Available Honours and Coursework Master's Projects - School of the Environment

Please see a list of available projects below. You can find more information about how to apply on our webpage. These projects may also be suitable or adjusted for undergraduate or Coursework Master's projects. Please discuss this with the academic contact listed on the project.

You may wish to search for a relevant supervisor or research theme using the search bar below.

Our searchable research themes are:

Biodiversity and conservation science
Earth science and resources
Ecology genetics and evolution
Environmental management
Geography
Marine biology and ocean science
Science Education and Communication
Zoology and wildlife biology

You can also browse research projects in water quality improvement programs with the Reef Catchment Science Partnership (RCSP).

Using coral geochemistry to interpret the effects of local environmental gradients on palaeoenvironmental data

Theme: Marine biology and ocean science; Earth Sciences
Contact: Greg Webb
Using acoustic data (frog call recordings) to understand the distribution and habitat preferences of threatened amphibian species

Theme: Biodiversity and conservation science, Ecology genetics and evolution, Environmental management, Zoology and wildlife biology
Contact: Laura Grogan
Using a High-Resolution Ocean Model to Understand the Oceanographic Context of the Moreton Bay-Coral Sea System During Drought and Flood Regimes

Theme: Earth science and resources, Marine biology and ocean science
Contact: David Gwyther
Unveiling the Hidden Role of Organic and Particulate Nutrients in Australian Waterways

Theme: Environmental management, Marine biology and ocean science
Contact: Leslie Huang / Helen Bostock
Unravelling the Omnigenic Model of Evolution: Integrative Network and Regression Analyses

Theme: Ecology genetics and evolution
Contact: Daniel Ortiz-Barrientos
Unravelling Climate Cyclicity in Permian Peat Mires

Theme: Earth science and resources, Environmental management, Geography
Contact: Joan Esterle
Understanding Urban Scooter Behaviour

Theme: Geography
Contact: Thomas Sigler
Understanding the Persistence of Antibiotic Resistance Bacteria

Theme: Ecology genetics and evolution
Contact: Andrew Letten
Understanding bird community condition

Theme: Biodiversity and conservation science
Contact: Hannah Fraser
The Language of Attraction: How Do Plants Attract Symbionts?

Themes: Biodiversity and conservation science, Ecology genetics and evolution, Environmental management
Contact: Paul Dennis
The Evolution of Redundancy During Parallel Polygenic Adaptation

Theme: Ecology genetics and evolution
Contact: Daniel Ortiz-Barrientos
Tadpoles as a reservoir of the lethal frog chytrid fungal disease – measuring sublethal effects on growth, behaviour, time to metamorphosis and ability to forage (mouthpart loss)

Theme: Biodiversity and conservation science, Ecology genetics and evolution, Environmental management, Zoology and wildlife biology
Contact: Laura Grogan
Sustainability and Communication in Livestock Industries

Theme: Environmental management
Contact: Bradd Witt
Subsurface rock reactions in geological energy storage

Theme: Earth science and resources
Contact: Julie Pearce
State of In-situ Stress and Fractures in the Bowen-Surat Basins, Queensland: Implications for Fault Stability

Theme: Earth Science and Resources
Contact: Mojtaba Rajabi
Singapore Daisy seedbank dynamics

Theme: Ecology genetics and evolution, Zoology and wildlife biology
Contact: Gurion Ang
Singapore daisy floodwater dynamics

Theme: Ecology genetics and evolution, Zoology and wildlife biology
Contact: Gurion Ang
Scientific visualization for communication and outreach

Theme: Geography
Contact: Helen Bostock Lyman
Release of Micro and Nanoplastics from Plastic Products: Comparing Recycled and Non-Recycled Materials

Theme: Environmental Management
Contact: Helen Bostock
Reconstructing Holocene environmental history for Noosa estuarine lakes from sediments and microfossils

Theme: Earth science and resources, Geography, Marine biology and ocean science
Contact: Annie Lau
Quantifying mineral systems analysis using networks

Theme: Earth Science and Resources
Contact: Carlos Spier
Potential of Household Filtration Systems for Removing Nanoplastics from Drinking Water

Theme: Environmental Management
Contact: Helen Bostock
Ombrotophism in the Jurassic Walloon Coal Measures

Theme: Earth science and resources, Geography
Contact: Joan Esterle
Modelling the Persistence of Antibiotic Resistance Bacteria

Theme: Ecology genetics and evolution
Contact: Andrew Letten
Mineralogy and environmental geochemistry of the Elverdton Cu-Au tailings, WA

Theme: Earth Science and Resources, Environmental Management
Contact: Carlos Spier
Mineral carbonation of bischofite waste from lithium extraction.

Theme: Earth science and resources, Environmental management
Contact: Gordon Southam
Microbial Diversity Along a pH Gradient

Themes: Biodiversity and conservation science, Ecology genetics and evolution, Environmental management
Contact: Paul Dennis
Microbial Diversity Along a 750 km Drought Gradient

Themes: Biodiversity and conservation science, Ecology genetics and evolution, Environmental management
Contact: Paul Dennis
Mental Health Genetics in C. elegans

Theme: Ecology genetics and evolution
Contact: Paul Ebert
Measuring resistance versus tolerance to infection of barred frogs to the devastating chytrid fungal disease to improve management outcomes

Theme: Biodiversity and conservation science, Ecology genetics and evolution, Environmental management, Zoology and wildlife biology
Contact: Laura Grogan
Measuring bycatch in the Moreton Bay prawn trawl fishery

Theme: Biodiversity and conservation science, Earth science and resources, Environmental management, Marine biology and ocean science
Contact: Leslie Roberson
Mate recognition and hybridization of cochineal lineages

Theme: Ecology genetics and evolution, Zoology and wildlife biology
Contact: Gurion Ang
Linking Ecosystem Functions to Uncultured Microorganisms

Themes: Biodiversity and conservation science, Ecology genetics and evolution, Environmental management
Contact: Paul Dennis
Lagocheirus funestus distribution and impact on cactus biocontrol

Theme: Ecology genetics and evolution, Zoology and wildlife biology
Contact: Gurion Ang
Isolation of Plant Stress Tolerance Enhancing Microbes

Themes: Biodiversity and conservation science, Ecology genetics and evolution, Environmental management
Contact: Paul Dennis
Is climate change affecting Queensland’s climate?

Theme: Geography
Contact: Helen Bostock Lyman
Investigating Micro and Nanoplastics in Australian Cosmetics and Personal Care Products

Theme: Environmental Management
Contact: Helen Bostock
Investigating Micro and Nanoplastics in Australian Bottled Water

Theme: Environmental Management
Contact: Helen Bostock
Indigenous Food Sovereignty beyond humans: Migratory bird perspectives

Theme: Biodiversity and conservation science, Ecology genetics and evolution, Environmental management, Geography, Marine biology and ocean science, Science education and communication, Zoology and wildlife biology
Contact: Coen Hird
Impacts of Magmatic Intrusions on Vertical Stress in Sedimentary Basins

Theme: Earth Science and Resources
Contact: Mojtaba Rajabi
Impacts of chytrid fungus on the survival of juvenile endangered Fleay’s barred frogs, Mixophyes fleayi, and importance for population recruitment

Theme: Biodiversity and conservation science, Ecology genetics and evolution, Environmental management, Zoology and wildlife biology
Contact: Laura Grogan
Impact of insect predation on cochineal biological control

Theme: Ecology genetics and evolution, Zoology and wildlife biology
Contact: Gurion Ang
Hybridization Dynamics and Coancestry Analysis in Spatially Structured Populations: A Computational Approach

Theme: Ecology genetics and evolution
Contact: Daniel Ortiz-Barrientos
How will climate change impact agriculture in Queensland?

Theme: Geography
Contact: Helen Bostock Lyman
How to Measure Fitness of Bacteria?

Theme: Ecology genetics and evolution
Contact: Jan Engelstaedter
Growing Sustainable and Affordable Australian Cities amid Climate Change

Theme: Environmental management, Geography
Contact: Frank Zou
Gene Exchange in Bacteria: How and When Does it Happen?

Theme: Ecology genetics and evolution
Contact: Jan Engelstaedter
Fracture and Mechanical Stratigraphy in Bowen-Surat Basins, Queensland

Theme: Earth Science and Resources
Contact: Mojtaba Rajabi
Exploring the Evolution of Genetic Architecture in Plants: A Tensor and Hypergraph Approach to Gravitropism

Theme: Ecology genetics and evolution
Contact: Daniel Ortiz-Barrientos
Exploring bacteria-phage dynamics under antibiotic pressure

Theme: Ecology genetics and evolution
Contact: James Orr
Environmental tolerance of cochineal insects

Theme: Ecology genetics and evolution, Zoology and wildlife biology
Contact: Gurion Ang
Environmental geochemistry of the abandoned Normanby Mine, QLD

Theme: Earth science and resources, Environmental management
Contact: Carlos Spier
Eco-evolutionary Dynamics of Urinary Tract Infections

Theme: Ecology genetics and evolution
Contact: Jan Engelstaedter
Does prior exposure make frogs more or less vulnerable to the fungal skin disease, chytridiomycosis?

Theme: Biodiversity and conservation science, Ecology genetics and evolution, Environmental management, Zoology and wildlife biology
Contact: Laura Grogan
Digging into the Past: Exploring Early Humans in Southeast Asia

Theme: Earth science and resources, Geography
Contact: Gilbert Price
Determination of antimicrobial compounds and their metabolites in the Brisbane River

Theme: Environmental Management
Contact: Jake O'Brien / Ryan Turner
Coupling Organic Microscopy and Palynology to Track Succession in Modern Peats

Theme: Earth science and resources, Environmental management, Geography
Contact: Joan Esterle
Conservation ecology and social system of brush-tailed phascogales and yellow-footed antechinus at Hidden Vale

Theme: Biodiversity and conservation science, Ecology genetics and evolution, Zoology and wildlife biology
Contact: Diana Fisher
Coastal Erosion or Accretion Under Sea Level Rise? Shoreface Sand Supply to Beaches in QLD.

Themes: Geography, Marine biology and ocean science
Contact: Dan Harris
Climate Change and Migration

Themes: Environmental management, Geography
Contact: Aude Bernard
Can wastewater analysis be used to understand patterns, processes and determinants of human migration and mobility?

Theme: Geography
Contact: Jake O'Brien / Elin Charles-Edwards
Biogeography of Microbially Mediated Ecosystem Services

Themes: Biodiversity and conservation science, Ecology genetics and evolution, Environmental management
Contact: Paul Dennis
Assessing interactive effects of bushfire fighting chemicals and disease on Queensland’s threatened frogs

Theme: Biodiversity and conservation science, Ecology genetics and evolution, Environmental management, Zoology and wildlife biology
Contact: Laura Grogan
Airbnb and Short-Term Rentals

Theme: Geography
Contact: Thomas Sigler
Adaptive Potential of Corals: What Do We Already Know?

Theme: Ecology genetics and evolution
Contact: Katrina McGuigan
Acoustic monitoring of Fleay's barred frog at Guanaba Indigenous Protected Area

Theme: Biodiversity and conservation science, Ecology genetics and evolution, Environmental management, Geography, Science education and communication, Zoology and wildlife biology
Acoustic density modelling in humpback whales

Theme: Environmental Management, Marine Biology and Ocean Science
Contact: Rebecca Ann Dunlop