function and the oxidative stress response, this project will provide important information towards understanding how seismic surveys impact the marine environment that will inform management decisions and guide fishery and seismic survey interactions in the future.
Skills students will develop during this research project:
The student in this project will gain extensive experience with laboratory procedures through conducting a range of biochemical analysis.
Supervisory Team:
Brief project description:
Earth-system models struggle to accurately simulate cloud properties over the Southern Ocean, leading to subsequent challenges in accurately predicting the levels of shortwave and longwave radiation at the bottom and top of the atmosphere (Mallet et al., 2023a, Elementa). Recent studies have opened promising avenues by using machine learning to reduce biases in the prediction of shortwave radiation over the Southern Ocean (Mallet et al., 2023b, Artificial Intelligence for the Earth Systems). This project aims to leverage recent observations of radiation and cloud properties collected from satellites and ships in the Southern Ocean. It will involve training and testing machine learning models using predictor variables from reanalyses and various versions of the Australian ACCESS model. The outcome of this work will be to demonstrate the feasibility of integrating machine-learning approaches into the accurate prediction of Southern Ocean cloud and radiation properties.
Skills students will develop during this research project:
The student will develop skills in working with gridded output data from Earth-system models, as well as how to train, test, and evaluate models built using machine learning algorithms in conjunction with ship-based observations of atmospheric data. They will also develop skills in using cloud computing through the National Computing Infrastructure.
Supervisory Team:
Research advisors:
Brief project description:
The atmosphere transports mineral dust, bushfire particles and anthropogenic emissions from terrestrial and human sources. These aerosols contain micronutrients and pollutants which can stimulate or limit marine productivity and impact marine ecosystems. This project aims to quantify the atmospheric deposition of trace metals and nutrients contained in aerosols transported to the oceans southeast of Australia. We will use samples collected from a unique archive from two different study sites, the first from Lord Howe Island in the Tasman Sea to the east of Australia and the second from Macquarie Island in the subantarctic Southern Ocean to the southeast of Tasmania.
We will focus on lithogenic trace elements (e.g., Al, Fe, Th, Ti) and micronutrients needed for biological productivity (e.g., Fe, Zn, Mn), and how the transport of these elements may vary seasonally and interannually, whilst also obtaining important information on pollutant aerosols (e.g., Pb, Cu, V, Cu). If time allows, we will also examine major ions (e.g., macronutrients, oxalate, sulfate) and biomass burning tracers (e.g., levoglucosan) in the samples.
The project will compare the new data with existing aerosol data collect by our lab from kunanyi/Mount Wellington (Tasmania) (Perron et al., 2022) and Gingin (Western Australia) (Strzelec et al., 2020), and also on voyages of RV Investigator to the east of Australia and in the Southern Ocean (Perron et al., 2020). The aerosol data will be interpreted in the context of remotely sensed aerosol deposition and atmospheric transport models.
Specific questions addressed by the project:
1. How does the particle concentration and chemical composition of trace elements vary seasonally and interannually at Lord Howe Island and Macquarie Island?
2. What are regional sources of aerosols to the Tasman Sea and the subantarctic Southern Ocean and how are they modified along the atmospheric transport pathway?
3. How do the new data from Lord Howe Island and Macquarie Island compare with our existing time-series from Tasmania and WA, and also from our shipboard aerosol program on RV Investigator?
References:
Perron et al., 2020. Origin, transport and deposition of aerosol iron to Australian coastal waters. Atmospheric Environment 228, 117432, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2020.117432.
Perron et al., 2022. Trace elements and nutrients in wildfire plumes to the southeast of Australia. Atmospheric Research 270, 106084, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosres.2022.106084.
Strzelec et al., 2020. Atmospheric Trace Metal Deposition from Natural and Anthropogenic Sources in Western Australia. Atmosphere 11, 474. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos11050474
Skills students will develop during this research project:
The student will learn laboratory skills and techniques including acid digestion and ICP-MS trace metal analysis following GEOTRACES clean protocols. The student will also learn data processing techniques, including script-based methods (Matlab, R) associated with these analytical methods and with the analysis of remotely-sensed environmental data.
The student will also participate in field sampling at the kunanyi/Mt Wellington sampling site. The student will need to be comfortable working in a clean lab, have exceptional record keeping skills and attention to detail, and be familiar with basic concepts in environmental and analytical chemistry.
Supervisory Team:
Primary supervisor: Dr Valeriya Komyakova
Co-supervisor: Dale Maschette
Additional supervisors: Dr Olav Kjesbu, Institute of Marine Research, Bergen, Norway
Brief project description:
Norwegian spring spawning herring (NSSH) represents the largest herring stock in the world, that caries significant commercial importance. It is a member of the stock complex of Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus L.), a cold-temperate, pelagic schooling species. NSSH spawns along most of the Norwegian coast (58-69˚ N) from late February to early March. The eggs are deposited onto hard bottom substratum at the depth down to 250 m. The larvae hatch 2-3 weeks after spawning and drift with the Atlantic water currents towards Barents Sea where they remain for the following 3-6 years before joining the adult stock.
While large portion of the NSSH population resides in the Norwegian Sea, relatively isolated populations are also present in the fjords as well. As such, fjords do act as nursery grounds for some of the NSSH juveniles. It has been demonstrated that growth rates may differ significantly between the fjords. However, little is known about growth rate differences for 0-age group juveniles between the fjords and the Barents Sea. Similarly, little is known about fitness of individuals occupying different nursery grounds along the long Norwegian coast. As such, this project will evaluate the differences in the 0-age group juveniles growth rates and fitness between different spawning areas, fjords and the Barents Sea.
Principal research question: Will early life stages from northern or fjord components of NSSH do better in terms of growth and survival prospects in a warming ocean?
Skills students will develop during this research project:
Supervisor team may include:
Nutrition and feeding studies on harvest sized salmon are challenging without specialist experimental facilities. There are opportunities for nutrition related projects investigating aspects of feed digestibility, digestive physiology, product quality and performance under commercial conditions, aligned with large multidisciplinary experiments conducted at the EAF. Laboratory work would begin early (Feb-March) and would require travel between Hobart and Launceston during the project.
Supervisory Team:
Dr Rich Cottrell (IMAS)
Dr Beth Penrose (TIA)
Brief project description:
Global aquaculture growth will be essential to meeting growing demand for seafood into the future. Of the 80 million tonnes of food biomass produced by aquaculture, most is sustained by human made compound feeds. In recent years, the composition of compound aquaculture feeds has changed substantially - from those dominated by fishmeal and oil derived from wild caught fish to feeds largely composed of crop and livestock by-products, and emerging novel ingredients from single-cell organisms and insects. This evolution in formulation has addressed numerous sustainability concerns on the use of wild fish in feed but has increasingly shifted environmental pressures from feed production onto terrestrial systems. Yet, to what extent this shift has reduced or increased the appropriation of natural resources remains poorly resolved, largely due to a poor understanding of how to allocate the embedded biomass of marine and terrestrial raw materials across the various products, coproducts, and by-products now used as aquafeed ingredients.
Using feed profiles for one model species or multiple farmed taxa, the project will address this gap by:
Skills students will develop during this research project:
Supervisory Team:
Primary supervisor: Dr Scott Hadley – IMAS Taroona
Co-supervisor: Dr Alison Turnball – IMAS Taroona
Additional supervisors: Ed Forbes – NRET Hobart
Brief project description:
Oyster leases in Tasmania are tightly regulated based on monitoring of water quality. Reported spills from Sewerage Treatment Plants (STP’s) for example, are monitored closely and a conservative approach is adopted in terms of risk of interaction with nearby oyster farms. However, local hydrodynamics play fundamental role in the transport of contaminants into the leases from source locations. Understanding the relative risk around an oyster lease from potential spills in a system can be examined using particle tracking models which are underpinned by hydrodynamic models of the receiving environment. Model output can be analyzed using metrics that establish connectivity.
CONNIE is a particle tracking model available via a web interface. Complex behaviour can be parameterized in CONNIE to simulate different types of particles and scenarios over extended intra/inter annual time scales can be run to look at seasonal/annual variability in particle trajectory. This information can be post-processed to incorporate connectivity metrics to provide a risk-based assessment of interaction between oyster leases and sources of contamination in the region. Connectivity metrics that are suitable for this type of decision-making, are well described in the literature.
Skills students will develop during this research project:
Supervisory Team:
Brief project description:
The development of oceanic gateways is a crucial factor in the global ocean current system, by manifesting ocean current pathways, enhancing heat transport across the globe and blocking previous established routes. The opening of closing of an oceanic gateway can lead to dramatic changes in the global climate. For example, the opening of the Tasman Gateway manifesting the Antarctic glaciation, or the closure of the Panama Gateway initiating glaciation in the Northern hemisphere. One of these gateways is the Greenland-Iceland-Scotland Ridge (GISR) in the North Atlantic Ocean. This bathymetric barrier between the North Atlantic and the Nordic Seas has been emplaced by the volcanic activity of the Iceland Mantle Plume. It regulates the inflow of cold and dense water from the Arctic Ocean to the Atlantic and therefore into the global ocean circulation as part of the North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW). This winter, the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Exp. 395 “Reykjanes Ridge: Mantle Convection and Climate” drilled three sediment drift sites south of Iceland, which record the behaviour of the oceanic gateway at high resolution.
In this project, we will use the collected physical properties data on the sediment cores, as well as the collected downhole-logging data to investigate the sedimentation regime at the central sediment drift complex, the Bjørn Drift. The sediments recovered at Bjørn Drift range from 13 Ma old carbonates to various flavours of silty clay and iceberg rafted debris. The sediments chronicle the global transition from a Mid-Miocene (13 Ma) warm climate to colder climates with the onset of glaciation in Greenland (~10 - 8 Ma) and the ultimate establishment of a large icesheet in the Northern hemisphere in the Pleistocene (2.58 Ma). This variable lithology makes the two drill sites at Bjørn Drift (U1554 and U1562) prime targets for establishing a sedimentphysical-based stratigraphy exploring the changes in sedimentation behaviour based on regional to global climatic and tectonic occurrences. By using the sedimentphysical parameters collected on the cores as well as the downhole-logging, we will explore different manifestations of sedimentation changes and use industry-standard software packages for enhanced analysis techniques.
Key questions of the project:
Skills students will develop during this research project:
Supervisory Team:
Zanna Chase
Elizabeth Shadwick
Brief project description:
Southern Ocean waters are becoming warmer, fresher, less oxygenated and more acidic (“heating up, losing breath and turning sour”). Changes are happening both from the north as warming boundary currents push further southward, and from the south as the Antarctic cryosphere melts. The implications of these changes for global and regional marine productivity, global ocean carbon uptake and in turn atmospheric CO2 levels, are poorly understood.
Tracking the oceanic uptake of anthropogenic CO2 requires high-quality observations collected over many years. This project will use oceanographic and biogeochemical data collected in 2021 on the Trends in Euphausiids off Mawson, Predators and Oceanography (TEMPO) as well as collected in on the BROKE-West voyage in 2006 to quantify the increase in dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and evaluate the progress of Ocean Acidification in the East Antarctic coastal region.
Skills students will develop during this research project:
Supervisory Team: Valeriya Komyakova, Myriam Lacharité, Harriet Goodrich
Brief project description:
In a highly competitive Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) academic system, ‘metrics’ have emerged to quantitatively compare success across individuals. Today, metrics like the h-index reward high publication output and funding success and are used to drive employment and promotions in academia. H-index’s combine productivity and citation rate, but don’t consider publication quality or the diverse range of research activities that an academic may engage in, including teaching, mentoring and community outreach. These metrics therefore represent an incomplete and biased assessment of an individual’s contributions to their field and may work to amplify the impacts of career insecurity, increase pressure to publish, and contribute to discrimination by gender, race, and geographic location. Based on how these metrics are quantified and valued by academia, their use has the power to skew ‘success’ in favour of research teams with low diversity, led by senior, white, male academics from universities based in Western countries. The development and use of alternative metrics can provide a more comprehensive and nuanced understanding of research impact and help to incentivise positive behaviour in academia. Metrics that work to capture the full range of an individual’s research output and impact will therefore be necessary to develop a more modern, inclusive future for science and academia.
This project aims to conduct a systematic literature review of how barriers faced by women and representatives of other marginalised groups in STEM academia, particularly marine and biological sciences in Australia, Canada/United States and the UK, impact current academic metrics. The project will then rank common metrics based on strengths and weaknesses, and suitability of application in the Australian context. Finally, the project will aim to propose an alternative metric of success that can reduce some of the weakness seen in commonly used approaches. This project would use publicly-available data (e.g., STEM Equity Monitor Data) to assess the suitability of alternative metrics.
This project is suitable for Honours or Masters research projects.
Skills students will develop during this research project: The student should have strong skills in literature review and synthesis, and a keen interest in enhancing equity in STEM and some experience in statistics and R
Supervision team:
Associate Professor Neville Barrett
Baited underwater videos (BRUVs) are now in common use for surveying fish populations on reef systems around Australia. A number of surveys have now been undertaken at locations around Tasmania, but this information has yet to be synthesised to gain an understanding of the general lessons from this with respect to biogeographical patterns, ranges and depth distributions of key species, or the effectiveness of potential indicator species for long-term monitoring programs. A project is available to undertake this synthesis, as well as potentially completing an additional set of BRUV deployments on the Tasmanian west coast to fill in a current biogeographical gap in this regional coverage.
This project uses a comprehensive set of imagery derived from IMOS AUV deployments in Tasmanian shelf waters to examine the spatial distribution of characteristic reef associated species (e.g. particular sponges) and their relationship with significant habitat features. The work will allow future predictions of the distribution of key species based on mapped seabed geomorphology.
A range of similar projects are also available for this image analysis, including description of the spatial distribution of benthic invertebrates and algae within the Flinders Commonwealth Marine Reserve, physical drivers of benthic invertebrate structural height and complexity on deep reefs, the changing distribution of Centrostephanus barrens in eastern Tasmanian waters.
Suitable for February or July start date.
Contact Dr Neville Barrett (neville.barrett@utas.edu.au) for more details.
Supervisory Team:
Brief project description:
Durvillaea (bull kelp) is a large brown seaweed with diffuse growth with separate male and female plants (i.e. dioecious). It grows in wave-exposed intertidal and subtidal environments, due in part to its unique cellular structure and biomechanical properties which allow it to tolerate high wave energy. Reproduction is highly seasonal, with gamete release peaking during the austral winter. However, we know very little about the size or age at which Durvillaea becomes reproductive or the effect of the environment (e.g. water motion or sea surface temperature) on the reproductive output in Durvillaea. Furthermore, there is anecdotal evidence that reproduction varies with age, size, and position on a blade, but this warrants a more systematic investigation.
In this project, the aim is to examine variation in the reproductive output of both male and female Durvillaea individuals at various sites along the Tasmanian coast and as a function of size/age, position on a blade. The work will improve our understanding of the reproductive biology of Durvillaea and will have a huge impact underpinning future aquaculture practice in Tasmania. The project is in association with the Blue Economy CRC.
Skills students will develop during this research project:
The student will gain knowledge of seaweed reproductive biology, microbiological methods, experimental design, data analysis, microscopy, and fieldwork.
This project is field-heavy, and part of the experimental work will be done at the IMAS-Salamanca. Snorkel qualifications are required.
Supervisory Team:
Dr Rachel Kelly: lead investigator, student supervisor
Prof Gretta Pecl: co-investigator, student supervisor
Brief project description:
Efforts that aim to tackle public understanding and engagement in science typically assume that providing people with more information (e.g. via blogs, seminars, brochures, etc.) will result in better understanding of and engagement in science (the knowledge deficit model). The evidence, however, does not support this. Rather, recent research shows that science conversations are more likely to lead to the deep and longer-term learning necessary to foster engagement and potentially, action based on science (the dialogic model). Several CMS/IMAS projects have already begun to explore and evidence this approach – including Curious Climate Tasmania. This project will focus on science communication and engagement with people who typically do not engage with science. Specifically, it will assess how science partnerships with community engagement events (i.e. that are not usually or overtly associated with science) can potentially facilitate engagement with those who do not typically engage with science (or not). The target event is Squidfest – an art, science, and food festival. The survey data will be collected in December/January (prior to project commencing). The student will analyse the survey responses to address key project objectives and questions.
Skills students will develop during this research project:
Supervisory Team:
Brief project description:
Southern sand flathead are an important species for recreational fishers in Tasmania, but have recently been classified as depleted. Evidence from long-term data suggests flathead growth rates are slowing. In this project you will analyse long-term fisheries monitoring data to identify the trend in flathead growth rates and study the cause of slowing growth. You will then apply this information to develop population models that account for variation in flathead growth, and use these to study the implications of changing growth for fishery management. This project will require use of the R program. Training in the R program will be provided during the project, but applicants should be enthusiastic about learning statistical analysis techniques and their application to fishery management.
Skills students will develop during this research project:
Research communication to policy makers, fisheries science, data analysis and modelling.
Supervisory Team:
Jo Whittaker
Taryn Noble
Brief project description:
This project addresses the Cenozoic evolution of the Tasmanian Gateway, which formed during the tectonic separation of Australia and Antarctica. The opening of the Tasman Gateway has been implicated in the initiation of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, and possibly played a role in glaciation of Antarctica 34 million years ago.
Recent high-resolution ocean model simulations by our team demonstrate that only small changes in the depth of the gateway, from 300m to 450m, cause a fundamental reorganization of the Southern Ocean circulation patterns and dramatic surface water cooling (by >4°C) along the entire Antarctic coast. Although the broader plate tectonic motion between Australia and Antarctica is well constrained, uncertainties remain around the detailed plate tectonic evolution of the Tasman Gateway and its evolving paleodepth, particularly through this crucial 300-450m transition. Additionally, controversies exist around when ‘shallow water’ ocean current flows commenced through the gateway, their directions, strengths, possible linkage to glauconite formations and climatic consequences.
In this project, you will constrain the exact timing of Tasman Gateway subsidence and bottom current flow directions and strengths through the Tasman Gateway. You will perform authigenic Rare Earth Element (REE), Neodymium (Nd) and Strontium (Sr) isotopic composition analysis, on Eocene and early Oligocene samples taken from drill sites ODP 1170 & 1171 on the South Tasman Rise.
The key objectives of this project are to:
Skills students will develop during this research project:
Supervisory Team:
Dr Richard Cottrell, Professor Julia Blanchard, Professor Chris Carter
Brief project description:
Fish and seafood consumption is growing rapidly around the world. Since the 1960s, per capita seafood consumption has more than doubled globally. As many emerging economies grow, increasing consumer affluence in a burgeoning global middle class is expected to drive substantial demand for luxury seafood products, such as tuna, salmon, and crustaceans including lobsters. In Australia, lobster fisheries are some of the country’s most important in terms of production and export value, with demand for lobster soaring in nearby Asian markets. But supply from Australian lobster fisheries has declined in recent years in response to environmental change, reduced recruitment, and management shifts towards maximum economic yield. Further, farmed lobster production remains nascent in most countries except Vietnam. However, this presents Australia with an opportunity to develop its aquaculture sector and become a leading supplier of farmed lobster.
To build a sustainable industry, Australia’s lobster aquaculture industry must look to understand and minimise its environmental footprint at both local and global scales. Feed production represents a majority share of the embedded environmental impacts in the life cycles of farmed aquatic animals. To sustainably develop an onshore lobster aquaculture sector, knowing the potential trajectories for industry growth, the necessary feed demand required to fuel this growth, and the environmental consequences of sourcing that feed will be a critical component of environmental sustainability. Not only will suitable planning help protect natural systems as the industry grows but also avoid problems of sectoral conflict and poor social acceptance that have limited growth in other aquaculture industries.
To address this need, the proposed project will:
Skills students will develop during this research project:
Supervisory Team:
Primary supervisor: Dr Hanne Nielsen
Brief project description:
This project will investigate the relationship between polar tourism and citizen science. By mapping the existing citizen science activities in the far south and contextualising these within the wider scholarship on citizen science, then investigating perspectives from both tour operators and scientists, the project will identify best practice and suggest future opportunities in the polar citizen science space.
Skills students will develop during this research project:
Qualitative social research methods. Data collection and analysis, Communication skills.
Supervisor team may include:
Marine recreational licences are required for a range of fishing activities in Tasmania. The databases provide an informative insight into the characteristic of those interested in each of the specific fishing methods, including age and area of residence. Not only does this data reveal interesting patterns in the changing demographics of fishing, for example a transition from diving to potting for lobster with age, but also variability in licensing linked to changing management and resource availability.
Supervisory Team:
Stuart Corney (with contributions from HDr students Ben Viola and Sophia Volzke)
Brief project description:
Seabirds are a diverse and ecologically important family, often recognised as indicators of ecosystem health (Hazen et al., 2019). As hyper-mobile top-order predators, seabirds sample vast areas when foraging – which amplifies trophic information across a range of spatiotemporal dimensions (Hazen et al., 2019). Top-order predators are typically keystone species – meaning that they have a disproportionate effect on the persistence of other species within an ecosystem (Bond 1994) – and as such, an understanding of seabird ecology can grant insights towards broader ecosystem dynamics, and the impact of anthropogenic pressures such as over-fishing, pollution, or climate change (Einoder 2009; Baak et al., 2020; Groff et al., 2020).
To date, much of the work on Antarctic seabirds has been based around breeding sites, and those that have focussed on seabirds at-sea have largely occurred around the West Antarctic Peninsula (as outlined in Ainley et al., 2017). This deficiency of data is somewhat due to the feasibility and difficulties associated with shipboard surveys (Viola et al., 2022). However, for the past six decades, the Australian Antarctic Division has collected opportunistic observation data during re-supply and scientific voyages. Previous studies make important contributions to our knowledge of Antarctic seabird ecology, but significant gaps regarding the at-sea habitat use persist for many Antarctic seabird species (Ainley et al., 2017).
This study seeks to quantify marine habitat use of Antarctic seabirds using data derived from historical shipboard survey efforts.
Skills students will develop during this research project:
Supervisory Team:
Genevieve Phillips
Myriam Lacharité
Brief project description:
Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are zones within the ocean that have regulations placed within them to limit extractive activities, that include, but are not limited to, fishing activities. Preserving natural habitats and reducing destructive oceanic activities is important to protect the world’s biodiversity. No-take MPAs aim to limit loss of oceanic biodiversity, serve as valuable scientific reference areas, and can provide sources of productivity to wild fisheries. These outputs can also increase regional social and economic benefits. Globally, there is a push to protect 30% of the world's oceans by 2030 [IUCN 30 by 30 Goals]. Australia is often cited as leading the way in this area, with "over 40%" of Australia's ocean being protected. However, a large majority of highly protected MPAs in Australia are in offshore waters; areas with lower potential for conflict, and in turn have lower economic and biodiversity values, and are unlikely to provide protection for the majority of Australia's marine biodiversity, or valuable minerals (Bond & Jamieson, 2022).
No-take MPAs can be costly to maintain, and negatively impact marine resource extractive activities, including commercial and recreational fishing. They are also mostly static, with little flexibility in, for example, moving boundaries of MPAs to align with shifting species distribution due to climate change. Consequently, there is growing interest in the benefits associated with partial protection from extractive activities, while allowing tourism-based activities like diving, snorkelling, and low-impact fishing.
This project will examine how MPA management and policy have changed over time within Australia. The project could potentially cover the following questions:
Data will be extracted from the primary and grey literature, as required.
Skills students will develop during this research project:
The student will acquire knowledge in marine conservation approaches, and analytical and critical thinking skills in understanding complex environmental issues through an in-depth literature review. If possible, the student will also be encouraged to develop statistical skills by conducting a meta-analysis, a common approach to synthesise data from the primary literature.
Supervisory Team:
Myriam Lacharite
John Keane
Brief project description:
The longspined sea urchin Centrostephanus rodgersii has in recent decades extended south beyond its native range along the coast of New South Wales to Tasmania, due to the southward extension of the East Australian Current. There, it has been grazing aggressively on local macroalgal communities, creating in some areas extensive ‘urchin barrens’. Current management aims to stop the growth of existing barrens, prevent the establishment of new barrens and promote recovery, but these objectives are not distinct, spatially undefined, and do not account for other users – both commercial and recreational – and ecological values.
Socio-cultural values include broad cultural and social importance of a place, which can be expressed through visual aesthetics, intrinsic value of place, recreational fisheries and/or general recreational use, such as diving, among others. This project aims to better understand the socio-cultural value of reef systems on the east coast of Tasmania, by conducting participatory mapping through targeted community surveys. The objective of the project is to better understand the breadth of uses and cultural importance of key areas, and describe how this could be embedded with other information to effectively manage the non-endemic urchin. This information is meant to be fed into a broader pilot spatial planning framework for the management of sea urchins in key areas where complementary ecological and economic value has been described.
Skills students will develop during this research project:
Marine management of non-endemic species; governance and planning; participatory mapping; knowledge on socio-ecological systems.
Supervisory Team:
Primary supervisor: Neville Barrett
Co-supervisor: Nick Perkins
Additional supervisors: Jacquomo Monk
Brief project description:
A range of remote-sensing tools are being applied to the survey and description of coastal and shelf habitats and their associated biological assemblages, including multibeam mapping, towed video, drop cameras, Autonomous Underwater Vehicles, Baited Underwater Video and Remote Operated Vehicles (ROVs). ROVs have had great potential in this area but historically the expense and size of vehicles capable of adequately surveying deeper shelf habitats beyond 50 m has significantly constrained research in this area. IMAS has recently acquired a Next Gen ROV called Boxfish, with a custom stereo camera system facing downward and forwards to record benthic cover as well as benthic and epi-benthic fish assemblages. This ROV is currently being deployed at a number of locations in the Freycinet and Huon AMPs for Parks Australia as part of a wider biodiversity survey of these marine parks. This project will assess the extent that the imagery acquired is suitable for describing both benthic and fish assemblages in cross-shelf habitats, as well as providing robust estimates of cover and/or abundance for use in ongoing monitoring programs. This data may be compared with BRUV data from similar areas/habitats for fish assemblages, and with AUV-derived data for benthic sessile fauna such as sponges. Ultimately the project will assist us in informing Parks Australia of optimal and cost-effective ways to undertake inventory of species and habitats in their AMP network, and to monitor core values through time. By extension, it will also greatly assist in our understanding of the offshore habitats and assemblages that underpin important commercial fisheries in our region, including rock lobster, striped trumpeter, jackass morwong.
Skills students will develop during this research project:
The student will gain extensive experience in image annotation and associated software, an intimate knowledge of Tasmanian coastal/shelf fish species and cover forming sessile invertebrates, as well as the quantitative analytical approaches to analysing these datasets. The student will be engaging with a number of national image-related programs and developing skills in an emerging field of marine science.
Supervisor:
Project Description:
The input and dissolution of continental material to high nutrient surface waters of the Southern Ocean plays an important role in biogeochemical cycling of carbon because it alleviates iron limitation and stimulates phytoplankton growth. In remote subantarctic regions dust is an important source of dissolved iron, but close to Antarctica, dissolved iron sources include melting sea ice, icebergs calved from glaciers, and upwelled deep waters.
The Antarctic Ice Sheet is experiencing rapid changes in response to anthropogenic climate warming. Melting ice shelves and glacier retreat will increase the input of freshwater and dissolved continental material to the surface ocean, but the biological response to these changes (and therefore impact on the global carbon cycle) is unknown. However, we can study the biological and chemical response to past changes in ice sheet retreat recorded in ocean sediments to improve our understanding of how the system might change in the future.
The aim of this Honours project is to test the reliability of a geochemical method (Robinson et al. 2008) for quantifying the dissolved iron flux along the continental margin of East Antarctica. This method uniquely targets the input of dissolved material, rather than the input of total continental material. The distinction is biologically important, because phytoplankton take up dissolved iron from seawater.
Chemical leaching experiments will be carried out on surface seafloor sediments, which preserve the most recent period of sediment deposition. Two isotopes of thorium will be measured in the leachates, Th-232 which only enters the ocean from continental inputs, and Th-230 which is produced mainly from the decay of U-234 dissolved in seawater. Thorium is very insoluble in seawater and as is dissolves from continental material it rapidly adsorbs to the surface of particles, making it an excellent tracer of dissolved components.
The leaching is designed to recover only the Th that is adsorbed to the sediment particles, which should represent the 232Th/230Th ratio in the overlying seawater. The results of the leaching experiments will be compared to existing measurements of the dissolved 232Th/230Th in the overlying water column in order to assess the reliability of this method.
Supervisory Team:
Primary supervisor: Andrew Fischer – IMAS Newnham
Co-supervisor: Darren McPhee – TEER NRM-North
Additional supervisors: Ed Forbes – NRET Hobart
Brief project description:
In recent decades, long-term monitoring programs have been able to establish clear evidence of the impacts climate change is having on Australian estuaries. Recent studies have identified that climate change impacts are highly dependent on the morphology of the estuary, showing variability in the severity, rate and trajectory of change for different water quality parameters, including physical changes such as sea level rise (Palmer et al. 2018). Water bodies such as rivers and lagoons with shallow average depths are suggested to be most at risk of increasing water temperatures and increasing levels of acidity.
In many large estuaries, anthropogenic CO2-induced acidification is enhanced by strong stratification, long water residence times, eutrophication, and a weak acid–base buffer capacity. Factors that lead to increased acidification can include (but are not limited to):
In the kanamaluka / Tamar estuary, long term measurements of pH in the upper estuary have been observed to consistently decline, becoming more acidic most notably in the upper estuary. While it is acknowledged that several environmental factors can influence changes in pH (and other water quality parameters), such as freshwater inflows and acid sulfate soils, it is important to recognise that climate change is a major factor that influences water quality and acidity, and which will continue to play a significant role in water quality and ecosystem health into the future.
The aim of this research is to conduct preliminary investigations to determine the potential causes of increasing acidity in the upper kanamaluka / Tamar through supervision of an Honours student project. It is proposed that a student undertake a literature review to identify all possible causes of acidification of estuaries at a broad and local scale. This review will be complimented by a statistical analysis and spatial modelling exercise of TEER water quality data an associated catchment spatial data. This would provide a starting point to understanding the drivers of changing pH and potentially eliminate some of the possible contributors.
An additional stipend is available for this project.
Skills students will develop during this research project:
Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies
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