Industry and project-specific scholarships

Eligibility

Scholarship applicants must be eligible to undertake a Master of Philosophy degree. Verify you can meet eligibility requirements outlined on the Graduate Research School website. If you are applying for ‘Honours equivalence,’ please ensure that you provide detailed information to support your case.

Applications will be accepted from Australian citizens, NZ citizens and Permanent Residents.

Application closing date: 05/12/2025

How to apply: Applicants must submit their application with all necessary documents by completing the HDR Candidature application

Please note this project in the scholarships section of your appplication.

Commencement date: early 2026

Research project details

Project title: Swamp Antechinus and fire in a Heathland environment

The Swamp Antechinus (Antechinus minimus maritimus) is a small, insectivorous marsupial native to southeastern Australia, predominantly inhabiting dense, damp vegetation such as wet heathlands, tussock grasslands, sedgelands and gullies and coastal dune systems. It occurs in a restricted and disjunct distribution along coastal south-eastern Australia, with southwestern Victorian populations occurring in areas of the bioregions; Glenelg Plain, Warrnambool Plain and Otway Plains.

This species exhibits a unique life-history strategy characterized by synchronized breeding during winter (May–August), followed by complete male die-off (semelparity). Gestation is approximately 3 weeks and females give birth mid-late winter and then lactate for a further two to three months, initially with young are carried, attached to the teat before they are left in a nest until weaned. The breeding strategy of the swamp antechinus means that it is vulnerable to disturbances, particularly in late winter/early spring, that impact the survival of young, with no males left in the population to sire offspring and low survival rates of remaining females. Prescribed burning, particularly during winter months, is employed as a land management tool to reduce fuel loads and mitigate wildfire risks, and as an ecological tool to promote desired vegetation conditions for particular species. However, the implications of such practices on the swamp antechinus are not fully understood. While mosaic burns may create a heterogeneous landscape that supports a diversity of successional stages, they may also disrupt the continuity of critical habitats required by swamp antechinus. Given the species' sensitivity to fire and its reliance on specific habitat structures, it is imperative to investigate the effects of winter and mosaic burning regimes on swamp antechinus populations.

Federation Uni and project partners are proposing a master’s research project with aims to inform the appropriate application of fire to mitigate risk to swamp antechinus population persistence. This includes an examination of the impacts of planned burning on swamp antechinus at population scale. Adequate research that provides an estimated survival rate under different fire scenarios, as proposed in this research, will inform any future population viability modelling, required for active conservation of the species.

Furthermore, the monitoring of swamp antechinus across its range, proposed in this project, both in passive (camera trapping) and active (live trapping), would offer a broader understanding of population status, assist in identifying refuges and provide genetic material from sampled individuals to inform future genetic rescue and translocation strategies, likely necessary actions to secure the persistence of the species.   The research will aim to:

• Trial monitoring protocol for swamp antechinus and provide learnings and advice for refinement of protocol.
• Investigate the ecology of the swamp antechinus in areas of heathland and other vegetation communities associated with ecological winter burns and other prescribed fire i.e. Otways and Glenelg Bioregions.
• Build knowledge of the influence of mosaic/ patchy burn patterns on swamp antechinus populations in areas of southwestern Victoria with a focus on patch size, configuration and fire severity.
• Assess vegetation at survey sites including impacts of the plant pathogen Phytophthora cinnamomi
• Collect and analyse data of site occupancy and abundance of small mammals, with swamp antechinus as a target species, across a range of fire age classes and vegetation types, increasing knowledge around time since fire and re-occupation of swamp antechinus (a critical knowledge gap).
• Collect genetic material of swamp antechinus during all active monitoring components of this project to contribute to genetic analysis of population structure.

Industry Partner and Student Host: DEECA

Supervisors:

Principal Supervisor:

Dr Grant Palmer

Associate Supervisor:

Dr Nick Schultz