AMRI Student Forum

The AMRI Student Forum showcases the research being carried out by students, utilising the Australian Museum's unique expertise and collections.

  • Updated
    31/10/23

Each year, our Research and Collections staff supervise students undertaking research at national and international universities. Our annual student forum provides an opportunity for these students to present the results.

AMRI Student Forum 2023

On Monday 9 October 2023, the Australian Museum hosted the annual AMRI Student Forum 2023 in the Theatre. Masters and PhD students presented for 10 minutes, both in-person and online, which was followed by a short Q&A. The sessions were chaired by the AM’s Dr Elena Kupriyanova and Dr Jacqueline Nguyen, and Professor Kris Helgen opened and closed the AMRI Student Forum. It was a wonderful way to learn more about what our students are working on!

For more information on the 2023 AMRI Student Forum, please find below the program and select presentations (with permissions from the students).

AMRI Student Forum 2023

AMRI Student Forum 2022

Timothy Cutajar

Species associations and parasitism risk factors between frogs and frog-biting flies

Tim Cutajar's project delves into host-parasite relationships, which are interesting both from evolutionary and conservation perspectives.

Tim Cutajar
PhD Candidate, University of NSW
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Wild Australian Koala

Unravelling genomic patterns of population structure and fitness in the koala

In this project a rapid genomic assessment tool targeting single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) is being developed for routine koala assessment, for both wild and captive koala populations.

Lily Donnelly
PhD Candidate, James Cook University
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Animals brought up on deck via the beam trawl, ready for sorting.

Voyages of discovery onboard the RV Investigator

In October 2021, Beth Flaxman was one of 30 lucky scientists who travelled to the Indian Ocean Territories onboard the CSIRO RV Investigator to sample deep seamount fauna.

Beth Flaxman
PhD Candidate, University of Sydney
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Artist’s reconstruction of Eryops megacephalus (left) and Paracyclotosaurus davidi (right).

How do you weigh an extinct amphibian?

Body mass is strongly associated with physiology, ecology, and locomotory style in extant taxa, making it a key proxy for inferring the biology of extinct species.

Lachlan Hart
PhD Candidate, University of NSW
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Striped Marsh Frog (Limnodynastes peronii)

Human-driven habitat modification is altering frog breeding seasons

Human-driven habitat modification significantly challenges biodiversity. However, little is known about whether and how different species are responding, particularly among frogs.

Gracie Liu
PhD Candidate, University of NSW
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Sea Urchins

Lessons from the sea urchin genus Tripneustes: the importance of taxonomy and museum collections in understanding species distributions in a changing ocean

Understanding how climate change is driving the redistribution of marine species is fundamental to conservation, however this must be underpinned by accurate species identification.

Emily McLaren
PhD Candidate, University of Sydney
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Eastern Wirrah

Wirrah did you go: A taxonomic evaluation of Acanthistius ocellatus, the Eastern Wirrah, and Acanthistius paxtoni, the Orangelined Wirrah

This study evaluates the taxonomic statuses of Acanthistius ocellatus, the Eastern Wirrah, and Acanthistius paxtoni, the Orangelined Wirrah.

Younis Menkara
Honours Candidate, University of Sydney
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Calling male Eastern Dwarf Tree Frog

City slicker or city sicker? How Australian frogs are responding to urbanisation

Brittany Mitchell explores how FrogID data can inform what habitat characteristics promote threatened species persistence across Australia’s urban centres.

Brittany Mitchell
PhD Candidate, University of NSW
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Phoeniconotius eyrensis

Flamingos in the Lake Eyre Basin: sympatry and sexual size dimorphism in Australian Pleistocene flamingos

Sympatry is frequently observed in modern flamingos, where it is common for two genera to coexist in one colony.

Timothée Niederer
PhD Candidate, Flinders University
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Using FrogID

The power of citizen science in investigating mass mortality events in wildlife

Leveraging data from the citizen science project, FrogID, Megan Suthers investigates the impact of a mass frog mortality event that occurred across Australia in 2021.

Megan Suthers
Honours Candidate, University of NSW
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Stone Leaf-litter Frog

Frog community co-occurrence in high resolution: distinguishing competition from coexistence with citizen science

Maureen Thompson presents patterns in spatio-temporal frog call co-occurrence across temperate New South Wales in comparison to their know occupied habitat (spatial co-occurrence) using a spatially blocked study design.

Maureen Thompson
PhD Candidate, University of NSW
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Opalised Pliosaur Umoonasaurus demoscyllus - Eric the Pliosaur

Investigating the diet of Umoonasaurus demoscyllus using micro-CT imagery

Joshua White uses high resolution micro-computed Tomography (micro-CT) imaging techniques to provide the first detailed documentation of the stomach contents of Umoonasaurus demoscyllus.

Joshua White
PhD Candidate, Australian National University
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