Current postgraduate projects
Our 50+ PhD and Masters students are working across northern Australia, in Timor-Leste, Indonesia, Nepal, Ecuador and other locations.
Project topics range from the life history of mouth brooding fish, to food security, carbon farming, climate change and more.
Project supervisors are world-renown in their fields and welcome interest from new students. If you are inspired by these projects CDU is keen to accommodate your needs and link you with funding opportunities.
Current postgraduate projects, sorted by degree, research area, and alphabetically by student's first name
Honours projects
| Assessment of Aquatic Environmental DNA in Northern Australia | Student: Madeline Prince Supervisor: Dylan Irvine |
| Understanding microbial communities and antimicrobial resistance genes in environmental samples from the Darwin region using environmental DNA | Student: Noor Ul Ain Rashid Supervisor: Maxine Piggott |
| The impacts of cane toads on the distribution of a variety of vertebrates across northern Australia | Student: Amy Pilmore Supervisor: Brett Murphy |
| Evaluating the short-term success of a translocation of brush-tailed rabbit-rat (Conilurus penicillatus) onto an offshore island at Cobourg Peninsula | Student: Bryn Pickering Supervisor: Sam Banks |
| Kinship dynamics of critically endangered freshwater sawfish in the Daly River | Student: Sam Amini Supervisor: Peter Kyne |
| Bringing computational chemistry to the senior secondary classroom: the impact of molecular modelling software on student understanding in chemistry | Student: Axel Milne Supervisor: Vinuthaa Murthy |
| How does wind impact sheep grazing patterns in arid environments? | Student: Samantha Connor Supervisor: Beth Penrose |
| A review of catchment management strategies: Towards an adaptive management plan in the Lower Burdekin Delta | Student: Joel Smith Supervisor: Dylan Irvine |
Masters projects
| Validating the use of diffuse gradients on thin films (DGT) for metals in the softwater creeks of northern Australia | Student: Claudia Tanneberger Supervisor: Bogdan Dlugogorski |
| Contribution of Bushfire Smoke to Greenhouse Gas Emissions and its Effect on Human Health and Other Living Beings in the Northern Territory | Student: Hafsa Nipa Supervisor: Andrew Edwards |
| Ecological Outcomes and Livelihood Benefits of Million Fruit Tree Plantation: A Case Study from Bhutan | Student: Sangay Dendup Supervisor: Kamaljit Sangha |
PhD projects
Biodiversity Conservation | |
| The role of disturbances in the distribution and resilience of the savannah-forest mosaics of Asia | Student: Áine Nicholson Supervisor: Lindsay Hutley |
| Identifying and Conserving Critical Shark Habitat through a Multidisciplinary Approach | Student: Adriana Gonzalez Pestana Supervisor: Peter Kyne |
| eDNA and metabarcoding of terrestrial invertebrates as bioindicators in environmental monitoring | Student: Allyson Malpartida Supervisor: Alan Andersen |
| Microbial source tracking and environmental factors influencing Enterococci contamination in recreational waters | Student: Amy Cook Supervisor: Karen Gibb |
| Crane Migration and Stopover Site Ecology in the Central Flyway of North America | Student: Andrew Caven Supervisor: Stephen Garnett |
| Implementing deep learning architectures to extract vegetation species composition from drone-based hyperspectral images. | Student: Andrew Esparon Supervisor: Lindsay Hutley |
| Attitudinal and behavioural changes in audiences caused by the experience of environmental art | Student: Anthony Albrecht Supervisor: Stephen Garnett |
| Examining shark and ray catches in small-scale fisheries of the Riau islands to inform conservation planning of a critically endangered wedge fish | Student: Benaya Simeon Supervisor: Peter Kyne |
| Global science: governance, equity & diversity | Student: Claire Johnston (CJ) Supervisor: Stephen Garnett |
| Management of global fisheries to aid the conservation of sharks | Student: Dave Drynan Supervisor: Stephen Garnett |
| Whether nest temperatures of Flatback and Olive Ridley sea turtles influence hatchling size and eye colour | Student: Ella-Monique Mason Supervisor: Carla Eisemberg |
| Threatened Marine Species Bycatch Mitigation in Northern Australian Fisheries | Student: Emily Taljaard Supervisor: Joni Pini-Fitzsimmons |
| Investigating the interactions of threatening processes that drive mammal population trends on the Tiwi Islands | Student: Georgie Neave Supervisor: Brett Murphy |
| The effectiveness of the northern long-necked turtle as an umbrella species in the conservation of wetland ecosystems in northern australia, and feasibility of commercialization through understanding nest ecology and incubation | Student: Helen Truscott Supervisor: Erica Garcia |
| Brush-tailed rabbit-rat island translocation | Student: Josh Magro Supervisor: Teigan Cremona |
| Movement ecology and natural mortality of threatened river sharks: informing conservation planning. | Student: Julia Constance Supervisor: Peter Kyne |
| Investigating the connection between individual-based movements and population dynamics of grass finches in northern Australia | Student: Mara Franziska Muller Supervisor: Hamish Campbell |
| Effects of climate and oceanographic change on tropical marine fish and fisheries | Student: Matthew Hammond Supervisor: Keller Kopf |
| Spatial characterization of physiognomic properties of African savanna vegetation for quantification of bushfire emissions and the impact of the African elephant (Loxodonta africana) | Student: Othusitse Lekoko Supervisor: Jeremy Russell-Smith |
| Ecology and conservation genetics of the endangered northern hopping-mouse (Notomys aquilo) | Student: Paul Barden Supervisor: Sam Banks |
| Assessing the potential of social networks in conservation of biodiversity of the Ganga riverscape | Student: Srishti Badola Supervisor: Kamaljit Sangha |
| Governance of savanna burning carbon projects: maximising beneficial outcomes | Student: Taegan Calnan Supervisor: Jeremy Russell-Smith |
| Developing AI-Assisted Long-Range UAV Surveys to Monitor Tropical Wetland Ecosystems | Student: Tayhlia Casey Supervisor: Hamish Campbell |
| Response of the glossy black cockatoo to the catastrophic 2019-20 Kangaroo Island fires | Student: Trish Mooney Supervisor: Stephen Garnett |
| Microbiota and tropical rock oyster health | Student: Zarah Tinning Supervisor: Anna Padovan |
Communities and Livelihoods | |
| Optimising coastal marine debris management through RPAS remote sensing and AI-enabled solutions | Student: Aliesha Hvala Supervisor: Hamish Campbell |
| Spatial analysis identifying where in the Northern Territory is suitable for sustainable development of utility-scale solar farms | Student: Billee McGinley Supervisor: Stephen Garnett |
| Forest-based climate change adaptation for reducing local people's vulnerability | Student: Getahun Mengesha Supervisor: Kamaljit Sangha |
| Ecological processes compromising the consumption of long-necked turtles (Chelodina oblonga) in the Finniss River floodplain, Northern Territory, Australia | Student: Isabel Ely Supervisor: Stephen Garnett |
| Centring on a Biocultural Framework: A Case for Utopia Eastern Anmatyerr and Alyawarr determined Desert Habitat Method benefits | Student: Nicole Boyd Supervisor: Kamaljit Sangha |
| Changing times, changing tides: Women's engagement in the Northern Territory seafood sector | Student: Nilanjana Biswas Supervisor: Natasha Stacey |
| Vulnerability, resilience and adaptation to Sama-Bajo women fisher livelihood disruptions in Indonesia | Student: Nur Isiyana Wianti Supervisor: Natasha Stacey |
| Developing ecosystem services based economic opportunities for indigenous communities in northern Australia | Student: Oscar Metcalfe Supervisor: Kamaljit Sangha |
| Connections between the wellbeing of indigenous communities and their lands. | Student: Samy Leyton Supervisor: Kamaljit Sangha |
Northern Agriculture | |
| Development of aquaculture techniques for Black Jewfish (Protonibea diacanthus), a new species to aquaculture in Australia | Student: Andrea Taylor Supervisor: Sunil Kadri |
| Rapid diagnosis of root-knot nematode races through an epigenetic and multi-genomic approach | Student: Avalon Yennefer Supervisor: Maxine Piggott |
| Enhancing the resilience of the Northern Territory's rain-fed cotton: A comprehensive approach to yield prediction and water management | Student: Jyothi Bhandari Supervisor: Stephen Xu |
| Implementing silage methods for Bali cattle nutrition and management of seasonal feed gap in East Timor: implications for cattle health | Student: Maria Ortiz Rodriguez Supervisor: Beth Penrose |
| Post-release Mortality and Behaviour of Recreationally Captured Reef Fish | Student: Michael Usher Supervisor: Sunil Kadri |
| Crop monitoring in the NT through remote sensing applications | Student: Pablo Arriaga Velasco Aceves Supervisor: Stephen Xu |
| Unlocking the adaptive strategies of cotton under high soil temperature and nutrient scarcity stress | Student: Saidur Rahman Supervisor: Stephen Xu |
| Understanding gene flow and population structure in an animal disease insect vector | Student: Tomoko (Tomo) Okazaki Supervisor: Maxine Piggott |
| Using Cotton Grain and Cattle Waste to Grow Mushroom for Circular Economy | Student: Waseem Ahmed |
| Recycling of Inorganic Materials from Remote Agricultural Properties in Northern Territory, Australia | Student: Wesley Van Zanden Supervisor: Beth Penrose |
Savanna and arid ecology | |
| Fine-scale fire management for biodiversity conservation on the Arnhem Plateau | Student: Edward Blackwood Supervisor: Brett Murphy |
| Impact of buffel grass invasion on vertebrates in arid and semi-arid areas | Student: Maddison Stuart Supervisor: Christine Schlesinger |
| Feral cat ecology and management on the Tiwi Islands | Student: Ned Ryan-Schofield Supervisor: Brett Murphy |
| Improving desert fire management with culturally directed science | Student: Stephanie Lee Supervisor: Brett Murphy |
Water and Catchments | |
| Predicting gaseous evasion from streams across tropical Australia | Student: Adam Rexroade Supervisor: Clement Duvert |
| Rainfall characterisation to inform hydrological and hydrogeological insights across northern Australia | Student: Candy Duff Supervisor: Dylan Irvine |
| Climate change, river flows and predator trophic ecology in tropical river-floodplains of northern Australia | Student: Colton Perna Supervisor: Keller Kopf |
| Future climate change impacts on North Australia water resources | Student: Frédérique Mourot Supervisor: Dylan Irvine |
| Using Remote Sensing to Map Groundwater-Dependent Vegetation in Semi-arid Regions of the Northern Territory | Student: James Pike Supervisor: Richard Crabbe |
| Buffering the rising tide: Mangrove sediment response to accelerating sea level rise in Australia | Student: Madeline Goddard Supervisor: Lindsay Hutley |
| PFAS removal from water using hydrotalcite and hydrotalcite nanoparticles | Student: Maria Ali Supervisor: Vinuthaa Murthy |
| Investigating the impacts of feral animals (buffalo and pigs) on wetland carbon cycling in Arnhem Land | Student: Matilda Southgate Supervisor: Clement Duvert |
| Climate Change and Water Extraction Impacts on Wetlands Condition in Northern Australia | Student: Porni Mollick Supervisor: Kaline De Mello |
| Exploring continental-scale groundwater-related processes using Australia-wide hydrogeochemical data | Student: Stephen Lee Supervisor: Dylan Irvine |
Available postgraduate projects
Are you interested in doing a research project? If so, find out what projects we have available. If you’d rather bring your own idea, simply contact a supervisor working in that area.
What's on offer