Future Fellowships - Grant ID: FT140100131 [ 2014 - 2018 ]

Research Grant

Researchers A/Prof Katherine Buchanan

Brief description The impact of anthropogenic change on Australia's biodiversity is of grave concern. It is therefore vital to understand the capacity of Australian fauna to adapt and change, despite environmental challenges. I will quantify the potential for an iconic Australian bird to respond to environmental challenges, by programming their offspring with adaptive developmental profiles. By quantifying the effects of maternal stress over 2 generations, I will be able to determine whether mothers have the ability to alter rates of evolutionary change by employing epigenetic mechanisms. Combining lab trials with field data I will determine the biological relevance of these effects to a common, but declining bird, with relevance across Australian avifauna.

Funding Amount $769,222

Funding Scheme Future Fellowships