Recruitment Opportunities
Themes and Contacts
Senior Fellowships
Research Fellowships
Doctoral Scholarships **NEW**
The Murray-Darling Basin Futures Collaborative Research Network will be recruiting for a variety of positions, at various levels, which will offer unique opportunities to work across disciplines and our partner universities that will enhance both the experience and the profile of the successful applicants in their areas of interest and career development.
These positions will provide a unique cutting edge setting and opportunity to create long-standing research networks, as well as gain exposure to the various agency partners of the CRN.
We will undertake integrated, multi-disciplinary research into Murray-Darling Basin Futures under four major themes:
| Theme | Contact(s) |
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Drivers of change - understanding and integrating the economic, social, health and environmental drivers of change in the Murray-Darling Basin |
Professor Alan Duncan Prof Helen Berry |
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Environmental watering and allocation - understanding and optimizing watering requirements, biodiversity, ecosystem services and productive water uses in the Murray-Darling Basin |
Professor Trefor Reynoldson Dr. Fiona Dyer |
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Better governance, planning and management - innovative approaches for the Murray-Darling Basin |
Professor Linda Botterill Professor Lawrence Pratchett |
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Synthesis - integrating water, communities and environment |
Professor Barbara Norman |
Senior Fellowships
Applications for CRN Senior Fellowships have now closed.
Research Fellowships
3 Research Fellowships (fixed term, UC level B2) are currently on offer in the following research projects:
• Predicting the response of water quality and groundwater dependent ecosystems to climate change and
land management practises: an integrated modelling approach
• Modelling the effects of external shocks like drought and cuts in water on wellbeing in the Murray-Darling Basin
• Modelling community adjustment to water trading in the Murray-Darling Basin
For the position descriptions and how to apply visit: http://www.canberra.edu.au/jobs/vacancies
Doctoral Scholarships
The CRN program is providing 12 generous PhD scholarships valued at AUD $26,000pa (tax exempt) as part of our individualised approach to higher degree by research training.
Eleven scholarships are currently on offer in nine CRN projects. CLOSING DATE: 23rd May 2012.
The CRN projects all provide enormous opportunity for interdisciplinary collaboration and integration whilst addressing the issue of resilience in the Murray-Darling Basin.
CRN Scholarship Information Sheet
CRN Scholarship Application Cover Sheet and how to apply
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Institute for Applied Ecology (IAE) PhD Projects |
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Paleo-temperature reconstruction for the late quaternary A PhD project is on offer to investigate paleo-temperature changes across eastern Australia since the last ice age using borehole thermometry. This project is linked to studies using climate projections to predict the response of aquatic ecosystems to future conditions and would suit a candidate with demonstrated interest and qualifications in sedimentary petrology, basin and/or thermal modelling or paleo-climate studies. |
Dr Fiona Dyer Institute for Applied Ecology T: 6201 2452
Dr Duanne White Institute for Applied Ecology duanne.white@canberra.edu.au T: 6201 2083 |
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Evaluation and implementation of an evidence-based approach for incorporating ‘best available science’ in policy development A PhD project is on offer to undertake research at the science-policy interface. Achieving beneficial ecological outcomes for the ‘science-intensive’ issues facing the Murray-Darling Basin will require relevant scientific knowledge for development and assessment of appropriate policy options while recognising the essentially political and contested nature of the policy development process. This project would suit a candidate with demonstrated interest and qualifications in environmental science and/or environmental policy.
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Sue Nichols Institute for Applied Ecology T: 6201 5408
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Conserving Biodiversity (IAE) PhD projects are on offer to undertake research on the population genetics and phylogeography of selected aquatic and riparian fauna (Australian Smelt, turtle, water rat, invertebrates) in the context of riverine fragmentation by dams and weirs in the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB). Concordant patterns of genetic sub-structuring across the broader landscape of the MDB may also be within the scope of these projects, including addressing broader questions of historical phylogeography and evolution.
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Professor Arthur Georges Institute for Applied Ecology Arthur.georges@canberra.edu.au T: 6201 5786 |
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Faculty of Business, Government & Law (BGL) PhD Projects |
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Modelling community adjustment to water trading in the Murray-Darling Basin Current water reform measures will have significant impact on some communities in the Murray Darling Basin (MDB). A PhD project is offered to conduct research into modelling community adjustment to water trading in the MDB. This project area would suit a candidate with demonstrated interest and qualifications in economics and economic modelling and policy development. |
Professor Phil Lewis Faculty of Business, Government & Law T: 6201 2705 |
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Innovative communication through social media – enabling community change Are you interested in conducting research about Social Media use in Australia? Do you want to know how Social Media can be utilised to help explore communication regarding environmental issues, such as the response to Climate Change and Water Management? This PhD project explores how social media is used by Government, community groups and residents in areas affected by water reform, influencing factors and barriers in the communication process and how Social Media can be utilised in management and government. |
Dr Matt Muskat Faculty of Business, Government & Law matthias.muskat@canberra.edu.au T: 6201 5661 |
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National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling (NATSEM) PhD Projects |
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Modelling the impacts of external shocks in Murray Darling Basin communities The impact of external shocks like drought, water availability and economic change can have a dramatic effect on the wellbeing of communities affected. This PhD project will use innovative statistical techniques to derive a model linking indicators already available in current microsimulation models (like income, poverty, education) to indicators of community wellbeing not currently available (like psychological stress, life satisfaction and other measures of subjective wellbeing). The project would suit a candidate with a demonstrated interest in measuring and modelling community wellbeing and qualifications in social or economic modelling. |
Dr Robert Tanton National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling robert.tanton@canberra.edu.au T: 6201 2769
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NATSEM and Centre for Research and Action in Public Health (CERAPH) |
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*Should I stay or should I go? Understanding drivers of migration in the Murray-Darling Basin The Migration Project focuses on the environmental, economic, social and health drivers of change affecting people in the Basin. Two CRN PhD positions are offered for what is a significant program of novel research on the drivers of migration. One PhD scholar will work primarily on development of quantitative measures and undertake significant and complex statistical, econometric and epidemiological analyses to better understand the migration decisions of households and individuals in the MDB, taking a broad view of choices over time, across space and state. The second PhD scholar primarily will take on the qualitative component of the project, engaging with communities, conducting interviews and focus groups, and analysing and interpreting qualitative data to further elucidate the ‘invisible’ psychosocial drivers of change in the MDB and to inform the refinement of quantitative measures of migration. |
Dr Brenda Dyack National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling brenda.dyack@canberra.edu.au |
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*‘Healthier places, healthier people’: An innovative approach to strengthening adaptive capacity in the Basin This study is a ‘natural experiment’ designed to help reveal whether water-related natural resource management (NRM) projects in the Murray-Darling Basin could improve the health of people as well as the health of place. One PhD scholarship is offered in the following general area: Elucidating the key features of communities that participate successfully in NRM projects; whether these projects strengthen community connectedness and capacity; which aspects of health benefit most from NRM projects and increased connectedness; and what may be the critical success factors (and pitfalls) for health and wellbeing that are amenable to policy intervention. |
Dr Jacki Schirmer Centre for Research and Action in Public Health jacki.schirmer@canberra.edu.au
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*Farmer identity and mental health in the changing Basin: Do Basin policies affect farmer adaptive capacity by influencing the ways in which farmers see themselves? This study is a doctoral project designed to help reveal whether agricultural and water-related policy settings in the Murray-Darling Basin modify how farmers see themselves and, thereby, influence their wellbeing and adaptive capacity. The scholar will employ quantitative, qualitative or GIS analyses (or a combination of all three) to address questions such as: Whether Basin policies affect how farmers see themselves (for example, as nation-builders, as environmental vandals); whether these farmers care how ‘others’ perceive them and how the media portrays them; whether their perceptions of how they are seen affect their mental health and wellbeing; and, importantly, whether these factors affect Basin farmers’ ability to adapt to adversity. * A key role for these four doctoral researchers under the Drivers of Change CRN theme will be to contribute collaboratively to the interdisciplinary team that brings together methods and techniques from Economics, Social Psychology, Psychiatric Epidemiology, Natural Resource Management and Geographic Sciences.
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Dr. Lean O' Brien T: 6201 2800
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