Research Institute for Environment and Livelihoods
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.
Development and assessment of a led device for continuous measurement of plant canopy reflectance spectra | Student: Andrew Esparon Supervisor: Stefan Maier/Lindsay Hutley |
Can mine site rehabilitation restore Indigenous cultural values? | Student: Will Kemp Supervisor: Sean Bellairs |
| To what extent does prescribed burning leverage unburnt habitat in subsequent years in central Australian ecosystems? | Student: Rachel Murphy Supervisor: Stephen Garnett |
Biodiversity conservation | |
Student: Manoj Bhatta Supervisor: Stephen Garnett | |
The impacts and benefits of keeping threatened elasmobranchs (sharks & rays) in public aquaria | Student: Kathryn Buckley Supervisor: Peter Kyne |
Student: Amelie Corriveau Supervisor: Hamish Campbell | |
Plants and animals we worry for: Tiwi and conservationist priorities for biodiversity management on the Tiwi Islands | Student: Thomas Duncan Supervisor: Stephen Garnett |
Smoke and Mirrors: The effect of urbanisation and fire on the bird assemblages of the Darwin region | Student: Sarah Fischer Supervisor: Andrew Edwards |
Student: Robin Leppitt Supervisor: Stephen Garnett | |
Shorebird ecology in Darwin Harbour | Student: Amanda Lilleyman Supervisor: Stephen Garnett |
Ecophysiological Specialisation of Short-Range & Widespread Gehyra Species | Student: Karlee Peacock Supervisor: Keith Christian |
Combining radar aeroecology and movement ecology to study a waterfowl population | Student: Rebecca Rogers Supervisor: Hamish Campbell |
Responses of threatened species to cat baiting in the Pilbara | Student: William Ross Supervisor: Brett Murphy |
Student: Veronica Toral-Granda Supervisor: Stephen Garnett | |
Management for the conservation of the northern quoll at Weipa | Student: Gavin Trewella Supervisor: Brett Murphy |
Communities and livelihoods | |
Student: Gianna Bonis-profumo Supervisor: Natasha Stacey | |
An evaluation of participatory approaches to community empowerment for management of mangrove-aquaculture agroecosystems in south Sulawesi, Indonesia | Student: Benjamin Brown Supervisor: Natasha Stacey |
Governance of savanna burning carbon projects: maximising beneficial outcomes | Student: Taegan Calnan Supervisor: Jeremy Russell-Smith |
Savanna fire management, resources, methods and effectiveness. A case study of the Arnhem Plateau region | Student: Jay Evans Supervisor: Jeremy Russell-Smith |
3D landscape process simulation: agent-based model applications for participatory planning and capacity building | Student: Rohan Fisher Supervisor: Stephen Garnett |
Student: Emily Gibson Supervisor: Natasha Stacey | |
Indigenous enterprise development, population ecology and phenotype variation of the tropical tree, Terminalla ferdinandiana, in the Thamarrurr region of Northern Territory, Australia | Student: Julian Gorman Supervisor: Dr Penny Wurm |
Coastal livelihoods, small scale fisheries dependance and marine conservation in Savu-Raijua district, eastern Indonesia | Student: Pia Louise Harkness Supervisor: Natasha Stacey |
| Community-based fisheries management through a gender lens: examining gendered participation in fisheries management and monitoring in Timor-Leste | Student: Jennifer House Supervisor: Natasha Stacey |
Optimising the Timor-Leste sardine fishery for enhanced food security | Student: Kimberley Hunnam Supervisor: Natasha Stacey |
Energy futures in remote Australia: energy access and livelihoods in remote aboriginal homelands | Student: Catherine Joyce Supervisor: Stephen Garnett |
Energy efficiency of houses and best practice urban design in the Top End | Student: Shokhida Safarova Supervisor: Stephen Garnett |
Towards culturally appropriate fire management in the waanyi and garawa iands: impediments, opportunities, and key challenges | Student: Katherine Van Wezel Supervisor: Jeremy Russell-Smith |
Savanna and arid ecology | |
Ants as "little things that run the world": the effect of removing a dominant invertebrate on the functioning of tropical savanna ecosystems | Student: Sarah Bonney Supervisor: Keith Mcguinness |
The influence of fire regimes on foraging efficiency in granivorous birds | Student: Sydney Collett Supervisor: Hamish Campbell |
Catchment hydrology in the wet dry tropics – what are the drivers of spring yield variability in east Sumba, Indonesia? | Student: Penelope Godwin Supervisor: Penny Wurm |
Environmental and disturbance regime constraints to carbon farming in northern Australia | Student: Linda Luck Supervisor: Shaun Levick |
Fire ecology and management of sandstone heath vegetation in north Australia | Student: Harry Macdermott Supervisor: Brett Murphy |
Competitive interactions among eucalypts and non-eucalypts tree population in the northern Australian savannas | Student: Hari Paramjyothi Venugopal Supervisor: Brett Murphy |
Community ecology of the avifauna of acacia shrublands in central Australia | Student: Bruce Pascoe Supervisor: Christine Schlesinger |
Tree hollow requirements of three arboreal mammals on the Tiwi Islands, northern Australia | Student: Cara Penton Supervisor: Brett Murphy |
Biological study of weed flora of arable crops and their organic control | Student: Muhammad Salman Quddus Supervisor: Sean Bellairs |
Does buffel grass (Cenchrus ciliaris) invasion impact plant-animal interactions in an arid system? Resource availability, bird populations and ecosystem function | Student: Ellen Ryan-Colton Supervisor: Christine Schlesinger |
Vegetated microhabitats are critical for avian access to arid zone waterholes | Student: Simon Votto Supervisor: Jenny Davis |
How do the river red gum characteristics influence the composition of animal species in central Australian riverine woodlands | Student: Erin Louise Westerhuis Supervisor: Christine Schlesinger |
Water and catchments | |
Life history of mouthbrooding freshwater fishes in northern Australia | Student: Janine Abecia Supervisor: Alison King |
Understanding the efficiency and efficacy of underwater video cameras for surveying and monitoring freshwater fishes in tropical wet lands | Student: Bryan Baker Supervisor: Alison King |
Student: Lisa Chandler Supervisor: Jenny Davis | |
Student: Julia Fortune Supervisor: Karen Gibb | |
Student: Madeline Goddard Supervisor: Lindsay Hutley | |
The biology and ecology of exploited sharks in the Northern Territory, Australia | Student: Amy Kirke Supervisor: David Crook |
Spatial and temporal distribution of Sus scrofa in Northern Territory wetlands | Student: Shandala Loving Supervisor: Hamish Campbell |
Assessing the distribution, abundance and movement of marine megafauna in Northern Territory waters, Australia | Student: Ruth Patterson Supervisor: Hamish Campbell |
Drivers of diadromous migration in tropical Australian fishes | Student: Brien Roberts Supervisor: David Crook |
The life cycle, biology, wastewater and sediment remediation of the polychaete worm marphysa fauchaldi (barra bloodworm) | Student: Alea Rose Supervisor: Karen Gibb |
Fingerprinting the origin of West Papuan mangroves blue carbon | Student: Sigit Sasmito Supervisor: Lindsay Hutley |
CO2 export from tropical river systems | Student: Vanessa Solano Supervisor: Lindsay Hutley |
Reproductive ecology of australia's wet-dry tropical freshwater fish: insights into environmental and hydrological determinants of fish production | Student: Kyle Tyler |
