The main goal of this project is to understand the role of environmental variables in influencing movement patterns of marine megafauna.

1. Summary of the project
2. Eligibility criteria
3. Readings
4. Contact the research team leader
   
5. How to apply
6. Scholarships

Summary of the project

Understanding animal movement is especially important for highly migratory species, internationally threatened or vulnerable, such as humpback whales, loggerhead turtles and whale sharks. Advancing current knowledge of marine megafauna movement patterns and ecology on which to base environmental laws for protection is imperative to minimise impacts from anthropogenic activities.

We have just commenced an exciting ARC DECRA project 'Movement patterns of marine megafauna movement at unprecedented global scales' and the PhD project will be integrant part of the larger DECRA project.

The main objective is to significantly advance global knowledge in the field of movement ecology with two main overarching goals:

1. to understand how anthropogenic activities may be affecting the movement of marine megafauna species and
2. to understand how movement data can be used in support of conservation and management.

The PhD applicant will be analysing global environmental datasets and developing statistical models to predict occurrence of marine megafauna and potential impacts from expected changes (e.g. global warming). Due to data scarcity in some areas around the globe, the candidate will also test the transferability of the models developed while predicting to new locations where data are currently missing.

Back to top

Eligibility criteria

Requirements specific to this project:

• Quantitative skills are essential - having a degree in Engineering, Maths or Physics will present an advantage, whilst a keen interest in ecological questions is desirable
• Proficiency in using GIS (e.g., ArcGIS) and knowledge of programming languages (such as R, Matlab, python or C++) is desirable
• Good understanding of statistics and statistical models is preferable

Readings

• Hays, G.C., Ferreira, L.C., Sequeira, A.M.M., Meekan, M.G., Duarte, C.M., Bailey, H., Bailleul, F., Bowen, W.D., Caley, M.J., Costa, D.P., Eguíluz, V.M., Fossette, S., Friedlaender, A.S., Gales, N., Gleiss, A.C., Gunn, J., Harcourt, R., Hazen, E.L., Heithaus, M.R., Heupel, M., Holland, K., Horning, M., Jonsen, I., Kooyman, G.L., Lowe, C.G., Madsen, P.T., Marsh, H., Phillips, R.A., Righton, D., Ropert-Coudert, Y., Sato, K., Shaffer, S.A., Simpfendorfer, C.A., Sims, D.W., Skomal, G., Takahashi, A., Trathan, P.N., Wikelski, M., Womble, J.N. & Thums, M. (2016) Key questions in marine megafauna movement ecology. Trends in Ecology and Evolution
• Oh, B.Z., Sequeira, A.M.M., Meekan, M.G., Ruppert, J.L. & Meeuwig, J.J. (2016) Predicting occurrence of juvenile shark habitat to improve conservation planning. Conserv Biol
• Rodriguez, J.P., Fernandez-Gracia, J., Thums, M., Hindell, M.A., Sequeira, A.M., Meekan, M.G., Costa, D.P., Guinet, C., Harcourt, R.G., McMahon, C.R., Muelbert, M., Duarte, C.M. & Eguiluz, V.M. (2017) Big data analyses reveal patterns and drivers of the movements of southern elephant seals. Sci Rep, 7, 112.
• Sequeira, A.M.M., Mellin, C., Fordham, D.A., Meekan, M.G. & Bradshaw, C.J.A. (2014) Predicting current and future global distributions of whale sharks. Global Change Biology, 20, 778–789.
• Sequeira, A.M.M., Mellin, C., Lozano-Montes, H.M., Vanderklift, M.A., Babcock, R.C., Haywood, M., Meeuwig, J.J. & Caley, M.J. (2016) Transferability of predictive models of coral reef fish species richness. Journal of Applied Ecology, 53, 64-72.

Back to top

Contact the research team leader

Once you have ensured that you meet the eligibility criteria and are ready to discuss a proposal, contact the research team leader to identify a potential supervisor.

Research team leader: Dr Ana Sequeira

My research focuses on the development of models to assist understanding the marine environment with strong emphasis in supporting marine spatial planning and conservation. I am an ARC DECRA Research Fellow at the Indian Ocean Marine Research Centre (IOMRC) supported by UWA and AIMS.

This project will be co-supervised by Professor Charitha Pattiaratchi (UWA) and by a collaborator from the Australian Institute of Marine Science.

Back to top

How to apply

Back to top

Scholarships

Back to top