MDFRC offers a number of undergraduate and postgraduate places at both the Albury-Wodonga and Mildura laboratories. Students apply to their chosen university which then organises co-supervision by researchers at MDFRC. Students undertake a research project and complete a major thesis supervised by both university and MDFRC staff members. A list of MDFRC researchers' areas of interest can be downloaded.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

PhD theses must make a major original contribution to scientific knowledge in the chosen area of research.
Duration: Typically 3 to 5 years full time.
Eligibility: Honours degree of at least four years duration in a relevant discipline.

Student	Project	University
Tegan Evans	Identification of fungal communitites in activated sludge using culture independent methods	La Trobe University
John Hawking	Systematics and ecology of Australian Nymphulinae moths	La Trobe University
Nicole McCasker	Sources and severity of mortality in freshwater fish during their early life stages	Charles Sturt University
Nirmala Wijieratne	Organic carbon speciation in the water and sediment of lowland rivers	La Trobe University
Clayton Sharpe	Ecology of golden perch	Griffith University
Janice Williams	The role of fungi in the carbon cycle of floodplain wetlands	La Trobe University
Nick Whiterod	Construction of a bioenergetics model for Murray cod	Charles Sturt University
Paul McInerney	Effects of willow removal on freshwater ecosystem dynamics	La Trobe University
Rachel McEvoy	The genetics of River Red Gums (Eucalyptus camaldulensis)	ANU

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Honours (Hons)

The honours degree is an opportunity to undertake individual research on a topic of your interest. It is the entrance to future research opportunities, both in the form of higher research degrees and as a career in research.
Duration: 1 year full time.
Eligibility: Bachelor degree in a relevant discipline.
Each year MDFRC offers the Terry J. Hillman Honours Educational Prize to intending honours students enrolling at either Charles Sturt University (Thurgoona or Wagga Wagga campus) or La Trobe University (Albury-Wodonga campus). In Second semester each year the David S Mitchell Educational Prize is available through MDFRC. At the Mildura Laboratory of MDFRC the inaugural annual MDFRC Mildura Honours Prize was awarded in 2010. Three Honours Projects which are a collaboration between La Trobe University Melbourne and MDFRC Mildura in 2010-11 are featured at: http://richard.eriophora.com.au/zoology-honours/zoology-honours-2011.html

Student	Project	University
Annaleise Klein	Salinity-induced acidification of upper Murray River wetlands	La Trobe University
Simon Coates	Investigate the physiological requirements of spiny crayfish in relation to their distribution	La Trobe University
Trevor de Freitas	Migration patterns of zooplankton in lowland rivers: the role of active and passive movement between slackwaters and main channel	La Trobe University
Alexandra (Allie) Hendy	The composition and diversity of aquatic plant and microfauna within "seed banks" of rain filled wetlands of the Murrumbidgee catchment	Charles Sturt University

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Summer Student Cadetship

Each year undergraduate student positions are offered at both the Albury-Wodonga and Mildura laboratories. The position is available to students of science or environmental science. Application details
Duration: 8 - 10 weeks full time.
Eligibility: Completion of second or third year of a Bachelor degree in a relevant discipline.

Student 2010-2011	Project
Justin Gorwell	Technician Work Placement at MDFRC Mildura	La Trobe University
Georgia Dwyer	Murray Hardyhead Experiements at MDFRC Mildura Part 1: Using video to determine aspects of Murray hardyhead breeding behaviour Part 2: Using video to observe potential competition between Murray hardyhead and Eastern gambusia	La Trobe University
Elke Jasper	Does zooplankton abundance and diversity in wetlands become enhanced in response to floodplain inundation?	La Trobe University
Cassie Bates	Biofilm metabolism and food resource quality on organic and inorganic substrates under altered landuse conditions	La Trobe University
Rachel Press	Determining the physiological basis of crayfish distribution along an altitude gradient: Metabolic cold-adaptation in a montain crayfish and its behavioural consequences	La Trobe University

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Students recently completed

Student	Degree	Project	Completed
Louise Menz	Summer	Food resources in a small stream; effects of native, introduced Salix spp, and Salix spp. removed riparian zones on instream foodwebs in Little Snowy Creek
Brendan Allen	Summer	Seed bank viability in floodplain soils under varying flooding regimes
Rowan Mott	Summer	Effects of prey type on the consumption rate of the purple-spotted gudgeon, Mogurnda adspersa: Implications for bioenergetics models of fishes.
Lauren Carr	Summer	Suitability of the Morquong Wetlands as a translocation site for Murray hardyhead
Laurence Berry	Summer	MDFRC/Latrobe Summer Scholarship work placement program
Julie Bindokas	Honours	The influence of refuge pools on the spatial dynamics of fish species in the lower Darling River http://richard.eriophora.com.au/zoology-honours/zoology-honours-notices.html
Rachael McEvoy	Honours	Genetic variability of Eucalyptus camaldulensis	July 2009
Stephanie Zahra	Honours	Response of floodplain forest soils and microbial communities to watering events	July 2009
Stephanie Suter	Honours	Aquatic fungi in flowing waters	July 2009
Glenn Jeffrey	Honours	Nitrogen transformation in the Beechworth wastewater treatment ponds	June 2009
Simon Maffei	Honours	Effect of turbidity on fish foraging behaviour	2008
Nathan Ning	PhD	Microinvertebrate dynamics within slackwater patches of a temperate floodplain river: the influence of planktivorous fish and macroinvertebrates	October 2008
Kiya Podnar	Honours	Does time since flooding affect emergence of micro-invertebrates and plants from wetland sediments?	June 2008
Trish Halpin	Summer	Resource use by Paratya australiensis (Decapoda: Atyidae) in lowland riverine- floodplain habitats in North-Eastern Victoria, Australia	February 2008
Jono Thompson	Summer	Habitat preference of riffle beetles (Coleoptera: Elmidae) in the unregulated Snowy Creek, north-eastern Victoria	February 2008
Susanne Watkins	PhD	Ecological responses to seasonally inundated leaf litter in billabongs along the Murray River	January 2008
Danielle Smith	Honours	Investigating the effects of fire on wetland dormant eggs and seedbanks	October 2007
Amina Price	PhD	The distribution and movement patterns of larval fish in a lowland river	August 2007
Amy Boulding	Honours	Microbial community composition along a wetting/drying gradient within sediment of a reservoir that undergoes frequent draining and re-filling cycles	July 2007
Jessica MacGregor	PhD	Effects of inundation and grazing on floodplain soil carbon dynamics and microbial community structure	September 2006
Trish Bowen	PhD	Modelling microbial utilisation of macrophyte organic matter inputs to rivers under different flow conditions	July 2006

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