Research at VMSC
Research by staff and postgraduate students includes the following projects and covers 12 major areas :
- Aquaculture
- Climate Change
- Marine Ecology
- Fisheries Ecology
- Molecular Ecology
- Physiology
- Ornithology
- Geomatics
- Ecotoxicology
- Natural products
- Marine Protected Areas
- Introduced species
Aquaculture
Emi Ab Rahim : Aspects of genetics of blue mussels, Mytilus species in Australia (PhD)
Christina Carl : Settlement preferences of the blue mussel, Mytilus galloprovincialis (PhD)
Angela Eads : Evolvability of temperature stress tolerance in marine invertebrates (Mytilus spp) (PhD)
Hintsa Mateos : Investigation of effects of food incorporated with Omega 3 polyunsaturated on cultured abalones (PhD)
Will Mulvaney : Development of an offshore abalone culture system; seaweed feeding trial (PhD)
Amanda Pettersen : Aspects on larval nutrition and feeding in mussels (Hons.)
Dr Craig Sherman : Aspects on larval nutrition and feeding in mussels (Research)
Michael Sievers : Biofouling in mussel aquaculture (Masters)
Kim Weston : Factors affecting mussel growth and survival during settlement (Hons.)
Climate Change
Julian Atchison : Effects of acidified seawater on key biochemical aspects of abalone (Masters)
Angela Eads : Evolvability of temperature stress tolerance in marine invertebrates (Mytilus spp) (PhD)
Fatemeh Hazeribaghdadabad : Assessing the effect of different CO2 levels on abalone and its calcification process and growth rates (PhD)
Marine Ecology
Kate Baker : Investigation on rocky intertidal shores : enrichment and role of grazers (Hons.)
Elisa Bone : Colony fragmentation and colonial integration in encrusting bryozoans (PhD)
Joanna Browne : Investigating the gelatinous zooplankton and their symbionts (PhD)
Andrea Cranenburg : Investigations of the biology and prevalence of crustacean parasite, Hematodinium, in Port Phillip Bay (Masters)
Peter Crockett : Ecology of Caulerpa spp in Port Phillip Bay (Masters)
Nicole Filby : Whistle production in free ranging bottlenose dolphins in response to vessel traffic (PhD)
John Ford : Meta population dynamics in temperate reef fish (PhD)
Andrew Jacob : Benthic macrofauna of the Maribyrnong River (Hons.)
Amanda Franklin : Investigating the costs of mating in dumpling squid (Masters)
Dr Sebastian Gornik : Distribution and impact of a crustacean disease in Australian waters (Post-doc)
Christian Jung : Anthropogenic effects on shallow rocky reef fish fauna in Port Phillip Bay (PhD)
Jessica Kerrigan : Seagrass and macrofauna research within Lake Connewarre (Hons.)
Catherine McKelvie : Comparison of upper thermal thresholds between related native and invasive species from the same habitat (Hons.)
Prue McKenzie : Dispersal of Hormosira banksii (Neptune's Necklace) (PhD)
Allyson O'Brien: Top-down versus bottom-up control of processes that structure habitats in Victorian coastal waters (PhD)
Michael Sams : Predation on ascidian recruits (Hons.)
Jessica Smith : Population connectivity in Port Phillip Bay : validating a transgenerational marking process using the Southern Hulafish, Trachinops caudimaculatus (PhD)
Tim Smith : Seagrass resilience in Port Phillip Bay (Post-doc)
Zoe Squires : Assessing the costs and benefits of polyandry in a native squid (PhD)
Richard Stafford-Bell : Behavioural studies of fur seals at Chinaman's Hat in relation to changes in ambient noise (Hons.)
Anna Syme : The systematics and biogeography of the southern Australian Cylindroleberididae Crustacea:Ostracoda (PhD)
Thelma Vlamis : The influence of ciliate biofilms on marine invertebrate settlement. Do ciliates influence larvae settlement? And what factors influence larvae settlement? (Hons.)
Benjamin Wegener : Reproductive behaviour in Dumpling squid (PhD)
Paul York : Seagrass resilience in Port Phillip Bay (PhD)
Fisheries Ecology
Julian Atchison : Effects of acidified seawater on key biochemical aspects of abalone (Masters)
Emma Broughton : Fish larval habitat preference (Hons.)
Kane Blackman : Fish larval research (Hons.)
Justin Bell : Assessing the ecological risk faced by Australian holocephalans (chimaeras) and the white-finned swell shark under current fishing practice (PhD)
Dr Catherine Boisvert : Development of the spine and pelvic girdle of Callorhinchus milii
Matias Braccini : Reproduction, ageing, morphology and diet of dogfish and sevengill sharks (PhD)
Natalie Calder : Early life history traits of clinids that affect dispersal (Masters)
Jonathan Daly : Cryopreservation of semen collected from sparsely spotted Stingarees (PhD)
Lorenz Frick : Capture stress physiology and post-release fate of small Australian elasmobranchs (PhD)
Corey Green : Age, growth and population dynamics of squid, Notodarus gouldi (PhD)
Daniel Grixti : Estimating and improving recreationally caught and released fish (PhD)
Leonarado Guida :
Capture stress, post release survival and movement of sharks and rays (PhD
Paul Hamer : Migratory dynamics and recruitment of snapper in Victorian waters (PhD)
Fatemeh Hazeribaghdadabad : Assessing the effect of different CO2 levels on abalone and its calcification process and growth rates (PhD)
Amy Hooper : Male mate choice in southern bottletail squid (Honours)
Charlie Huveneers : The biology of the spotted and ornate wobbegongs (PhD)
Matthew Heard : Post-release stress physiology of stingarees following trawl capture (Hons.)
Jodie Kemp : Population and trophic dynamics of red cod, Psuedophycis bachus : an assessment to provide information for the monitoring of implicated predator species (PhD)
Zac Lewis : Assessing the effect of recreational harvest on Venus Bay pipi population (Hons.)
Peter Macreadie : The importance of edge effects in determining the value of seagrass landscapes as fish nurseries (PhD)
Camila Leite Martins : Capture stress, post-release survival of gummy shark and southern fiddler ray (PhD)
Kade Mills : Studying the processes and patterns of colonisation of artificial reefs by fish (PhD)
Hannah Murphy : Effects of seagrass fragmentation on benthic invertebrates (Hons.)
Hannah Murphy : Investigating larval ecology and recruitment of snapper in Port Phillip Bay (PhD)
Amy Newman : Growth rate in snapper larvae (Hons.)
Tawyna Patrick : Feeding behaviour of stingarees (Hons.)
David Phillips : The biology and ecology of the the large batoid fish: Myliobatis australis, Dasyatis thetdis and Dasyatis brevicuidata (PhD)
Calvin Quick : Tagging of gummy sharks in Swan Bay (Hons.)
Matt Reardon : Uterine accommodations for gestation and ecological risk assessment in the southern fiddler ray (PhD)
Bastien Rochowski : Deep sea shark biology (PhD)
David Semmens : Larval experience and postmetamorphic performance in the Common Galaxias (PhD)
Tim Smith : The importance of edge effects in determining the value of seagrass landscapes as fish nurseries (PhD)
Javier Tovar-Avila : Reproduction, ageing, morphology and diet of Port Jackson sharks and angel sharks (PhD)
Fabian Trinnie : Stingaree biology and management (PhD)
Lauren Veale : Age, growth and reproduction of Ribaldo (Hons.)
Fiona Warry : Assessing piscivorous fish assemblages at varying locations within the seagrass habitat matrix
Joel Williams : Linking freshwater flows, salt wedge dynamics and fisheries productivity (PhD)
Molecular Ecology
Jacob Lawrence : Genetic analysis of Bugula neritina : density dependent paternity influences (Hons.)
Dr Craig Sherman : Aspects on larval nutrition and feeding in mussels (Research)
Tim Smith : Seagrass resilience in Port Phillip Bay (Post-doc)
Paul York : Seagrass resilience in Port Phillip Bay (PhD)
Physiology
Lorenz Frick : Capture stress physiology and post-release fate of small Australian elasmobranchs (PhD)
Dr John Green : Gannet physiology (Post-doc.)
Kathryn Hassell : Investigation of the effects of environmental stressors on growth and reproduction in Black Bream, Acanthopagrus butcheri, using physiological indicators (PhD)
Matthew Heard : Post-release stress physiology of stingarees following trawl capture (Hons.)
Alexis Marshall : Identifying the peptide relaxin# and its receptor GPCR135 in the reproductive tract of the Chondrichthyan Heterodontus (Hons.)
Hintsa Mateos : Investigation of effects of food incorporated with Omega 3 polyunsaturated on cultured abalones (PhD)
Zoe Squires : Assessing the costs and benefits of polyandry in a native squid (PhD)
Ornithology
Meagan Dewar : Microflora of Little penguins at St Kilda breakwater (Hons.) Poster
Meagan Dewar : Gastrointestinal microflora in penguins: phylogenetic and dietary relationships (PhD)
Annett Finger : Trace metals in little penguins (PhD)
Dr John Green : Gannet physiology (Post-doc.)
Sacha Guggenheimer : Dietary analysis of Australasian gannets, Morus serrator, at Pope's Eye, Port Phillip Bay, Victoria Australia (Honours)
Tanya Pyk : Individual quality in Australasian gannets : implications for seabird conservation and management (PhD)
Megan Underwood : The breeding biology of the white-faced storm petrel, Pelagodroma marina, in Victoria (PhD)
Daniel Weller : Inter-colony movements of the crested tern, Sterna bergii, as a result of food resource quality and availability (Hons.)
Carly Wishart : Diurnal activity budgets and nest defence behaviour in Australasian Gannets, Morus serrator, breeding at Pope’s Eye, Victoria (Hons.)
Geomatics
Ecotoxicology
Ryan Blackney : Toxicity testing on marine organisms (Hons.)
Warren Davies : Effects of a blue-green algae and its toxin on zooplankton (PhD)
Emma Ferguson : Effect of pollutant exposure on black bream juveniles (Masters)
Jacquelle Gorski : Effects of anthropogenic pollutants on selected life stages of abalone (PhD)
Jackie Myers : Factors affecting the germination, growth and toxicity of selected Dinoflagellates and Cyanobacteria in the Gippsland Lakes (PhD)
Jackie Myers : Nodularin toxins in seafood (Post-Doc)
Lisa Toogood : Ecophysiology of black bream in the Gippsland Lakes (PhD)
Natural Products
Daniel Dias : Investigation into chemistry and biological activity of terrestrial fungi and marine natural products (PhD)
Marine Protected Areas
Rachael Bathgate : Connectivity in marine invertebrate populations and the role of marine protected areas (PhD)
Malcolm Lindsay : Larval recruitment patterns in Victoria’s marine reserves (PhD)
Introduced species
Carlie Alexander : An investigation into the introduced species in Swan Bay, Victoria (Masters)
Peter Crockett : Ecology of Caulerpa spp in Port Phillip Bay (Masters)
Isla Fitridge : The ecology of an invasive hydroid, Tubularia crocea, in Port Phillip Bay (PhD). Poster
Dr Sebastian Gornik : Distribution and impact of a crustacean disease in Australian waters (Post-doc)
Catherine McKelvie : Comparison of upper thermal thresholds between related native and invasive species from the same habitat (Hons.)
Mark Richardson : Evolutionary and pest biology of the invasive Northern Pacific seastar, Asterias amurensis, in Australia (PhD)
Michael Sievers : Biofouling in mussel aquaculture (Masters)