Postgraduate Research Opportunities
This list is not exclusive. You are welcome to negotiate other research topics with potential supervisors. Please visit the list of Areas of Research page for current research areas in the School of Forestry.
Please contact jeanette.allen@canterbury.ac.nz for information concerning the University of Canterbury PhD and Masters Scholarships and the TW Adams scholarship. In addition to these there may be scholarships available for a targeted research project. Such scholarships will be advertised on the School of Forestry scholarships page.
More scholarships are also available from The Scholarships Office or School of Forestry scholarships page.
Weed and crop interactions
(contact Dr E. Mason, euan.mason@canterbury.ac.nz)
- Further develop a mechanistic model of small tree and weed interactions for pasture and brushweed-covered sites.
- Model tree responses to varying intensities and durations of weed control in a more abstract way using a large dataset from existing experiments.
- Study the mid-rotation effects of establishment practices and refine linkages between small tree models and models of older crop growth.
- Compare existing ways of modelling diameter over stubs with more mechanistic alternatives.
Forest modelling
(contact Dr E. Mason, euan.mason@canterbury.ac.nz)
- Expand the Selwyn Plantation Board limited (SPBL) growth and yield modelling system incorporating new data, while determining the right mix of individual tree and diameter distribution models to provide the best possible tree-level projections.
- Link this growth and yield modelling system, SPBL's GIS system and the company's forest information system into a forest estate modelling framework. Then use this spatial estate model in a pilot study to evaluate management options for SPBL.
- Compare alternative strategies for mixing conventional growth and yield models with models that include a higher level of biological detail (sometimes labelled "process-level models"). Ability of any given mixture to project independent measures of tree and stand growth in permanent sample plots throughout the SPBL estate will be the main criterion for choosing a modelling strategy.
Forest planning and valuation
(contact Assoc Prof Bruce Manley, bruce.manley@canterbury.ac.nz)
- Analysis of log price variation over time. Incorporation of stochastic log prices into forest planning and valuation.
- Carbon accounting. Impacts of carbon credits on forest planning and forest valuation.
Biosecurity/Pest management
(Contact Dr H. Cochrane, hamish.cochrane@canterbury.ac.nz)
- Regional analysis of pest control. Can habitat models be developed for pest management at a regional level?
- Invasion networks and pathways. How do pests (plant and animal) move across landscapes?
- Biosecurity and information technology how can remote sensing, geographic information systems and the global positioning system support biosecurity management in New Zealand?
Conservation biology and management
(contact Assoc. Prof David Norton, david.norton@canterbury.ac.nz)
- Options for sustaining indigenous biodiversity within a tussock grassland used for pastoral farming.
- Implications of climate change for the resilience of high country ecosystems.
- Constraints to restoration of shrubland and woodland vegetation in the South Island high country.
- Determining the success of restoration. What are the best indicators of restoration success?
- Options for enhancing restoration in high disturbed sites.