📣 PhD opportunity 📣
Are you interested in groundwater, river systems and water resource management in northern Australia? We’re recruiting a PhD student to study how rainfall, groundwater and streamflow are linked in the Beetaloo Basin, and what that means for managing water in the region.
Linking rainfall variability, groundwater lag dynamics and riparian water use in the Beetaloo Basin.
Project summary
This PhD will use long-term groundwater, climate, and streamflow records to understand how rainfall, groundwater, and rivers interact within aquifers that overlie the Beetaloo Basin. This karst-influenced system is under increasing pressure from climate variability and resource development.
The work will quantify how groundwater responds to rainfall across different hydrogeological settings and will seek to separate climatic from human-driven change; determine how groundwater storage and antecedent conditions control dry-season and baseflow persistence; and be underpinned by gap-filled hydrographs using the Pastas Python package. Outcomes are intended to inform independent, reproducible science in a basin of national interest.
Who should apply?
This project suits a quantitatively strong scientist or engineer with a background in hydrogeology, hydrology, environmental engineering or a related field. You should be comfortable coding (Python or R preferred) and working with time-series data and statistical or numerical models. A solid understanding of groundwater and/or surface water processes is essential, and an interest in applying these skills to real water-management questions in northern Australia will be an advantage.
How to apply
I’d like to receive expressions of interest by 15 July 2026. Please send a short cover email (your eligibility, suitability and why the project interests you), a CV and your academic transcripts to dylan.irvine@cdu.edu.au (or contact me via LinkedIn). Full eligibility and application details are here: https://outstanding-researchers.cdu.edu.au/how-to-apply/
