Expires on: 06/30/2024
Seagrasses provide numerous ecological functions and ecosystem services, including food and refuge for fish and other marine species, sediment stabilization, and carbon sequestration. They represent the most extensive coastal blue carbon sink in southern Australia. Seagrasses currently occupy over 35,000 km2 in southern Australia but face localized losses due to anthropogenic sources, marine heatwaves and other climate change related factors.
Monitoring seagrass using traditional methods (e.g. video or diving surveys) is expensive, is limited in spatial and temporal scale, and not necessarily representative of the seascape. Further there are confounding factors whose presence in ‘dark’ benthic habitats interfere with classification (e.g. reefs, bivalve beds, macroalgae, wrack).
Qualifications
We seek highly motivated candidates with interests in remote sensing and coastal ecology. The candidate will work closely with supervisors, but should have a strong and independent ability to advance their research. The project will use large volumes of satellite remote sensing data, and field observations. An ideal candidate will have experience with remote sensing, programming (e.g. R, Python, Earth Engine), analyzing gridded data, and a working knowledge of Earth Observation physics, ecology, and statistics. The candidate should have a keen interest in further developing good analytical skills during their PhD.