Research Students

Postgraduate Research

Honours

Student Bios

Research Students

James Herbert-Read (B.Sc. Marine Science, University of Sydney, 2007) I did my Honours research in the EICC examining the role chemical cues in group formation and how they vary with respect to salinity. My PhD project (APA funded) examines leadership and temporal variation in group structures in shoaling fishes. (Supervised by Assoc. Prof. Ashley Ward and Assoc. Prof. Madeleine Beekman)

Kiran Liversage (B.Sc. (Hons) Flinders University, 2007) is enrolled in a full-time Ph.D. with an APA scholarship from the University of Sydney. During honours, Kiran investigated associations of chiton species to intertidal boulder-fields of differing rock types. Kiran’s Ph.D. project aims to investigate the roles of intertidal grazer biodiversity and disturbance in regulating the under-boulder environment. (Supervised by Assoc. Prof. Ross Coleman, Dr. Will Figueira and Dr Amy Palmer)

Emily Williams (B.Sc. (Marine Science, Hons), University of Sydney, 2008) is currently enrolled in a full-time Ph.D. with a USydIS scholarship awarded by the University of Sydney. During her Honours year she investigated the distribution and movements of limpets in NSW based on size-classes. For her Ph.D., Emily aims to examine the effects of marine parasitic trematodes on their snail hosts, such as castration of the snail, if the snail can mount an immune response and how energy pathways change with infection status. (Supervised by Assoc. Prof. Ross Coleman, Assoc. Prof. Ashley Ward and Dr Fleur Ponton)

Ana B Bugnot (“Licenciatura”, University of Buenos Aires, 2008) is enrolled in a full-time Ph.D. funded by IPRS/IPS scholarships awarded by the University of Sydney. During her undergraduate thesis, Ana studied the reproductive system of freshwater crayfish for aquaculture proposes. Her Ph.D. project is focused on the invasion of the cirolanid isopod Cirolana harfordi and its habitat occurrence and biological interactions in Sydney Harbour. (Supervised by Assoc. Prof. Ross Coleman, Dr. Will Figueira and Dr Ezequiel (Ziggy) Marzinelli (UNSW))

David McElroy (B.Sc. (Hons) Marine Science, University of Sydney). My Honours research was into the effect of near-future climate change stress on intertidal starfish (‘seastars’). My PhD project (APA funded) has the working title “Biodiversity: The role of science in sustainable development” and attempts to new hypotheses relating to measuring ecological effect sizes in the context of biodiversity change. (Supervised by Assoc. Prof. Ross Coleman and Assoc. Prof. Michael Harris)

Rodrigo Roman, (Professional Marine Biologist, Universidad de Valparaiso, Chile). During my Honours years I studied the spatial - temporal abundance and distribution of microgastropods from sub-tidal hard substrata. After my years of study I was employed at the same centre (Montemar) as Research Assistant in various projects related to gastropod distribution. My PhD research (APA funded) will test hypotheses that the existing boundaries set between marine bioregions in NSW are supported (or not) under ecological experiments. (Supervised by Assoc. Prof. Ross Coleman and Dr Melanie Bishop (Macquarie))

Clarissa Fraser (B.Sc. (Hons) Science, University of Sydney) I completed my Honours in biology at the University of Sydney in 2010 studying limpet orientation on rocky intertidal shores. I have recently commenced my Ph.D (APA funded). where I will build on my honours findings by examining the behaviour which can result in a directional bias in an individual’s orientation and the possible consequences of an individual’s orientation may have for that individual. (Supervised by Assoc. Prof. Ross Coleman and Assoc. Prof. Frank Seebacher)

Michael Carsley (M.A. Business, Admin, Finance and Strategy; Uni. Washington). After working a number of years in the Finance/Business sector, I decided to do a PhD in marine biology. My project is loosely entitled “Trophic models of coral reef ecosystem communities – attempting to identify structural affects attributable to apex predators” (Supervised by Dr. Will Figueira and Dr Mark Meekan (AIMS))

Aline Sbizera Martinez (B. Sc. Oceanography, University of Rio Grande – FURG, 2005; M.Sc. Aquatic Ecology, University of Rio Grande do Norte –UFRN, 2008) is enrolled in a full-time Ph.D, funded by an Endeavour scholarship awarded by the Australian Government. She has developed research of spatial distribution of benthic fauna on rocky shores as an undergraduate at FURG, and on reef systems in the Northeast of Brazil at UFRN, having done many internships both in the North and South at a professional level in coastal and island habitats. Her Ph.D proposed study will evaluate the effects of grazing by different herbivores on the habitat structure of intertidal rockpools and how herbivores interact on the interface of rockpools and emergent rocks. (Supervised by Assoc. Prof. Ross Coleman, Dr. Richard Murphy (Australian Centre for Field Robotics) and Prof. Maria Byrne).

Matthew James Hansen (B. Sc. (Hons), The University of Sydney, 2010). During my Honours year I studied the collective movement of Australian Plague Locust marching bands, focusing on the effects of nutritional state, fungal infection and the role of cannibalism. My PhD project (APA funded) aims to examine the movement dynamics of fish shoals, taking into consideration the effects of internal and external stimuli and the conflict of interest between individuals. (Supervised by Assoc. Prof. Ashley Ward and Prof. Stephen J Simpson).

Sonia Brazao I completed my BSc in Marine Biology at the University of Lisbon in 2002 and a MSc in Marine & Coastal Studies at the University of Algarve (Portugal) in 2009. For my masters, I focused on the ecological and biochemical responses of key biological indicators species, such as the intertidal limpet Patella spp. in order to investigate its potential as an indicator of current pollution events and future climate change. I have just started my PhD and under the supervision of Prof. Ross Coleman, Prof. Stephen Simpson and Dr. Richard Murphy I will be studying the ecology of limpets on New South Wales rocky shores focusing principally on the interaction between food intake and biochemical profiles in natural and artificial habitats in order to investigate the effect of man-made structures on limpet biochemical responses.

Natalie Soars (B.Sc. (Marine Science, Hons) University of Sydney 2006) is enrolled in a full time PhD funded by a UPA scholarship from the University of Sydney and a doctoral fellowship from the Sydney Institute of Marine Science. Her honours work focused on the phenotypic plasticity of arm length in sea urchin larvae in response to food availability. For her PhD she is recording the sounds produced by sea urchins, particularly the habitat modifier Centrostephanus rodgersii, and investigating the biological and ecological significance of the sounds.

Robert Hunt (B.Sc. James Cook University of North Queensland, 1993) is enrolled in a full-time Ph.D. The research is an ARC Linkage Project supported by NSW Fisheries and the NSW Recreational Fishing Saltwater Trust Expenditure Committee (RFSTEC). His Ph.D. project is focused on developing evaluation tools that identify regulatory strategies most likely to achieve recreational fisheries management objectives and design cost-effective recreational angler surveys to measure the performance of regulation change. (Supervised by Dr. Will Figueira, Dr Aldo Steffe (NSW Fisheries) and Dr James Scandol (NSW Health Department))