[ES_JOBS_NET] Funded PhD position in Australia

[Ceylena Holloway]

Dear ES jobs,
We have a fully funded PhD position that we would like you to advertise for us.
Please see below:

Fully funded PhD Scholarship in Airborne Remote Sensing of Coral Reef Health and Bleaching
Location: National Marine Science Centre, Southern Cross University, Coffs Harbour, Australia
Stipend: Tax-free PhD scholarship, generous travel support for fieldwork and conference attendance.
Start Date: Start as early as possible in 2025
Background
The increasing frequency and duration of marine heatwaves, attributed to climate change, are significantly impacting marine ecosystems worldwide. In the Great Barrier Reef, climate change is causing more frequent episodes of acute warming, leading to mass coral bleaching events. Consequently, there's a pressing need for research to identify strategies to monitor the health of the ecosystem and mitigate these environmental stressors.
Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program (RRAP), is a global leader in coral reef restoration and adaptation research. The collaborative effort brings together experts from Australia and around the world to develop innovative solutions aimed at protecting, restoring, and enhancing the resilience of reefs.
One of the key research and development subprograms, the RRAP Cooling and Shading R&D Subprogram, focuses on exploring technologies to mitigate coral bleaching stress by reducing solar radiation reaching the Reef. This involves investigating methods such as marine cloud brightening or fog generation to provide shade and lessen solar radiation during periods of heightened risk for coral bleaching. Our interventions range from reef-scale applications to strategies aimed at protecting the entirety of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. Through these efforts, we aim to pioneer effective solutions to preserve and enhance the resilience of coral reefs in the face of climate change.
Project Summary
We seek a highly motivated PhD candidate to focus on using remotely sensed hyperspectral and LiDAR data to support the Cooling and Shading Subprogram. Specifically, we wish to develop techniques for high resolution airborne mapping of coral reef health, bleaching severity, and the outcomes of bleaching and interventions to mitigate bleaching. Our group operates airborne platforms including a twin-engine Cessna aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles to collect observations of fogs, clouds and coral reefs. The datasets collected include spectral mapping of the reflected light signal across 487 bins and many millions of spatial pixels requiring computationally intensive methods for analysis. The successful candidate will work to relate the patterns in the returned data to coral health metrics using in-water coral data from collaborators and/or collected during the PhD to derive new remote sensed metrics of coral health.
Additional potential project areas include the characterisation of aerosol plumes and clouds, coral reef classification and change analysis, or developing software tools to facilitate detection and processing workflows. The project will require periods of intensive field measurements, laboratory work, and data processing.
Location:
The successful candidate will be based in the National Marine Science Centre at Southern Cross University (Australia) with fieldwork taking place on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). The Centre has a world-class research group with a multidisciplinary, collaborative and diverse team of post-graduate, post-doctoral and senior researchers. The candidate will also work within the collaborative Reefs<https://www.scu.edu.au/research/catchments-coasts-and-communities/> and<https://www.scu.edu.au/research/reefs-and-oceans/> Oceans research cluster and have access to world-class facilities and infrastructure.
Selection Criteria:

  *   Excellent oral and written communication skills in English.
  *   Demonstrated ability to work well in a team.
  *   A First or Second Class Honours or Master's degree with a strong background in spatial analysis, programming, and working with geospatial datasets.
  *   An undergraduate degree in computer science, engineering, mathematics, physics, or a related field.
Desirable experience (not essential):

  *   Experience with spatial and/or spectral analysis applications (e.g., ESRI, ENVI).
  *   Experience with modelling and programming (e.g., R, MATLAB, Python, or IDL).
  *   Proficiency with machine learning algorithms to facilitate image analysis of spatial data cubes.
  *   Experience with radiative transfer modelling.
  *   Knowledge of high-performance computing environments.
  *   Previous experience working on or collecting remote sensed data sets.
  *   Experience in scientific writing or publishing.

Eligibility:
The successful applicant will need to meet the entry requirements<https://www.scu.edu.au/graduate-school/higher-degrees-research/doctor-of-philosophy/> to enrol in a PhD at Southern Cross University on a full-time basis.
The successful candidate will receive a PhD stipend at the RTP rate of AU$33,511 per annum (2025 rate indexed annually) for 3 years and 3 months. Tuition fees will be exempt and the successful candidate will need to meet the entry requirements<https://www.scu.edu.au/graduate-school/higher-degrees-research/doctor-of-philosophy/> to enrol in a PhD at Southern Cross University on a full-time basis.
This opportunity is open to International as well as Australian Domestic students. Applicants whose first language is not English are also required to meet English Language Proficiency requirements (an International English Language Test Score (IELTS) Academic (or equivalent) equal to or above 7.0, with a minimum 7.0 in writing and no other band less than 6.5.

How to apply:
Please send one PDF file to Ceylena.Holloway at scu.edu.au<mailto:Ceylena.Holloway at scu.edu.au> containing:

*         a cover letter explaining your interest in this scholarship (1 page max),

*         your CV (2 pages max),

*         relevant degree transcripts/certificates,

*         contact details for two referees and

*         and any other relevant research documents (e.g., publications/theses)
Invitation to attend an interview:
If your application is shortlisted, you will be invited to attend an interview. Further details about the interview will be provided in the invitation.
Applications will be assessed on an ongoing basis until the role is filled. We hope to commence this position as soon as possible.

[cid:image001.png at 01DC377E.A1061690][cid:image002.png at 01DC377E.A1061690]

Figure 1: renders of Bathymetric LiDAR data collected of Charity Reef, Great Barrier Reef, Australia.

Warm regards,
Ceylena Holloway
Scientific Project Manager
National Marine Science Centre, Faculty of Science and Engineering
M: 0417 0650 656
Southern Cross University
Northern Rivers, Gold Coast, Coffs Harbour
www.scu.edu.au<http://www.scu.edu.au/>


[cid:image003.png at 01DC377E.A1061690]
[cid:image004.png at 01DC377E.A1061690]<https://www.scu.edu.au/research/reefs-and-oceans/>

CRICOS Provider: 01241G
TEQSA Provider Code: PRV12043 Australian University

Southern Cross University acknowledges and pays respect to the ancestors, Elders and descendants of the Lands upon which we meet and study.

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