Position Details
Job Title:
CSIRO Undergraduate Vacation Scholarships – National Research Collections
Australia
Reference No:
1362
Classification:
CSOF1.1
Stipend:
$1462.77 per fortnight
Location:
Please refer to the List of Projects at the end of this document
Tenure:
8 to 12 weeks from November 2015 to February 2016
Role Purpose:
The 2015/16 Vacation Scholarship Program is designed to provide students
with the opportunity to work on real-world problems in a leading R&D
organisation.
Participation in the Vacation Scholarship Program has influenced previous
scholarship holders in their choice of further study and future career options.
Many have gone on to pursue a PhD in CSIRO or to build a successful research
career within CSIRO, a university or industry.
Project
Description:
How to Apply:
Please refer to the list of Projects on the following pages of this document. If
you require further information please contact the person listed as the contact
for the project.
Please apply for this position online at www.csiro.au/careers
You will be required to:
1. list your top 2 research projects in order of preference;
2. submit a CV which includes:

the reasons why the research project/s you have selected are of
interest to you; and how your previous skills/knowledge and
experience meets the project requirements; and

an outline of your longer-term career aspirations and detail how
this program will help you achieve them.
3. upload your academic results.
Referees: Please ensure that your resume includes the name and contact
details of your academic supervisor and at least one other referee (work or
university).
If you experience difficulties applying online call 1300 984 220 and someone
will be able to assist you. Outside business hours please email: csirocareers@csiro.au.
Please do not email your application. Applications received via this method
may not be considered.
About CSIRO:
The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)
is Australia’s national science agency. At CSIRO we shape the future. We do
this by using science to solve real issues. Our research makes a difference to
industry, people and the planet.
Project
Number
NRCA01
National Facilities and Collections – Vacation Scholarships Project Details
Project Title
Small worlds – can micromorphology of seeds distinguish new species in the global genus
Fimbristylis?
Project Description
See nature’s diversity as never before using Scanning Electron Microscopy and Light
Microscopy to create an image library for Australian Fimbristylis species (in the sedge
family, Cyperaceae). Using this image library, you will assess character variation to search
for new species with distinctive seed morphology. Variation will be matched to available
DNA data to understand evolutionary relationships in Fimbristylis.
Project Duties/Tasks



Scanning Electron Microscopy
Light Microscopy
New species discovery
Relevant Fields of Study

Biology
Location: Black Mountain, Canberra
Contact: Russell Barrett on (02) 6246 5519 or email Russell.Barrett@csiro.au
NRCA02
Project Title
ANBG Lane-Boden Scholarship: Comparing genetic diversity of wild and ex situ populations
of the endangered shrub Grevillea wilkinsonii to inform recovery efforts and future ex situ
collection efforts.
Project Description
Grevillea wilkinsonii is a threatened shrub known from only two wild populations and listed
as Endangered under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999
(EPBC Act). You will be investigating patterns of genetic diversity and population genetic
structure across natural wild and ex situ collections to inform conservation management
actions for this species.
Project Duties/Tasks



Field work
Lab work
Data analysis
Relevant Fields of Study

Biology

Conservation Science
Location: Black Mountain, Canberra
Contact Linda Broadhurst on (02) 6246 4988 or email Linda.Broadhurst@csiro.au
Project
Number
NRCA03
National Facilities and Collections – Vacation Scholarships Project Details
Project Title
Discovering the origins of Eucalyptus benthamii trees planted around Camden, NSW
Project Description
Camden white gum Eucalyptus benthamii is a rare tree that is protected by both Federal
and NSW legislation and the subject of a conservation program. You will be helping to
discover the origins of urban trees planted within the species’ natural range to determine
which populations these have come from, thus helping to safeguard their genetic diversity.
Project Duties/Tasks



Field work
Lab work
Data analysis
Relevant Fields of Study

Biology

Conservation Science
Location: Black Mountain, Canberra
Contact: David Bush via phone on (02) 6246 4829 or email David.Bush@csiro.au
NRCA04
Project Title
Comparing traditional and new methods in biogeography of Australian plants
Project Description
This project will compare traditional and novel, only recently published methods of
delimiting biogeographic regions. You will learn to effectively manage large occurrence
datasets, to apply clustering and network approaches to your data, and to use and interpret
analyses to reconstruct ancestral areas of distribution across a phylogenetic tree.
Project Duties/Tasks



Data management
Network analysis
Spatial analysis
Relevant Fields of Study


Biology
Geography
Location: Black Mountain, Canberra
Contact: Francisco Encinas Viso on (02) 6246 5846 or email Francisco.EncinasViso@csiro.au
Project
Number
NRCA05
National Facilities and Collections – Vacation Scholarships Project Details
Project Title
Three-eyed pharaoh (Tricheops) among the Australian longhorn beetles – morphology and
taxonomy.
Project Description
Tricheops is a very unusual Australian longhorn beetle recognised by its compound eye
divided into three distinct sections; it appears that the division of the lower eye lobe is
caused by a structure that may be homologous to that associated with production of
odoriferous substances by apparently unrelated stinking longhorn beetles (Stenoderini).
You will investigate and digitally document the morphology of Tricheops, compare the
morphology of odoriferous head structures with other longhorn beetles, and conduct a
taxonomic revision of the genus including the description of two new species.
Project Duties/Tasks



Handling biological specimens
SEM and light microscopy
Paper writing
Relevant Fields of Study


Biology
Geography
Location: Black Mountain, Canberra
Contact: Adam Slipinski via phone on (02) 6246 4268 or email Adam.Slipinski@csiro.au
NRCA06
Project Title
Conservation genetics of the rare daisy Rutidosis lanata
Project Description
You will analyse a genotyping dataset of the endangered plant Rutidosis lanata from
southern Queensland and conduct a growth trial to correlate the fitness of seedlings with
the relatedness of their parents. The summer student project builds on ongoing research
on the species and will help to improve conservation management.
Project Duties/Tasks


Analysis of genotyping data
Growth trial
Relevant Fields of Study


Biology
Conservation Science
Location: Black Mountain, Canberra
Contact: Alexander Schmidt-Lebuhn on (02) 6246 5498 or email Alexander.SchmidtLebuhn@csiro.au
NRCA07
Project Title
What can whole chloroplast genomes tell us about the evolution of the Leek orchid
alliance?
Project Description
Modern next-generation (or high-throughput) DNA sequencing offers unprecedented
opportunities to infer evolutionary relationships among organisms. In this project you will
learn how to extract plant DNA, how to assemble and annotate whole chloroplast genomes
from high-throughput data, and how to use those to reconstruct phylogenetic relationships
within an Australasian orchid group (subtribe Prasophyllinae), which includes genera such
as the Leek Orchids (Prasophyllum), Midge Orchids (Corynastylis) and the parasitic
Underground Orchids (Rhizanthella).
Project Duties/Tasks



Lab work
Bioinformatics
Phylogenetic analysis
Relevant Fields of Study


Biology
Conservation Science
Location: Cairns, Qld
Contact: Katharina Schulte via phone on (07) 4232 1686 or email
Katharina.Schulte@jcu.edu.au