Postgraduate Students

The Institute's higher degree research students are actively engaged in projects relevant to the current research agenda within Australia and overseas. Our cohort gain valuable experience from research-active academic staff, while contributing fresh ideas and knowledge to their chosen field.

Current Students

Please note: Students with active web site links have successfully completed their Confirmation of Candidature milestone.

• Ms Sarah Addison - Thesis title - Tree-Root Microbiome Project: At The Root of Climate Proofing Forests
• Mr Aqeel Ahmad - Thesis title - Synergistic effects of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi and Phosphorus Solubilizing Bacteria on Soil Organic Carbon Formation and Mineralization Rate in Rhizosphere and Hyphosphere
• Mr Chaminda Alahakoon - Thesis title - Effect of Elevated Temperatures and Drought Stress on Seed Germination and Functional Traits of Seedlings in the Cumberland Plain
• Ms Claire Allison - Thesis title - Stingless Bees as Crop Pollinators
• Ms Riesma Andiani - Thesis title - Understanding the Capability of Genetic Modification Technology to Rescue Citrus Industry from Huanglongbing Pathogen
• Ms Nuwanthi Arampola - Thesis title - Identifying Drivers and Mechanisms of Climate-related Tree Mortality
• Ms Diana Backes - Thesis title - The biogeography of plant heat tolerance and vulnerability to heatwaves
• Ms Alice Barratt - Thesis title - Thermal Physiology, Behaviour and Energetics of Australian Birds
• Mr Urs Benning - Thesis title - Regulation of Photosynthesis by Sugar Sensing in C₃ and C₄ Plants
• Ms Tasnim Bhuiyan - Thesis title - Mechanisms of Heat Stress Tolerance in the C₄ crop Sorghum
• Mr Avijit Biswas - Thesis title - Linking Mechanical Stress to Bioactive Carotenoid Signals that Prime Insect Resistance in Crops
• Mr Dylan Bristol - Thesis title - Enhanced ecosystem functioning of threatened ecological communities of the Cumberland Plains
• Mr Husnain Butt - Thesis title - The Regulation of Biosynthesis of Apocarotenoids that Promote Mycorrhizal Interactions with Tomato
• Mr Erick Calderon-Morales - Thesis title - Understanding the Survival of Forests Under Extreme Drought
• Ms Jyotsana Chauhan - Thesis title - Investigating the potential of blue-banded bees as managed crop pollinators
• Mr Matt Chaumont - Thesis title - Cultural evolution in lyrebirds
• Ms Anne-Cecile Colin - Thesis title - Exploring the evolutionary history of drought response in Eucalyptus species (Boxes/Ironbarks and Redgums) with genomic, environmental and phenotypic data
• Ms Isobel Colson - Thesis title - Saving Our Species: A Genetic Biobank for Threatened Waxcaps (Hygrocybe)
• Mr Claudio Cortellazzi - Thesis title - Food and Fibre Under Changing Climate Conditions: A Focus on Cotton and Capsicum
• Ms Caitlin Dagg - Thesis title - Resilience of biodiversity and ecosystem function in relation to vegetation structure in remnant vegetation
• Ms Jay Delves - Thesis title -  Mycorrhizal Adaptations to Aridity and Drought in Australian Environments
• Ms Sushmita Dhakal - Thesis title - How do Australian Native Plants stay Productive under Phosphorus-limited soils?
• Mr Sonam Dhargay - Thesis title - The Future of Australian Vegetation: Developing a Dynamic Vegetation Model for Australia
• Ms Annabel Dorrestein - Thesis title - The social organisation of the Christmas Island flying-fox (Pteropus melanotus natalis)
• Ms Garima Dubey - Thesis title -  Synthetic Biology Approaches to Improve Cotton Productivity
• Ms Sarah Fletcher - Thesis title -  Boosting C4 Photosynthesis to Climate Proof Crop Yields
• Mrs Kathryn Fuller - Thesis title - The Biogeography of Fire: Mapping Key Fuel Types Across NSW
• Ms Wajira Galhena - Thesis title - Harnessing emerging microbiome technology to improve farm productivity
• Mr Pablo Damian Gaona Cifuentes - Thesis title - Support from down under: Fostering sustainable forestry through soil microbiome management
• Ms  Sienna Grady - Thesis title - Sub-continental mapping and forecasting of nectar availability for the grey-headed flying-fox
• Ms Lea Hannah - Thesis title - Insect Pollination of Almonds
• Mr Happy - Thesis title -  Floral traits and environmental factors that affect mechanical-induced pollination, fruit development, yield and nutritional qualities in Tomato
• Ms Mahnoor Hayat  - Thesis title - Impact of Biological Amendments on Microbial Diversity and Soil and Plant Health
• Ms Meike Heuck - Thesis title - Linking Land Management and Climate Change Impacts on Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungal Diversity and Plant Growth
• Mr Akhter Hossain - Thesis title -  Soil Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function Relationships
• Ms Nodoka Izumi - Thesis title - Leaf and Wood Physiology and Biomass Allocation as Drivers of Plant Growth
• Mr Eranda Namal Jayasuriya - Thesis title - Develop crop-based sensors for real-time monitoring and control under protected cropping
• Ms Ramalka Kasige - Thesis title - Build a Better Plant: Using Silicon to Augment Crop Defence Against Australia’s Newest Pest
• Mr Mohammad Kibria - Thesis title - Testing urban tree performance under drier and hotter climates of the future
• Ms Isabelle Kite - Thesis title - Pasture Nutrition and Associated Greenhouse Gas Emissions Potential Under Climate Extremes
• Mr Ivan Kotzur - Thesis title - Understanding and mapping how thermal and dietary constraints combine to restrict koala habitat and determine refugia
• Ms Swathy Kumar - Thesis title -  Influence of planting density and irrigation on crop performance of sorghum varieties
• Ms Nor Azizah Kusai - Thesis title - Soil Microbial Mechanisms Regulating Gas Fluxes with Climate Change
• Ms Bree-Anne Laugier - Thesis title - Pushing the Envelope: Does Range Size Limit Eucalypt Tolerance to Warming?
• Ms Jiayu Li - Thesis title - Plant and Soil Microbiome Interactions
• Mr Xuqing Li - Thesis title - The story of silicon in geo-biochemistry: how does it affect litter decomposition?
• Mr Josh Lee - Thesis title -  Integrating Functional Diversity into Conservation Stewardship Programs
• Mr Solomon Maerowitz-McMahan - Thesis title - From Ashes to Insights: Mycorrhizal Fungi Role in Post-Fire Landscapes
• Mr Premchand Maisnam - Thesis title - Drought impacts on microbial assemblage structure and functional attributes
• Mr William McNeice - Thesis title - Biogeography of Plant Traits that Govern Bushfire Risk and Drought Vulnerability
• Ms Anu Middha - Thesis title -  Anatomy and Physiology of the Leaf Cuticle – The Crucial Barrier to Desiccation
• Mr Ram Mohan - Thesis title - A Cross-continental Comparison of Drivers of Flying-fox Urbanisation
• Mr Jwalit Nayak - Thesis title - A Carotenoid-derived Metabolite Regulates RNA Structure and Carotenoid Gene Expression Controlling Pro-vitamin A Accumulation in Crops
• Mr Ephrem Ngendahimana - Thesis title - Understanding Mechanisms Underpinning Climate Resilience in Managed Pasture Systems
• Ms Ellie Nichols - Thesis title - Determining the Physiological Underpinnings of Eucalypt Dieback in NSW
• Ms Farzana Nowrin - Thesis title - Unravelling the interactions between silicon and conventional fertilisers on rice plant growth and herbivore susceptibility
• Mr Onyeka P Nzie - Thesis title - Pollination efficacy, foraging behaviour and colony health of Australian stingless bees as pollinators in glasshouse strawberry production
• Ms Efenaide Okoh - Thesis title - Boosting Diagnostics for Plant Production Industries using: Xanthomonas as a model organisms for increasing bacterial diagnostic capacity
• Mr Osazee Oyanoghafo - Thesis title - Vulnerability and adaptive capacity of Proteaceae family to drought
• Mr Lucky Paudel - Thesis title - National Tree Genomics - Functional genotype predicition for horticulture
• Mr Prashant Paudel - Thesis title - Improved Modelling of plant competition through traits
• Mr Kedharnath Pengani - Thesis title -  Soil Biotic Interaction and their Roles in Nutrient Transformations of Agricultural Soil
• Ms Victoria Perez - Thesis title - Can we explain Eucalyptus drought vulnerability from climate-origin, life history and functional traits?
• Ms Mahfuza Pervin - Thesis title - Deciphering how mechanical stress can prime plant defence mechanisms and train a hardier crop plant
• Ms Caroline Ponsonby - Thesis Title - Flies as Crop Pollinators
• Mr Sanjay Pradhan - Thesis title -  Microbiome Interactions of Australian and Indian Fruit Fly Species
• Ms Simin Rahmani - Thesis title - Tree mortality and forest recovery following unprecedented drought and bushfires
• Ms Kumari Rajapaksha - Thesis title - Searching for Meaningful Belowground Indicators of Heath in Threatened Ecological Communities
• Ms Paola Raupp - Thesis title - Barriers to Success in Ecological Restoration: Soil Health Promoting Ecosystem Function and Resilience
• Mr Sajjad Reyhani Haghighi - Thesis title - The Interactive Effect of Climatic Events on Si-based Defence Against Herbivory
• Mr Alejandro Rios Villamil - Thesis title - Diet Sexual Conflict and the Evolution of Lifespan in the Sexes
• Ms Katie Rolls - Thesis title - Local adaptation and species distribution limits along climatic gradients
• Mr Rogelio Rosales García - Thesis title - Foraging behaviour and behavioural rhythms in blue-banded bees
• Mr Giles Ross - Thesis title - Phylogeographic Analysis of Antarctic Soil Invertebrates
• Ms Rhiannon Rowe - Thesis title - Can silicon supplementation relieve salinity stress and herbivory simultaneously?
• Mrs Amy Rowles - Thesis title - Seasonal Migration of Australian Tree Roosting Microbats
• Ms Sunayana Sajith - Thesis title - Interdisciplinary studies on the uptake of new approaches to crop pollination
• Mr Shahasad Salam - Thesis title - Role of Sugar Sensing in Regulating C₄ Photosynthesis
• Ms Aaranya Sekaran - Thesis title - Predicting Vegetation Dynamics in Australia's Arid Zone
• Ms Mahmuda Sharmin - Thesis title - Urban Vegetation: Towards Cooler, Biodiverse Cities of the Future
• Ms Sindhu Sheoran - Thesis title - Effects of Landscape Scale Floristic Diversity on Pollinator Performance and Crop Pollination Efficiency
• Ms Romika  Shrestha - Thesis title - Microbiome Management: Using Myco-centric Advances to Boost Sustainability of Pine Forestry
• Mr Davide Siclari - Thesis title - Which Plants Use Transpiration to Survive Heatwaves
• Mr Charan Singh - Thesis title - Influence of Plant Microbiome on Rhizospheric Biochemistry Under Drought Conditions of Wheat Crop
• Mr Gaurav Singh - Thesis title - Stingless Bees as Crop Pollinators
• Mr Pankaj Singh - Thesis title - Plant and Soil Microbiome Interactions
• Ms Amy Smart - Thesis title - Sensitivity of Gondwanan Rainforest recovery to drought and fire
• Ms Hannah Smart - Thesis title - Evolution of Dynamic Anti-predator Behaviour of Insects
• Ms Dhruthi Somesh - Thesis title - Harnessing Microbes to Boost Drought Tolerance in Grasses
• Ms Dharini Sudha Venkatesh - Thesis title - Study of Pollination Efficiency of Native Stingless Bees on Mango Cultivars and the Impact of Climate Change on Phenology of Mango Cultivars and Distribution of Stingless Bees in India and Australia
• Ms Mekala Srinivasan Manivannan - Thesis title - Functional Genetics in Horticulture Using Viral Induced Gene Regulation
• Mr Matthew Stanton - Thesis title - The Influence of Weather on the Diet, Behaviour and Physiology of the Marsupial Arboreal Folivore, the Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus)
• Mr Jerzy Szejgis - Thesis title - Causes and consequences of biogeochemical mismatches during drought
• Mr Pankaj Tiwari - Thesis title - Understanding microbial-mediated soil CO2 and CH4 fluxes and their response to climate change in a grassland ecosystem
• Mr Amir Tourani - Thesis title -  Reproductive Manipulations and Population Dynamics of Endosymbionts in Haplodiploid Thrips and Their Application in Pest Management
• Mr Emmanuel Ugwu  - Thesis Title  - Prioritisation of sites through shared social, cultural and conservation values
• Mx Cloud Vacca - Thesis title -  Developing Novel Technologies to Bolster Plant Resistance to Fungal Pathogens
• Ms Klaske van Wijngaarden - Thesis title - From branch to forest to globe: how do tree choices regarding growth change forest response to elevated CO2?
• Mr Tomas Villada Cadavid - Thesis title -  Vulnerability of Australian Bats to White-Nose Syndrome
• Ms Natascha Weinberger - Thesis title - Friends with benefits, or a reluctant threesome? Plant-microbial partnerships and their effects on crop pathogens
• Ms Samantha Yabsley - Thesis title -  The impacts of extreme heat events on Australian flying-foxes
• Mr Niraj Yadav - Thesis title - Liquid Gold – Understanding Plant and Soil Interactions with Nutrients in a Circular Economy
• Ms Min Zhao - Thesis title - Assessing Eucalyptus forest responses to rising CO₂ and climate change

Graduates (opens in a new window)