Honours Projects

Click on the Supervisor's name to see a list of their projects.

School of Biological Sciences

Professor Sureshkumar Balasubramanian - Phenotypes to Genes and Mechanisms Research Group

  • Epigenetic regulation of thermal responses in plants
  • Epigenetic gene silencing in Friedreich ataxia, a triplet expansion disease
  • Deciphering the splicing code through Genome Wide Association Studies (GWAS)
  • Genome editing of splicing-associated SNPs using CRISPR

A/Professor Jeremy Barr - Bacteriophage Biology Research Group
Projects by negotiation

Professor John Bowman - Land Plant Research Group

  • Evolution and development of land plants

Professor Robert Bryson-Richardson - Neuromuscular Disease Research Group
No projects currently available

Dr Richard Burke - Ion Transport and Metabolism Research Group

  • Chloride transport in the function of intracellular organelles and human disease
  • Regulation of copper transport and homeostasis

Professor David Chapple - Evolutionary Ecology of Environmental Change Research Group

  • Using reptiles as an indicator of the success of habitat restoration in the Yellingbo Nature Conservation Area
  • Conservation and ecology of threatened or Data Deficient Australian skinks

Professor Steven L. Chown - ARC SRIEAS Securing Antarctica's Environmental Future

  • Cumulative impacts on Antarctic ecosystems
  • Heat, drought and the future of animal diversity
  • Animal invasions and functional turnover in the Antarctic

A/Professor Rohan Clarke - Ornithology and Conservation Management Research Group
No projects currently available

A/Professor Tim Connallon - Biodiversity Research Group

  • Topics in theoretical biology

A/Professor Carly Cook – Conservation Management Research Group

  • How well protected are marine protected areas?
  • Using artificial intelligence to make evidence-based conservation more efficient

Professor Damian Dowling - The Experimental Evolutionary Biology Research Group

  • Does mitochondrial evolution “curse” males to shorter lifespans?
  • Can novel Wolbachia strains improve on current Wolbachia biocontrol methods?

Dr Maria Ermakova - Plant Energy and Biotechnology Research Group

  • Genetic engineering of sorghum for improved biomass and grain yield
  • Evolution of photosynthetic ATP production in land plants

A/Professor Alistair Evans - Evomorph Research Group

  • Power Cascade Law of Growth in Animals and Plants
  • Tooth Development in the Marsupial Sminthopsis

A/Professor Matt Hall - Evolutionary Genetics Research Group

  • Sex differences and the evolution of infectious disease (various projects)
  • Global change and host-pathogen interactions (various projects)

A/Professor Kay Hodgins - Plant Ecological Genomics Research Group

  • Predicting species’ invasions
  • Does the biotic environment drive adaptation of two coastal invaders?
  • Museumoics and the evolution of supergenes

Dr Scarlett Howard - Integrative Cognition, Ecology and Bio-Inspiration (ICEB) Research Group

  • One, two, bee: Numerical abilities in foraging honeybees
  • Pollinating the urban jungle: Does urbanisation impact the personality of native bees
  • Flower preferences of native Australian bees

A/Professor Francine Marques - Hypertension Research Group

  • The role of the gut microbiota in the regulation of blood pressure
  • Understanding gut-to-host communication via the immune system
  • How maternal fibre intake during pregnancy impacts the offspring
  • The link between gut microbiome, metabolites, intestinal pH and diet
  • A kick in the guts: the role of intestinal permeability in hypertension

Professor Dustin Marshall - Marine Evolutionary Ecology Research Group

  • Assessing fisheries assessments
  • Relative nucleus size and variable environments
  • Phytoplankton depletion around man made structures

A/Professor Michael McDonald - Experimental Evolution Research Group

  • Using evolution to combat multidrug resistance in H. pylori
  • Experimental evolution of an artificial microbiome

Dr Matt McGee - Behavioural Studies Research Group

  • High-throughput phenomics of the vertebral column
  • Colour pattern evolution in fishes
  • Integrating fossils with genomes to infer divergence times
  • Using computer vision to understand animal movement
  • Using computer vision to quantify 3D skull data
  • Identifying invasive species using large biodiversity datasets

Dr Jane Melville – Museum Victoria

  • Impacts of Quaternary climate change on shaping past reptile and frog communities along a 3000km latitudinal gradient, from the Australian tropics to the temperate south

A/Professor Christen Mirth - Developmental Responses to Environmental Change Research Group

  • Developmental responses to environmental change
  • Adapting feeding responses to environmental stress
  • Growing up in a changing world: how does adaptation to novel environments affect larval tolerance to thermal and nutritional stress?

Dr Keyne Monro - Evolutionary Ecology Research Group

  • Local adaptation to arid environment in native and invasive populations of capeweed

Professor Anne Peters - Behavioural and Evolutionary Ecology of Birds Research Group

  • Climatic effects on colours of Australian birds
  • Effects of invasive weeds on tropical riparian habitat suitability of endangered birds (S2)
  • Purple-crowned fairy-wrens as indicators of biodiversity in the Kimberley riparian zone (S1)
  • Projects by negotiation
  • Microclimate impacts on early-life telomere length - SUIT BIO- AND GEN-HONOURS

A/Professor Matt Piper - Nutritional Physiology and Ageing Research Group

  • Diet as medicine: investigating how nutrition can enhance health, suppress appetite and extend lifespan in Drosophila

Professor Richard Reina - Ecophysiology and Conservation Research Group

  • Reproduction and foraging of penguins
  • Projects by negotiation

Professor Carla Sgro - Genetics, Evolution, Biodiversity & Climate Change Research Group

  • Does the nutritional environment of parents affect offspring stress resistance and the potential for climatic adaptation?
  • Feeding ecology of Drosophila and its impacts on climatic adaptation
  • The potential for transgenerational effects to increase or reduce climate change risk

Professor Paul Sunnucks - Wildlife Genetic Management Group
No projects currently available

Dr Sridevi Sureshkumar -  Genetics At The Core Research Group

  • Mechanisms of triplet repeat expansions
  • The association of regulatory RNAs in gene regulation

Dr Jessica Walsh - Conservation Science Research Group

  • Linking evidence to conservation decision-support tools

Professor Craig White - Evolutionary Physiology Research Group

  • The effect of size and temperature on energy intake and use
  • The genetic architecture of rates of metabolism and water loss

Dr Sean Williamson - Ecophysiology and Conservation Research Group

  • Improving shark and ray conservation through better fisheries management

Professor Bob Wong - Behavioural Ecology Research Group

  • Effects of pharmaceutical pollution and predation risk on behaviour and group dynamics in fish
  • Wildlife behavioural responses to a changing world

School of Psychological Sciences

Professor Mark Bellgrove - Monash Institute of Cognitive and Clinical Neurosciences

  • Cellular Modelling of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Risk Genes