Honours Project Recruiting
The following project details have been provided by our academic supervisors wanting to advertise projects or project areas in their research group. Note that Honours projects aren't limited to the projects highlighted below.
Students are encouraged to contact staff to discuss potential projects. You'll find contact details for all of our staff on our People pages.
How to apply
Contact the person listed in the projects below to submit an expression of interest.
Projects Currently Available
Coastal erosion or accretion under sea level rise? Shoreface sand supply to beaches in Queensland
Project description
Coastal erosion under rising sea levels is a pressing global concern. However, erosion is governed by more than sea level position. It is dependent on sediment flux. On many coastlines, Queensland included, substantial sediment input has offset erosion from sea level rise and led to shoreline progradation. Yet, where does this extra sediment come from? This project will focus on the dynamics of the QLD coast to determine if progradation is driven by sediment sourced from the waters of the Great Barrier Reef. The results will allow for better predictions of coastal response under a future rise in sea level.
Relevant field
Earth Science, Geography, Geology, Marine Science, Geomorphology
Supervisor
Please contact Dr Dan Harris by email to discuss this project
The First Nations’ water security under climate change
Project description
Water resources have been central to Australia’s economic and social history, in particular for the First Nations. However, they have suffered multiple environmental and socio-economic crises. This project aims to investigate the influence of climate change on water availability in several remote indigenous communities in northern Queensland. Historical documents, water balance analysis and GIS technology will be used in this project. This project will provide potential adaptation solutions on water security for indigenous communities in future.
Relevant field
Environmental Management, GIS
Supervisor
Please contact Prof. Yongping Wei by email to discuss this project
Honours research with the Tectonics and Biostratigraphy Research Group: Design your own project
Project description
Enthusiastic students are encouraged to join our ongoing research efforts in understanding the development of convergent plate margins around the globe. We carry out research in the Himalaya-Tibetan Plateau, eastern Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia and other places to reconstruct critical geological processes such as continental collision, subduction, mountain building, and resource accumulation, by using a combination of sedimentary, igneous, paleontological and metamorphic records. Students who are interested should contact us as early as possible to develop projects together. The student will work in a multiciplinary environment while focusing on a project that involves a combination of some of the following techniques: field mapping, petrography, micropaleontology, geochronology, thermochronology, and tectonic modeling. The exact project will be determined based on its scientific merit (e.g., whether it addresses an important scientific question) and the student’s background and interests.
Relevant field
Earth Science, Environmental Science, Geography, Geology, Marine Science, Mineralogy
Supervisor
Please contact Dr Renjie Zhou by email to discuss this project
Prospectivity of deep marine sediments for ‘new economy’ mineral resources
Project description
Rare earth elements (REE) particularly the heavy ones together with Yttrium (REY) are important for the development of modern technology associated with renewable energy and sustainability goals. We know that deep sea muds in the Pacific Ocean, which accumulate at very slow rates are significantly enriched in REY (Kato et al. 2011). Courtesy of Earth’s heat engine and the plate tectonic processes it drives lithified versions of such muds can become accreted continental margins in subduction complexes. This project will examine deep marine cherts in eastern Australia to ascertain their prospectivity. It will involve fieldwork for sample collection with follow up labwork.
Relevant field
Earth Science, Environmental Science, Geology, Marine Science, Mineralogy
Supervisor
Please contact Dr Renjie Zhou by email to discuss this project
Diamonds in ophiolites: Testing hypothesis on deep recycling of tectonic plates
Project description
Discovery of diamond and other high-pressure minerals in ophiolites (remnants of ancient ocean crust) has challenged our traditional view on the pathways of recycling of crustal materials in the context of plate tectonics and mantle convection. One of the conundrums, which has puzzled the geoscientific community, is that these minerals, such as diamonds, must form several hundreds of kilometres deeper than the formation of their hosting ophiolites. Locating and charactering exotic minerals from classic ophiolites are key to solving some of the highly debated questions. Enthusiastic students who are interested in mineralogy, petrology and geochemistry are encouraged to participate in this research. The student will work with samples from ophiolites collected in the Southern Hemisphere (New Zealand, New Caledonia) using a range of advanced analytical techniques (High Voltage Pulse/HVP processing, electron microprobe analysis, laser ablation ICP-MS, and SHRIMP ion probe)
Relevant field
Earth Science, Environmental Science, Geology, Mineralogy
Supervisor
Please contact Dr Renjie Zhou by email to discuss this project
Creating livable cities post pandemic
Project description
Worldwide, there is a growing recognition of the role of urban planning and policy in promoting the community wellbeing. Recently, more national, state and local governments have focused on developing strategic plans and implementation strategies aimed at planning ‘healthy’ and ‘liveable’ cities and communities. This project will investigate how the definition of 'healthy' and 'liveable' cities have changed after the Covid-19 pandemic. It will focus on developing liveability indicators for planning healthy and resilient cities and communities during/post pandemics. Liveability indicators are comprehensive and measurable and enable policy makers to monitor the progress towards the strategic vision for the community.
Relevant field
Geography, Planning, Social Science
Supervisor
Please contact Dr Sara Alidoust by email to discuss this project
Establishing the spectral link for remote measurement of leaf photosynthetic function
Project description
Description: This project entails collecting leaf-level data with a state-of-the-art gas exchange and spectral instrumentation that will underpin the link between plant health and what earth observing satellites can measure. Students will gain experience with spectrometers, gas exchange systems, and jupytper notebooks for data visualisation and analysis.
New insights for remotely measuring leaf photosynthetic function are anticipated from the datasets.
Relevant field
Agriculture, Earth Science, Environmental Science
Supervisor
Please contact Dr William Woodgate by email to discuss this project
Linking Earth's most diverse communities to ecosystem services.
Project description
Linking Earth's most diverse communities to ecosystem services. We have projects focussing on the associations between microbial communities and the health of ecosystems, people and plants.
Relevant field
Agriculture, Conservation, Environmental Management, Environmental Science, Microbial Ecology
Supervisor
Please contact Dr Paul Dennis by email to discuss this project
Wetlands in the Great Barrier Reef catchments
Project description
The wetlands in the Great Barrier Reef catchments are vital for trapping sediments on the way to the reef, but also for their own biodiversity and ecosystem services. In collaboration with the Department of Environment and Science this project aims to reconstruct environmental changes in those wetlands using pollen and chemical proxies to aid in their future management.
Relevant field
Earth Science, Environmental Management, Environmental Science, Geography
Supervisor
Please contact Dr Kevin Welsh by email to discuss this project
Holocene environments of the South West Tasmania Wilderness World Heritage Area
Project description
This project will investigate environmental change for up to the last 10,000 years based on palaeoecological and geochemical analysis of sediment cores collected from coastal wetlands from Port Davey, SW Tasmania. Information collected from this study will be used to assist management of this unique region, particularly in terms of fire management. There is an opportunity for a trip down to Tasmania as part of this project.
Relevant field
Environmental Management, Geography, Archaeology
Supervisor
Please contact Prof. Patrick Moss by email to discuss this project
Application of machine learning and data-driven methods in geomechanics
Project description
Knowledge of geomechanical parameters is essential for management of all underground openings (such as mines and tunnels) and geo-reservoirs. Direct measurement of these parameters is usually not viable due to the high cost of testing or a lack of available data. Therefore, indirect methods are often used to predict these parameters from available data. This project will use geophysical log data to develop machine learning and geostatistical methods (using RStudio) for prediction of geomechanical and geological parameters in one of Australian sedimentary basins.
Relevant field
Earth Science, Geology, Geomechanics, Geotechnics
Supervisor
Please contact Dr Mojtaba Rajabi by email to discuss this project
Seachange – Anthropogenic influence on from Moreton Bay using sediment cores
Project description
To work on sediment cores collected from Moreton Bay to understand past changes in the environment over the last 2000 years. The cores are being collected as part of an international project called Seachange, that is interested in changes in the marine ecosystems as a result of human interactions with the marine environment.
Relevant field
Earth Science, Environmental Science, Marine Science, Archaeology
Supervisor
Please contact Assoc. Prof. Helen Bostock or Dr Kevin Welsh by email to discuss this project
Tissue Culture Innovations to Improve Plant Production and Save Endangered Species.
Project description
The Mitter Lab has received global media coverage for developing the world’s first tissue-culture production system for avocado plants - the world's most instagrammed fruit. This is important as a sustainable, cost-effective and climate-secure way to produce plants. We have also developed cryopreservation (cryostorage at -196C) of avocado, with plants able to be revived from cryostasis and grown. This is the safest way to conserve precious species that cannot be seedbanked.
Dedicated students will be part of our expanding research in a new $20M tissue-culture facility at UQ, developing systems for other crop species as well as endangered native species.
Relevant field
Agriculture, Conservation
Supervisor
Please contact Dr Alice Hayward (a.hayward@uq.edu.au) by email to discuss this project