Closing 7 July 2025

We are seeking an enthusiastic PhD candidate to study how water in the landscape affects the abundance, distribution and breeding success of Brolga in the Murray Darling Basin, with a focus on populations in northern Victoria. The Brolga (Grus rubicunda) is a culturally significant species of crane that is endangered in Victoria because of removal and modification of the shallow, seasonally inundated freshwater wetlands in which it breeds. Today, most of Victoria’s Brolgas are found in the state’s south-west, but there is a small and potentially isolated population on the floodplains of northern Victoria that is estimated to number just 50–100 individual birds. This project will investigate the status of the northern Victorian Brolga population, its connections to (or isolation from) Brolga populations elsewhere, and priorities for conservation.

The successful applicant will join the Water, Environment and Agriculture Program, Department of Infrastructure Engineering (https://infrastructure.eng.unimelb.edu.au/) at The University of Melbourne to undertake ecological research aligned with the Flow-MER program (https://flow-mer.org.au/), which is the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder (CEWH)’s on-ground science program that assesses the impact of environmental watering actions in the Murray-Darling Basin.

The successful applicant will enjoy a range of advantages, including:
• Generous funding scheme, including industry contributions of $10,000 pa stipend top-up and $30,000 operational costs.
• Research training at the leading university in Australia.
• Working as an integral part of the Goulburn River and Northern Victorian Tributaries project team, with members from three universities, two consulting companies, two environmental management agencies, and multiple First Nations organisations.
• Studying with a cohort of PhD students embedded in the same program at similar stages of candidacy.
• Collaboration with networks of freshwater researchers, managers, policy makers, and community and First Nations groups across Victoria and the Murray Darling Basin.

For further details and to apply please see the following flyer.