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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 - The Tree-Root Microbiome Project: At The Root of Climate Proofing Forests
  • Ms Claire Allison - Thesis title - Stingless Bees as Crop Pollinators
  • Ms Sidra Anwar - Thesis title - A carotenoid-derived signal controls root architecture in Arabidopsis
  • 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 Fiona Backhouse - Thesis title - Explaining geographic variation in the elaborate vocal display of the male Albert's lyrebird Menura alberti
  • 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 Fikadu Biru - Thesis title - The effects of atmospheric CO2 on silicon accumulation, plant defensive traits and herbivore attack
  • Mr Husnain Butt - Thesis title - The Regulation of Biosynthesis of Apocarotenoids that Promote Mycorrhizal Interactions with Tomato
  • Mr Manjunatha Chandregowda - Thesis title - Aboveground-belowground linkages and carbon allocation in pasture grasses during climate extremes
  • Mr Yogesh Chaudhari - Thesis title - Regulation of C4 Photosynthesis by Sugar Sensing
  • Mr Matt Chaumont - Thesis title - Cultural evolution in lyrebirds
  • Ms Anne-Cecile Colin - Thesis title - Saving Our Species: Adaptive Capacity to Climate Change
  • Ms Isobel Colson - Thesis title - Saving Our Species: A Genetic Biobank for Threatened Waxcaps (Hygrocybe)
  • Mr Brendan Delroy - Thesis title - The Structural and Functional Diversity of Arbuscular Mycorrhiza in Australia
  • Ms Jay Delves - Thesis title -  Mycorrhizal Adaptations to Aridity and Drought in Australian Environments
  • Ms Sushmita Dhakal - Thesis title - Feast or Famine: How Australian Plants Stay Productive Under Low Phosphorus
  • 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
  • Mr Charlie Filippou -Thesis title - Bioprospecting for fungal-based biocontrol agents
  • 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
  • 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 Xin He - Thesis title - Physiological and molecular insight into fruit development and quality of Capsicum annuum L. under Smart Glass and CO2 Treatments
  • Mr Richard Hill - Thesis title - Genes beyond organisms: Using machine learning and pan-omic datasets to unravel the complex perception/response systems of plants during microbial symbiosis
  • Mr Akhter Hossain - Thesis title -  Soil Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function Relationships
  • Ms Chioma Igwenagu - Thesis title - Soil Nutrient Management & Microbial Ecology in Pasture Systems under climate extremes
  • Mr Tarikul Islam - Thesis title - How does silicon in plants affect insect effector proteins?
  • Mr Ramesha Jayaramaiah - Thesis title - Metagenomics approaches to predict efficiency of bioremediation
  • Mr Eranda Namal Jayasuriya - Thesis title - Develop crop-based sensors for real-time monitoring and control under protected cropping
  • Ms Simranjit Kaur - Thesis title - Plant-Microbiome interactions and communication
  • Mr Shiva Khanal - Thesis title - Objective quantification of national forest cover and carbon stocks in support of the REDD+ Programme - a methodological study combining remote sensing, forest inventory data and statistical modeling
  • Mr Mohammad Kibria - Thesis title - Testing urban tree performance under drier and hotter climates of the future
  • Mr Ivan Kotzur - Thesis title - Understanding and mapping how thermal and dietary constraints combine to restrict koala habitat and determine refugia
  • Mr Arjunan Krishnananthaselvan - Thesis title - Brown is the new green: Grassland responses to heat and drought
  • Ms Swathy Kumar - Thesis title -  Influence of planting density and irrigation on crop performance of sorghum varieties
  • Ms Bree-Anne Laugier-Kitchener - Thesis title - Pushing the Envelope: Does Range Size Limit Eucalypt Tolerance to Warming?
  • Ms Jiayu Li - Thesis title - Plant and Soil Microbiome Interactions
  • 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 Scott Nacko - Thesis title - Stingless Bees as Crop Pollinators (Temperate)
  • Mr Jwalit Nayak - Thesis title - A Carotenoid-derived Metabolite Regulates RNA Structure and Carotenoid Gene Expression Controlling Pro-vitamin a Accumulation in Crops
  • Ms Ellie Nichols - Thesis title - Determining the Physiological Underpinnings of Eucalypt Dieback in NSW
  • 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
  • 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
  • Mr Rocky Putra - Thesis title - The Functional Role of Silicon in Legumes: From Root Nodulation to Community level Responses
  • 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
  • Mr Carl Ramirez - Thesis title - Thermal biology and conditioning of Queensland fruit fly
  • Ms Paola Raupp - Thesis title - Barriers to Success in Ecological Restoration: Soil Health Promoting Ecosystem Function and Resilience
  • 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 Giles Ross - Thesis title - Phylogeographic Analysis of Antarctic Soil Invertebrates
  • 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 Aaranyan 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
  • 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 Magnolia Song - Thesis title - Modelling the Carbon Balance of Australian Forests
  • 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 (Phasolarctos cinereus)
  • Ms Emiko Stuart - Thesis title - The effect of mycorrhizal cheaters on plant:fungal symbiosis
  • Mr Jerzy Szejgis - Thesis title - Causes and consequences of biogeochemical mismatches during drought
  • Ms 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 trees choices regarding growth affect forest responses to increased carbon dioxide levels?
  • Mr Tomas Villada Cadavid - Thesis title -  Vulnerability of Australian Bats to White-Nose Syndrome
  • Ms Jenendra Wadduwage - Thesis title - Impacts and Mechanisms of Biostimulants on Soil Health and Crop Yield
  • Ms Melissa Walker - Thesis title - Thermoregulatory physiology, energetics, and behaviour of free-living grey-headed flying-foxes, Pteropus poliocephalus, in response to natural variation in thermal conditions
  • Ms Natascha Weinberger - Thesis title - Friends with benefits, or a reluctant threesome? Plant-microbial partnerships and their effects on crop pathogens
  • Mr John Whale - Thesis title - A scientific basis for assisted gene migration under climate change.
  • Ms Samantha Yabsley - Thesis title -  The impacts of extreme heat events on Australian flying-foxes
  • Ms Min Zhao - Thesis title - Assessing Eucalyptus forest responses to rising CO2 and climate change

Graduates

  • Doctor Yagiz Alagoz - Thesis title - Feedback Regulation of Carotenoid Biosynthesis by an Apocarotenoid Sensing RNA Structural Switch
  • Doctor Yazen Al-Salman - Thesis title - Determinants of Leaf Water Use Efficiency in the C4 Crop Sorghum Bicolor
  • Doctor Samantha Andres - Thesis title - Addressing drivers of dieback in an endangered shrub species, persoonia hirsuta
  • Doctor Sitaram Aryal - Thesis title - Characterisation of Entomopathogenic Nematodes and their symbiotic bacteria across Eastern Australia and their potential in controlling Queensland Fruit Fly
  • Doctor Vicky Austin - Thesis title - The structure and function of vocalisations in female superb lyrebirds Menura novaehollandiae
  • Doctor Kirsten Ball - Thesis title - Nutrient use efficiency and carbon sequestration in the plant-soil environment: novel application of spectral data to inform and optimise agroecosystem management
  • Doctor Kirk Barnett - Thesis title - Hidden herbivory, precarious precipitation and punished pastures: Australia's grasslands under root herbivory and altered rainfall
  • Doctor Sarah Beck - Thesis title - The spatial dynamics of below-ground fungal communities: a study of pattern and process
  • Doctor  Marvin Beckert - Thesis title - Fractionation methods to estimate the carbon sequestration potential of highly organic soils impacted by regular burning
  • Doctor Olivia Bernauer - Thesis title - Native Pollinators in Australian Apple Orchards: Pollinator Efficiency, Foraging Behaviour, Phylogenetic Diversity of Functional Traits, and Natural History
  • Doctor James Bickerstaff - Thesis title - The phylogeography and microbial ecology of Australian ambrosia beetle taxa (Curculionidae: Platypodinae and Scolytinae)
  • Doctor Aimee Bourne - Thesis title - Forest ecosystem water use: does species identity and ecosystem composition matter?
  • Doctor Eric Brenya - Thesis title - Elucidating thigmomorphogenesis: An epigenetic phenomenon of mechanical stress acclimation in plants
  • Doctor Kylie Brice - Thesis title - Bugs in "Bears"- are Mismatches between Diets and Gut Microbial Communities a Bugbear for Translocated Koalas?
  • Doctor Lisa Bromfield - Thesis title - Individual Strategies to Cope with Environmental Change: A test of the pace-of-life syndrome hypothesis
  • Doctor Courtney Campany - Thesis title - Resource allocation in Eucalyptus
  • Doctor Laura Castaneda Gomez - Thesis title - Soil organic matter dynamics under elevated CO2: mechanisms of impact
  • Doctor Karen Catunda - Thesis title - Growth and nutritive value of pastures under climate extremes
  • Doctor Anthea Challis - Thesis title - Genetic adaptation and phenotypic plasticity influence trait expression under heatwave and water deficit conditions in the foundation tree, Corymbia calophylla
  • Doctor Sachin Chavan -Thesis title - Responses of wheat photosynthesis and yield to elevated CO2 under heat and water stress
  • Doctor Jeffrey Chieppa - Thesis title - Rainfall variability, plant functional traits and productivity in grasslands
  • Doctor Ximena Ciblis Stewart - Thesis title - Down to Earth Defence: How Mutualistic Fungi Augment Silicon-based Defence Against Insect Pests
  • Doctor Zineb Choury - Thesis title - Determining the acclimation capacity of Australian rainforest trees growing in warm and cool climates
  • Doctor Donovin Coles - Thesis title - Exploration of plant and pathogen signalling during the biotrophic to necrotrophic switch in hemibiotrophic interactions
  • Doctor Nicholas Colman - Thesis title - Morphological variation and ecological interactions of Australia's apex predator (Canis dingo)
  • Doctor Federica Colombo - Thesis title - Diversity, Functioning and Stability in Microbial Communities
  • Doctor Danielle Creek - Thesis title - Understanding the coordination of hydraulic strategies with other traits in determining plant survival under drought
  • Doctor Nathalie Curlevski - Thesis title - The impacts of forest management practices and climate change on soil fungal communities.
  • Doctor Chathurika Daulagala - Thesis title - Ecological Interactions of Rhizobia and Their Effects on the Nitrogen Nutrition of Field Pea
  • Doctor Coline Deveautour - Thesis title - Effects of Precipitation Regimes on Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungal Communities
  • Doctor Namraj Dhami - Thesis title - Environmental and developmental regulation of carotenoid metabolism in Arabidopsis leaves
  • Doctor Honglang Duan - Thesis Title - How will the main and interactive effects of elevated [CO2] and elevated temperature affect tree response to drought and drought-induced tree mortality?
  • Doctor Benjamin Feit - Thesis title - Can Water Exclusion Limit the Ecological Impacts of Cane Toads?
  • Doctor Sarah Facey - Thesis title - Resilience vs. decline: precipitation and atmospheric change drive contrasting responses in invertebrate communities
  • Doctor Jonathan Finch - Thesis title - Dynamics of an Obligate Pollination Mutualism in the Australian Phyllanthaceae
  • Doctor Adam Frew - Thesis title - How the soil environment affects root feeding scarabs with particular emphasis on the canegrub
  • Doctor Caroline Fromont - Thesis title - Molecular ecology, geography and species interactions of Mycopsylla insects with their bacterial endosymbionts, parasitoids and host fig trees
  • Doctor Alice Gauthey - Thesis title - Non-Invasive Imaging of Drought-Induced Cavitation in Plants
  • Doctor Andrew Gherlenda - Thesis title -  Effects of CO2 and temperature on Eucalyptus insect herbivores from individuals to communities
  • Doctor Patricia Gilarte Padilla - Thesis title - Role of soil fauna in nitrogen cycling and plant succession in Eastern Australia natural plant communities
  • Doctor Christopher Gordon - Thesis title - Dingo (Canis dingo) extirpation and associated trophic restructuring as a mechanism influencing shrub encroachment in arid Australia?
  • Doctor Aidan Hall - Thesis title - Ecology and evolution of Cardiaspina psyllids, their bacterial endosymbionts and parasitoid wasps
  • Doctor Nicola Hanrahan - Thesis title - The acoustic ecology of the ghost bat (Macroderma gigas): form, function and applied uses of vocalisations
  • Doctor Kamrul Hassan - Thesis title - Effects of Prolonged Drought on Plant-soil Feedbacks and Implications for Plant Community Dynamics
  • Doctor Guomin Huang - Thesis title - Differential response to climate change among populations for woody plant species: An ecological and physiological approach
  • Doctor Ali Ijaz - Thesis title - Taxonomic and Environmental Annotation of Bacterial 16S rRNA gene sequences via Shannon Entropy and Database Metadata Terms
  • Doctor Walter Israel - Thesis title - Carbon isotope discrimination and stomatal function in C4 grasses
  • Doctor Vinod Jacob - Thesis title - Gas exchange and hydraulic strategies of pasture species under climate change
  • Doctor Alihan Katlav - Thesis title - Sex allocation in Kelly's citrus thrips, Pezothrips kellyanus: mechanisms, constraints and the role of endosymbionts
  • Doctor Kerry Keniry - Thesis title - Climate change impacts on ectomycorrhizal fungi associated with Australian eucalypts.
  • Doctor Peter Kern - Thesis title - Wolbachia in Eurema butterflies: endosymbiont effects on host sex ratios and population genetics
  • Mr Shiva Khanal - Thesis title - Quantifying post-fire recovery of forest canopy structure and its environmental drivers using satellite image time-series.
  • Doctor Leah Koloadin - Thesis title - Intraspecific and Interspecific Variation in the Xylem Functional Traits of Callitris Species Growing along an Aridity Gradient
  • Doctor Dushan Kumarathunge - Thesis title - Predicting the effect of temperature on tree growth
  • Doctor  Ximeng Li - Thesis title - Hydraulic traits and drought mortality risk of tree species
  • Doctor Yan-Shih Lin - Thesis title - How will Eucalyptus tree species respond to global climate change?: CO2 responses and seasonal temperature adjustment.
  • Doctor Yaojie Lu - Thesis title - Optimal and Competitive Stomatal Behaviour
  • Doctor Catarina Martins - Thesis title - Identifying drivers of greenhouse gas flux feedback responses to global change.
  • Doctor Elle McDonald - Thesis title - The Biological Importance of Individual Variation in Metabolic Responses to Environmental Conditions
  • Doctor Jennifer Morrow - Thesis title - Molecular studies of Wolbachia and sex-determination genes in Australian Bactrocera species - complementary approaches to improved fruit fly control
  • Doctor Robert Mueller - Thesis title - Characterisation of fungal symbionts and microbial communities of Austroplatypus incompertus (Platypodinae) and other Australian ambrosia beetle species
  • Doctor Duong Thi Nguyen - Thesis title -  Genetic diversity, reproductive systems and endosymbionts of two invasive thrips species.
  • Doctor Linh Nguyen - Thesis title - Cotton Farming and N Cycling: Adaptation to Climate Change
  • Doctor Josephine Ontedhu - Thesis title - Interactive effects of elevated carbon dioxide concentration, temperature and soil P on growth and physiology of eucalypts.
  • Doctor Varsha Pathare - Thesis title - Grass and herb photosynthesis and productivity in a resource-limited Eucalyptus woodland under elevated atmospheric CO2
  • Doctor Jennifer Peters - Thesis title - Hydraulic Vulnerability of Australian Forests to Drought
  • Doctor Johanna Pihlblad - Thesis title - Soil Carbon, Nutrient, and Microbial Interactions in a Phosphorus Limited Ecosystem Exposed to Elevated CO2
  • Doctor Juan Piñeiro Nevado - Thesis title - Effects of elevated CO2 on fine root dynamics and nutrient acquisition strategies under P-limitation
  • Doctor Harshini Pinto - Thesis title - Resource use efficiency of C4 grasses with different evolutionary origins.
  • Doctor Desi Quintans - Thesis title - Will legume-insect specificity break down as the climate changes?
  • Doctor Smriti Rayu - Thesis title - The interactions between xenobiotics and soil microbial communities
  • Doctor Alexis Renchon - Thesis title - Constraints on Ecosystem Carbon and Water Flux Estimates in Temperate Australian Evergreen Forest
  • Doctor Jessica Rigg - Thesis title - Microbial influences on the conservation and recovery of the Wollemi Pine
  • Doctor Rohan Riley - Thesis title - Towards a predictable framework of mycorrhizal phenotypes under environmental stress
  • Mr Giles Ross - Thesis title - Impacts of elevated CO2 and ecosystem restoration on belowground biodiversity in Cumberland Plain Woodlands
  • Doctor Bronwen Roy - Thesis title - Assessing pathogen risks to honeybees and native bees in NSW
  • Doctor James Ryalls - Thesis title - The impacts of climate change and belowground herbivory on aphids via primary metabolites
  • Doctor Julia Ryeland - Thesis title - Male parental care in the polyandrous emu, Dromaius novaehollandiae
  • Doctor Julius Sagun - Thesis title - Environmental Regulation of Energetics of C4 Photosynthesis
  • Mr Md Golam Sarwer - Thesis title - Impact of Ecological Changes on Sydney Rock Oyster Genetics and Microbiomes
  • Doctor Lena Alice Schmidt - Thesis title - Selective Enhancement of Native Flora for Diverse and Sustainable Pollinator Populations in Australian Agroecosystems under Climate Change
  • Doctor Stephen Sharpe - Thesis title - RNA Virus Diversity, Prevalence and Host Effects in Australian Tephritid Fruit Flies
  • Doctor Balasaheb Sonawane - Thesis title - Environmental regulation of CO2 concentrating mechanisms in C4 grasses with different biochemical subtypes
  • Doctor Tracey Steinrucken - Thesis title - To determine the mechanism for dieback in the invasive pant, Parkinsonia aculeata
  • Doctor Elisa Stefaniak - Thesis title - Modelling optimal plant carbon storage
  • Doctor Timothy Sutton - Thesis title - Evolutionary ecology of fig wasps associated with the Port Jackson fig
  • Doctor Christopher Todd - Thesis title - The ecology and conservation of the Christmas Island flying-fox (Pteropus natalis)
  • Doctor Sharon Towett-Kirui - Thesis title - Molecular characterisation of the twisted wing endoparasitoid Dipterophagus daci (Strepsiptera) and its interactions with Wolbachia and multiple tephritid fruit fly host species
  • Doctor Chanda Trivedi - Thesis title - Application of Ecological Theory to Explain Microbial Regulation of Soil Function
  • Doctor Jamie Waterman - Thesis title - Integrating Simulated and True Herbivory with an Emphasis on Rapidly Deployed Anti-herbivore Silicon Defences
  • Doctor Anita Wesolowski - Thesis title - The effects of drought, heat and elevated atmospheric CO2 on physiology and growth of Eucalyptus – Does climate-of-origin matter?
  • Doctor Johanna Wong - Thesis title - An exploration of the molecular signals and their effects on the belowground interaction between Eucalyptus grandis and soil fungi of different lifestyles
  • Doctor Deane Woruba - Thesis title - Characterisation and isolation of gut bacterial communities from Queensland fruit fly (Bactrocera tryoni) across different environments to improve the sterile insect technique
  • Doctor Jinyan (Jim) Yang - Thesis title - Modelling carbon uptake of Australian evergreen ecosystems under rising [CO2] and water limitation

Eucalyptus Leaf