Two (2) MUSP PhD Scholarships ($28,082 pa.) are available for outstanding students to study the movement and health ecology of the three species of black cockatoo in Western Australia.

Western Australia’s three endemic black cockatoo species, Carnaby’s cockatoos (Calyptorhynchus latirostris), Baudin’s cockatoos (Calyptorhynchus baudinii) and forest red-tailed black cockatoos (Calyptorhynchus banksii naso) are threatened and receive special protection as Matters of National Environmental Significance (MNES) under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (1999). Threats to species survivorship for these black cockatoos are well documented, and include habitat loss and modification, urban and industrial expansion, disease, displacement by competing species, and climate shifts. Despite significant research to date, key information required to address National Recovery Plans for these species remains outstanding. The projects will use telemetry, energetics and ecotoxicology methods to further characterise movement and habitat use of all three species across the Perth-Peel Coastal Plain, the south-west forest region of Western Australia, and key breeding sites (Carnaby’s cockatoo only). The candidates will enter an established team that has been working in the field of black cockatoo health and ecology research in Western Australia for over ten years. Since 2015, our team has deployed 84 tags generating GPS/PTT and accelerometer data and more than 33,000km of movement tracks. Both projects include a significant amount of fieldwork, in addition to data curation, lab work, advanced statistical analysis using R and GIS applications, report and manuscript preparation, and public outreach.

Project 1: Movement ecology and energetics of black cockatoos.

Project 2: Movement ecology of black cockatoos including ecotoxicology studies.