Postgradute Students at ILWS

Postgraduate Students

Much of the important research carried out by the Institute is undertaken by post graduate students under the supervision of Institute researchers. In some cases, their co-supervisors may be from other universities, natural resource management agencies, industry, Government and non-government organisations, or other research institutions.

Currently the Institute has over 85 PhD students who are working on an extensive range of research projects that cover a number of disciplines aligned with the Institute's research foci. A principal focus of the Institute is integrated research which contributes to improved social and environmental sustainability in rural and regional Australia.

PhD Scholarships

Accordingly each year two CSU PhD scholarship are offered each year for its Integration Programs. The programs represent a desire to engage in interdisciplinary and cutting edge research that addresses key social issues. They are:

* Sustainable Management of Environmental Assets, led by Assoc Prof Robyn Watts
* Demographic Change in Rural Australia led by Dr Gary Luck
* Vibrant rural and regional communities led by Prof Kevin Parton and Prof Mark Morrison

PhD Scholarships for 2009

The recipient of the inaugural Integration Program scholarship was Sylvia Zukowski who commenced her PhD in May 2007. Her interdisciplinary research project combines ecological and social research. Maggie Watson, whose supervisors are A/Prof Shane Raidal, Dr Tiggy Grillo (both from CSUs School of Animal and Veterinary Science) and Prof Nick Klomp, is the second recipient and commenced her PhD in September 2007. For her research project Maggie will be looking at the effects of parasites and stress from eco-tourism on the reproductive performance of seabirds. The third recipient is Anna Lukasiewicz, who is supervised by Dr Penny Davidson, Prof Kath Bowmer and CSIROs Dr Geoff Syme. Anna, who commenced her PhD in 2008, is looking at how is social justive embedded in Australian water governance institutions? The fourth recipient is Jane Roots (supervisors Dr Joanne Millar and Dr Rik Thwaites). Her study is on 'Integrating community and landscape values for planning multifunctional rural landscapes' and her research will focus on Indigo Shire in North-East Victoria where she will work closely with planners, councillors and community groups.

Accolades for research student

Sonia Graham was acknowledged for her post-graduate research work by winning the AW Howard Memorial Research Fellowship, the first social science student to receive the award since its inception in 2003. The three-year $15,000 bursary, (awarded in April 2008) will be used to finance ongoing research and field trials for her PhD which aims to tackle the working relationships that are in place to control serrated tussock, a major destructive weed in Australia. The weed spreads across farming lands, making large areas of NSW and Victoria unproductive. Her research looks at the way that farmers and government (local and state) work together to control serrated tussock. “It is unpalatable to sheep and cattle and spreads very easily, so farmers are forced to spend millions of dollars each year trying to control serrated tussock. I'll be talking to landholders, local farming groups and government agencies to look at how they can work together more effectively control the spread of it.”she said.

“Many primary producers are aware that they need to get the balance right between sustainability and productivity. They work closely with the land and know that they need to look after it to make sure that they can continue to farm it.” Ms Graham is supervised by CSU's A/Prof Ian Gray and Tom Measham from CSIRO.

Some of our students

The research work conducted by the Institute's PhD students greatly enhances the Institute's extensive research capacity. Examples of post graduate research projects include: