Wildlife
Ecology at Massey
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What is the Wildlife Ecology
Group
The Wildlife Ecology Group is one of 5 ecology research groups within the
Institute of Natural Resources at Massey University. We are research providers
for recovery programs of several endangered species, including the hihi
or stitchbird (female left, male right) shown above (photo by John Ewen).
We also conduct research on less endangered endangered species, with the
aim of providing information needed to optimise long-term conservation
strategies, and conduct some research targetting fundamental questions
in evolutionary ecology. Because of the impact of introduced species on
New Zealand ecosystems, we provide a substantial amount of research on
introduced wildlife such as stoats, horses and deer, as well as native
wildlife. Our research focuses on ecosystem-level issues in wildlife management
as well as on single species. Please contact any of the academic staff
below if you want to know more about our research, want to become involved,
or have research needs you'd like us to target. Further Information on
our programs, including publications, are available on our individual websites
where available.
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Academic Staff in
Wildlife Ecology
| Doug Armstrong (Associate
Professor) |
Reintroduction biology, population & metapopulation dynamics |
| Phil Battley (Lecturer) |
Physiological ecology and conservation of shorebirds |
| Dianne Brunton (Associate
Professor) |
Behavioural ecology and conservation |
| Isabel
Castro (Lecturer) |
Behavioural ecology and conservation |
| Jay Gedir (Postdoctoral Fellow) |
Constructing Bayesian models for reintroduced populations |
| Ian Henderson (Senior
Lecturer) |
Population modelling and sustainable harvesting |
| Weihong Ji (Research
Officer) |
Behavioural ecology and conservation |
| Ed
Minot (Associate Professor) |
Behavioural ecology |
| Dai Morgan (Postdoctoral Fellow) |
Pest mammal ecology |
| Murray
Potter (Senior Lecturer) |
Predator-prey interactions, ecophysiology and
conservation |
| Yvan Richard (Postdoctoral
Fellow) |
Dispersal and spatial ecology |
| Alastair
Robertson (Senior Lecturer) |
Effects of wildlife management on plants |
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Postgraduate
Training in Wildlife Ecology
We offer an MSc or PGDipSc in Conservation
Biology, which includes a 25 point paper in Wildlife Management (232.703),
a 25 point paper in Conservation Biology (232.701)
which also has a strong wildlife emphasis, and includes optional papers
in Wildlife Health and Management of Captive Wildlife. Students preferring
a more fundamental emphasis may enrol in an MSc or PGDipSc in Zoology or
Ecology. Students wishing to do a PhD
in wildlife ecology can ennrol in a PhD in Conservation Biology, Ecology
or Zoology depending on the emphasis taken. Contact Associate
Professor Doug Armstrong, (Conservation Biology), Dr
Alastair Robertson (Ecology) or Dr
Murray Potter (Zoology) for any information on these programs.
Anybody considering a PhD, MSc, or BSc(Hons) in should consult the Academic
Staff in Wildlife Ecology to discuss potential research topics. Students
are welcome to suggest their own topics, but we always have a range of
research projects available, some of which have funding in place. Many
of these projects are developed to meet the requirements of conservation
organisations, particularly the Department of Conservation.
Information on application procedures, fees and potential scholarships
can be found on the Conservation Biology
website. Note that international PhD students pay the same fees as
New Zealand students, whereas MSc and PGDipSc students from most countries
pay higher fees (French, German and Australian students pay New Zealand
fees due to special agreements with these countries).
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Undergraduate
Training in Wildlife Ecology
Undergraduate training in Wildlife Ecology is available through the Bachelor
of Science programmmes in Ecology
or
Zoology.
Contact Dr. Alastair Robertson
(Ecology) or Dr. Murray Potter
(Zoology) for any information that can't be gleaned from the links above.
Undergraduate papers with a strong emphasis on wildlife ecology include
Ecology and Conservation (196.205),
Vertebrate Zoology (199.212),
Fauna of New Zealand (199.206),
Applied Ecology and Resource Managment (196.315),
and Behavioural Ecology (199.312).
Other programmes related to Wildlife Ecology are the Bachelor
of Applied Science in Natural
Resource Management (College of Sciences) and the Bachelor
of Resource and Environmental Planning (College of Humanities and Social
Sciences). These programs focus on the problems of land use, natural resource
economics, and planning which are relevant to wildlife conservation. Students
majoring in ecology or zoology may include relevant papers from these programmes.
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