UoM/CRC for Forestry PhD: Forest Health
Linking tree health and growth in Pinus radiata plantations: application to productivity assessment and Forest Health Surveillance
The Department of Forest and Ecosystem Science (University of Melbourne) and the Cooperative Research Centre for Forestry are seeking a suitably qualified and motivated PhD candidate to undertake research to examine the physical and physiological effects of Essigella attack on Pinus radiata and relate these effects to the methodologies utilized in forest health surveillance and inventory assessment programs. The aim is to develop relationships for predicting the effects of Essigella on long-term productivity. These relationships will also be used to calibrate remote-sensing imagery that is being developed to measure changes in crown condition following pest attack.
The CRC for Forestry is a national, seven-year initiative to apply next generation technologies to management challenges across the forestry business chain - from site selection to delivery of wood at mill gate. The prospective student will work together with a multi-disciplinary research team within Program 1 of the CRC. This program will research new applications of information and remote sensing technologies for planning and decision making in forest management. The student will be supervised by staff from the University of Melbourne , NSW DPI and ENSIS.
The student will be expected to develop working hypotheses that are based on the current understanding of relationships between pest attack and physiological responses to that attack. He or she will also be expected (and have a free hand) to develop the direction of the science in novel ways that advance our knowledge in this area.
The student will have access to a range of relevant supplementary data gathered by other researchers involved in CRC. A study area has been selected at Green Hills near Tumut in a plantation that is severely affected by Essigella . The student will also be encouraged to develop studies in other plantations affected by Essigella in different environments to extend the generality of the findings from the study, and also liaise with a post-doctoral fellow undertaking parallel studies with spring needle-cast “disease” in P. radiata .
For further information, please contact Dr. Peter Ades (03) 8344 5036 petera@unimelb.edu.au or Ian W. Smith (03) 9450 8647 ismith@unimelb.edu.au
