Grants

Student Research Grants

The Australasian Society for the Study of Animal Behaviour is committed to supporting behavioural research within the Australasian region, with an emphasis on providing opportunities for earlier-career scientists.

Past winners of our ASSAB student grants

Year Student Institution Project title Award (AUD)
2022 Hannah Smart Western Sydney University When predators attack, termites fight back: the evolution of antipredator defences in Australian termites $2,500
2022 Anna Menzies University of Auckland Investigating geographic and between-sex vocal variation in a native New Zealand bird $2,500
2022 Giovanni M. Ramón-Cabrera Macquarie University Predator detection and avoidance in strobe ants, Opisthopsis spp. Highly Commended
2022 Connor Marsland Western Sydney University Aposematic colouration in the red-headed mouse spider (Missulena occatoria) Highly Commended
2021 Lauren Harrison Australian National University Fighting the clock: do long-term winner-loser   effects influence rates of telomeric attrition? $2,500
2021 Linda Duran James Cook University Does behaviour drive changes in venom composition in the   Australian funnel-web spider? $2,500
2021 Finn   Parker University of   Sydney Messing with   their minds: using phantom decoys to alter perceived missed opportunity costs   in vertebrate pest animals Highly Commended
2021 Lu-Yi Wang University of Melbourne Bug off: biomechanics underlying the defensive flicking   behaviour of Austraeus jewel beetles Highly Commended
2020 Juliane   Gaviraghi Mussoi University of   Auckland The effects of   sleep on vocal performance in birds $2,500
2020 Jack Brand Monash University Feral fighters: The role of behaviour in mediating the   recent invasion of Siamese fighting fish in Northern Australia $2,500
2020 Braxton Jones University of   Sydney How egg laying   behaviour can lead to dispersal strategies across Australia Highly   commended
2020 Bonnie Humphrey University of Canterbury Effects of cannabis on sustained attention in jumping   spiders Highly commended
2019 Caitlyn   Drayton-Taylor University of   Sydney Understanding   consumer behaviour: context dependent foraging behaviour of bees $1,000
2019 Misha Rowell James Cook University Age or experience? Studying the problem of problem solving   using a native Australian rodent $1,000
2019 Geoffrey Mazure University of   Sydney To follow or   not to follow: how information quality determines leadership in animal groups $1,000
2019 Pernille Sorensen University of Bristol The influence of habitat configuration on male bottlenose   dolphin alliance behaviour Highly Commended
2019 Alfonso Aceves Macquarie   University Camouflaged   retreat building behaviour of two species of jumping spiders: a comparative   study within the Arasia genus Highly   Commended
2018 Kaya Moore University of Melbourne Do songs function as mutual sexual ornaments in willie   wagtails? Highly Commended
2018 Cassandra   Mark-Chan University of   Auckland Multifaceted   deception in the North Island lichen moth, Declana atronivea: a morphological   and behavioural investigation Highly   Commended
2018 Cedric van den Berg University of Queensland Does being a night-owl affect your looks? The effects of   diel activity on the defensive colouration of nudibranch molluscs $1,000
2018 Ivan Beltran Macquarie   University Taking the   heat: can mothers buffer global warming and still produce smart babies? $1,000
2018 Fanny-Linn Hovring Kraft Deakin University Transgenerational effects of stress on song learning $1,000
2017 Maider Iglesias   Carrasco ANU/University   of Basque Country Are females in   good condition better able to cope with costly males? Highly   Commended
2017 Madeline Jackson Deakin University Do microbes play a role in chemical communication in koalas   (Phascolarctos cinereous) Highly Commended
2017 Bhagya Herath La Trobe   University Multimodal   signaling by the Australian dancing frog, Litoria fallax $1,000
2017 Erin Powell University of Auckland Investigating trade-offs between pre- and post-copulatory   traits in NZ harvestmen (Arachnida, Opiliones) with weapon trimorphism $1,000
2017 Ashton   Dickerson University of   Melbourne The function of   nocturnal song and the influence of light at night in a diurnal bird species $1,000
2016 Kathleen Collier University of Auckland The social organisation of Mystacina tuberculata:   roost-selection and courtship behaviour Highly Commended
2016 Amelie   Vanderstock University of   Sydney Determining the   effects of coal dust pollution on honeybee Apis mellifera behaviour Highly   Commended
2016 Alexis Levengood University of Sunshine Coast How mothers shape evolution: The evolutionary significance   of maternal effects on social behavior in long-lived mammals $1,000
2016 Stephen Zozaya James Cook   University Using   pheromones to understand mate choice and diversification in Australia’s   hyper-diverse lizard fauna $1,000
2016 Leena Riekkola University of Auckland Modeling Humpback Whale Use in Antarctica $1,000
2015 Julie   Broken-Brow University of   Queensland Using flight   behaviour to resolve a complex acoustic identification problem in cryptic   sheath-tailed bat species. $500
2015 Elizabeth Newton University of Melbourne Shedding light on feathers: how bird feathers intercept   visible and near-infrared sunlight to aid thermoregulation. $500
2015 Michael Bertram Monash   University Sex in troubled   waters: effects of widespread agricultural pollutants on mating behaviour and   post-copulatory reproduction in fish $1,000
2015 Anne Aulsebrook University of Melbourne Bright lights, sleepless nights: the impacts of artificial   light at night on melatonin, behaviour and sleep in black swans $1,000
2014 David Hamilton University of   Tasmania Social   networks, behaviour and transmission of facial tumour disease in Tasmanian   devils $1,000
2013 Caitlin Newport University of Queensland    
2013 Petah Low University of   Sydney    
2013 Steph Price Victoria University    
2013 Zhi FooYong University of   Western Australia    
2013 Tina Packmezian Macquarie University    
2013 Jose Ramos La Trobe   University    
2012 Anna Carter Victoria University of Wellington Stringing out nesting migration in tuatara: a mechanistic   view of reproductive energetics $900
2012 Danielle Klomp University of   New South Wales Diversity of   communication signals in Genus Draco $600
2012 Anita Cosgrove University of Queensland Does habitat fragmentation impact sedentary bird species   through reduced resource availability? $500
2012 Michelle Roper Massey   University Song ontogeny   and the micro-evolution of dialects in the NZ bellbird (Anthornis melanura) $500
2012 Emma Mcleod University of Technology, Sydney Coping with climatic extremes: The impact of behavioural   thermoregulatory strategies on the response of a rock-dwelling marsupial to a   changing climate. $500
2012 Genevieve   Phillips University of   Queensland Beauty is in   the eye-of-the-beholder: reef fish patterns from a fish-eye-view Highly   Commended
2011 Gabriel Machovsky Capuska Massey University Are gannets the capuchin monkeys of the ocean? $1000 + conference costs
2011 Cory Toth University of   Auckland The breeding   ecology of the Lesser Short-tailed Bat (Mystacina tuberculata) $750   + conference costs
2011 Lun-Hsien Chang Macquarie University The functional consequences of a bigger brain- effects of   stimulated growth in mushroom bodies on homing success in honeybees $500 + conference costs
2011 Scott Fabricant Macquarie   University Predator   perception as a source of population divergence in colour patterns of the   ‘aposematic’ Hibiscus Harlequin Bug (Tectocoris diopthalamus) $500+   conference costs
2011 James Makinson University of Sydney Peer pressure in honeybees: Using consensus signals to   manipulate decision-making in European honeybee swarms $250 + conference costs
2011 Dani   Chandrasoma Macquarie   University Sexual   selection in the Eastern Water Dragon (Physignathus lesueurii) Highly   Commended
2011 James O’Hanlon Macquarie University Myrmecochory as an egg dispersal strategy in Australian   Phasmids Highly Commended
2010 Isobel   Booksmythe Australian   National University The effects of   competitor size on shoaling preferences in mosquitofish $500   + conference costs
2010 Noriyoshi Kawasaki Monash University Indirect fitness effects of alloparental care in captive   common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) $500 + conference costs
2010 Sarah Withers University of   Auckland A test of the   habitat saturation hypothesis: Using translocation to investigate the effects   of density and nest site availability on co-operation in a managed passerine   species $500   + conference costs
2010 Nicole Lowrey University of Melbourne Extended phenotypes in animal communication: the function   of petal-displays in fairy wrens $500 + conference costs
2010 Shelley Myers University of   Auckland Is speciation   driven by mating behaviour in New Zealand stick insects? $500   + conference costs
2010 Christina Painting University of Auckland Sex and conflict in the Giraffe Weevil $500 + conference costs
2010 Amanda Franklin University of   Melbourne The effect of   mating on the lifespan of female dumpling squid, Euprymna tasmanica Highly   Commended + conference costs
2010 Amanda Greer University of Canterbury Exploring the relationship between kea foraging behavior   and the nutritional contents of the plants on which they feed Highly Commended + conference costs
2009 Elizabeth Ronik James Cook   University Effects of   amphibian behaviour on the occurence and development of Chytridiomycosis, an   emerging infectious disease (PhD) $1000   + conference costs
2009 Rachel Slatyer Australian National University Polyandry in the fiddler crab Uca mjoebergi (Honours) $1000 + conference costs
2009 Anna Gsell Massey   University Chemical   communication in the critically endangered Kakapo (Strigops habroptilus)   (PhD) $500   + conference costs
2009 Madeleine Yewers University of   Melbourne Personality   variation on mate choice and establishment of pair bonds in a cooperative   breeder (PhD) $500 +   conference costs