Postgraduate Research Scholarship in Applied Behavioural Ecology

The Postgraduate Research Scholarship in Applied Behavioural Ecology is a stipend scholarship for a master's by research student within the School of Life & Environmental Sciences at the University of Sydney. The scholarship supports students undertaking substantial field research in applied animal behavioural ecology and plant-herbivore interactions in and around forestry plantations in Tasmania, Australia. The research focuses on testing the effectiveness of associational plant refuges, formed by unpalatable plants or their odours, on protecting tree seedlings from browsing damage by mammalian herbivores. This research forms part of a larger project working with the forestry industry, aimed at developing ways to reduce browsing damage and increase productivity on forestry plantations. The scholarship is co-funded by bequest funds from Patrick Desmond Fitzgerald Murray and research funds from the Commonwealth of Australia represented by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (Federal) for the project 'Odour misinformation: a new way to reduce vertebrate pest damage to plantation seedlings' between Australian Forest and Wood Innovations (AFWI) and The University of Sydney.