Establishing a heritage biomass baseline for sea country conservation in Tasmania

Title

Establishing a heritage biomass baseline for sea country conservation in Tasmania

Project outline

This PhD calls for the development of a Tasmanian Aboriginal bio-cultural baseline for sea country through archaeological, cultural heritage and oral history investigation. Establishing a baseline for a cultural biomass of commercial fisheries will aid in Tasmanian Aboriginal strategic planning for healthy sea country futures.  

Indigenous commercial fisheries in Australia are growing in number and scale. Since 2022, multiple Tasmania Aboriginal communities have come together to own and manage commercial abalone quota under the Land and Sea Aboriginal Corporation Tasmania. This quota is managed through cultural governance, traditional knowledges and caring for sea country principles and practices, while building intergenerational Aboriginal wealth.

The PhD is expected to illuminate cultural practices that will influence truth-telling, strengthen impact narratives of Tasmanian Aboriginal management of sea resources and engage with extending baselines for biomass assessments in policy, strategy and regulation.

This project is funded for 3 years, with the possibility of a 6-month extension upon application.

Stipend

$50,000 per year, provided in fortnightly, tax-free instalments comprised of $40,000 as the base stipend, and a $10,000 top-up from Federation University

Project support

$3,000 per year available to spend on the research project provided by the Research Training Program (RTP) allowance

Tuition fees

Up to $32,000 will be covered by the Research Training Program (RTP) fee-offset scholarship

We are seeking applications from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who are currently working in fisheries, economic development, policy and strategy or sea country cultural heritage.

We want candidates who demonstrate cultural leadership in engagement with multiple Aboriginal communities and an understanding of safeguarding Aboriginal data.

We strive for candidates who can contribute Indigenous methodological and theoretical tools to current sea country conservation practices in Australia.

We highly encourage people who have workforce experience in caring for healthy people and healthy sea country, as much as a capacity in writing reports.

We are flexible in the learning journey to match the candidate’s field of research or practice to the PhD topic interests. 

Applicants are welcome to yarn about the topic and research environment.

The application requirements can be stepped through and any additional supports that the candidate may prefer or require can be offered.

Federation University guidelines note that "Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander applicants who do not meet entry requirements may be considered for entry by the Dean, Graduate Research, in consultation with relevant staff from the proposed affiliated Research Centre”.

Federation University champions engaging with Indigenous research excellence and practice skills in a cultural context.

Please contact Professor Emma Lee OAM before submitting your application. When you're ready to apply, follow these instructions.