We are seeking a PhD student to work on a marine acoustic habitat model for Australia’s Northwest Shelf.

There are 9 species of baleen whales that annually migrate to the NW Shelf and 18 species of toothed whales. This region has experienced strong industrial (mostly oil & gas) development over the years. CMST has >50 1-year datasets of underwater acoustic recordings from Western Australia, collected over 20 years. This dataset provides a unique record of the marine soundscape, marine fauna (fish spawning choruses, migrating whale song), anthropogenic operations (shipping, oil & gas), ocean weather (wind, storms), and changes over time. We are synthesising the lot to build an acoustic habitat model for the NW Shelf.

The process includes various steps: 1) Building a library of acoustic detectors. 2) Building a database of acoustic detections (by species, noise source, location and time). 3) Sourcing environmental covariates. 4) Exploring spatial and temporal correlations and dependencies. 5) Building the habitat model. 6) Applying the model to answer acoustic ecological questions (incl. the effects of noise).

In discussion with the PhD student, this thesis can contribute to any of the above steps and focus on one or more species and sites to study specific acoustic ecological questions. While all the data is available, there might be opportunities for fieldwork, if desired.

Supervisors: Professor Christine Erbe, Assoc Professor Robert McCauley.

Applications close 30 June 2020. Enrolment and project start: 1 August 2020. A PhD stipend (28,000 AUD/year, indexed annually) is available at CMST for the successful applicant. Eligibility: Australian permanent residents and citizens, New Zealand citizens, permanent humanitarian visa holders. The successful applicant will be expected to start as soon as is convenient, but by 1 September 2020 the latest.

Information about research conducted at CMST can be found at http://cmst.curtin.edu.au/

Please send a letter stating why you are interested in this PhD position and outlining your relevant experience, along with your CV and one reference letter, to director@cmst.curtin.edu.au