PhD Scholarship - Urban Kākā Ecology and Conservation

Wellington city has regained a taonga, the kākā. However, this large forest parrot faces unprecedented threats in the city, including new diseases, unintentional poisoning, and conflict with humans. For the 'urban' kākā that now nest and forage in Wellington city, a lack of individual-based data limits our ability to understand and mitigate these current and emerging threats. The successful PhD candidate will join a research project aimed at creating the world's first artificial intelligence (AI)-based tool for recognising individual birds in complex real-world images, without the need for manual marking. The candidate will contribute directly to our knowledge of the behaviour, movement and ecology of kākā in an urban area. In addition, their PhD research will investigate new and emerging threats to kākā in Wellington, through the application of new AI-based tools for recognising specific individuals. The successful candidate will join the MBIE Smart Ideas funded project 'Recognising Taonga with AI: Facial Recognition for Kākā Conservation Management'. Tikanga Māori will underpin this mahi to ensure that the development and use of an AI tool for recognising this taonga species adhere to kaupapa Māori values. Our cross-disciplinary team consists of experts in behavioural and urban ecology (Dr Rachael Shaw), applied AI (Dr Andrew Lensen), and kairangahau Māori (Terese McLeod). The candidate will also collaborate with conservation practitioners from Zealandia Te Māra a Tāne, Wellington City Council, and Greater Wellington Regional Council to ensure the effective translation of our research into conservation management practices.