Site and landscape scale drivers of biodiversity related to human health and wellbeing in Melbourne and Shanghai

 

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This joint PhD project is based at the University of Melbourne with a minimum 12-month stay at the Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

The main objective of this project is to:

  • Explore the efficacy, safety and long-term effects of non-invasive neuromodulation techniques in the treatment of major depressive disorder and to provide data for the establishment of prediction models.

The details

This project seeks to understand how the composition and distribution of urban biodiversity directly linked to human health are influenced by site scale and landscape-scale factors in two major cities.  The taxa will include those with positive health and wellbeing outcomes (e.g., insect predators, charismatic species) and those related to negative public health outcomes (e.g., mosquitos or other zoonotic disease vectors).

The successful candidate will develop and execute biological surveys across a range of urban greenspaces to determine the composition and abundance of the target organisms within the Melbourne and Shanghai metropolitan areas. This information will contribute to the broader project which seeks to develop evidence-based recommendations for urban greenspace management, design and planning to support stronger human health and wellbeing outcomes.

This project is part of a larger joint project between the University of Melbourne and Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU). There is a second Joint PhD student based in Shanghai who is investigating The Spatio-temporal pattern of urban green infrastructure and its associations with urban human mortality: A comparative study between Shanghai and Melbourne.

In addition to the publications arising from individual PhD projects, the Joint PhD students will also have opportunities to contribute to publications arising from the larger project.

The graduate researcher on this project is: Zoe Davis

Supervision team

University of Melbourne supervisor:
Dr Amy Hahs

Shanghai Jiao Tong University supervisor:
Professor Junxiang Li

First published on 29 August 2022.


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