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NESP Threatened Species Recovery Hub
The University of Queensland
PhD Top-up Scholarships
Strategic decision-making for flying fox conservation on Christmas Island
The University of Queensland (UQ) is offering a PhD Top-Up Scholarships under the NESP Threatened Species Recovery (TSR) Hub
working on the conservation of the last endemic mammal on Christmas Island – the Christmas Island Flying Fox.
The Top-ups will provide the successful candidates with an additional $6,000 per year, on top of their PhD Scholarship stipend from
other sources, plus support funds for fieldwork and attendance at Hub workshops and conferences. Scholarships will be for three
years, annually renewed contingent on satisfactory progress.
This project is part of the NESP TSR Hubs Project 2.3 Enhancing threatened species outcomes for Christmas Island.
Project overview:
The Christmas Island Flying Fox is an endemic bat to Christmas Island. Surveys suggest that the Christmas Island Flying Fox has
declined by approximately 35% over the last 6 years. A number of postulated threats are associated with the decline in CIFF. While
the island has witnessed significant land use and ecological change in recent decades, none of these factors have been clearly
demonstrated to have a significant impact on flying foxes. Disturbance or predation by invasive species such as cats, rats, centipedes
or yellow crazy ants (YCA), might be contributing to population decline. It is possible that diseases, parasites or current mining
activities might be impacting on populations. Alternatively, past land clearing, habitat loss or catastrophic events such as cyclones
might be having delayed effects on population dynamics. One of these threats might be driving population decline or the cumulative
and interactive effects of a subset (or all) of these threats may be responsible. While the threats driving this decline are poorly
understood, it is timely to consider management actions that may improve the long term persistence of the species and exploratory
work that may best guide decision-making. As part of the NESP Threatened Species Recovery Hub we are looking for an excellent
PhD candidate to work on understanding the threats to this highly valued species and to use targeted ecological fieldwork and
decision analysis to provide guidance for future decisions about the management and monitoring of the Christmas Island Flying Fox
given the imminent decline predicted using current knowledge for the last remaining endemic mammal on Christmas Island. The
work will be conducted in close collaboration with Parks Australia staff on the island and with TSR Chief Investigators Dr Eve
McDonald-Madden (UQ) and Professor John Woinarski (CDU). The project will also work closely with Christmas Island Flying Fox
experts from Taronga Conservation Society Australia and CSIRO.
Eligibility
The NESP TSR Hub PhD Top-up scholarships are available to domestic and international students in receipt of an Australian
Postgraduate Award or other funded scholarship and undertaking their PhD study at UQ. The outcomes of the top-up scholarship
will be on condition of the recipient receiving an unconditional admission to the University and a full scholarship.
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Please note the dates for the next round of applications for domestic scholarships are due 22 of April 2016 and for International
Scholarships will be announced soon (most likely mid-year).
More details on these scholarships and important dates for 2016 can be found at http://www.uq.edu.au/grad-school/apply
Enquiries
For any enquiries please contact Dr Eve McDonald-Madden, Project Leader at [email protected].
Visit http://x-ed.net/ for further information on Dr McDonald-Maddens Lab.
For further information on the NESP Threatened Species Recovery Hub please visit the website at
www.nespthreatenedspecies.edu.au