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PhD and Honours projects to help track dinosaurs in the Kimberley

4/5/2015

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By Dr Steve Salisbury

We are looking for motivated PhD and Honours students to help research the dinosaur tracks of the Broome Sandstone on the Dampier Peninsula, Western Australia.  The Kimberley’s ‘dinosaur coast’ preserves what is arguably one the largest and most significant stretches of dinosaur track-sites in the world. Despite recent National Heritage listing, the majority of these tracksites are largely undocumented, such that their full scientific significance is poorly understood.
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Anthony Romilio, Dr Steve Salisbury and Jay Nair (from left to right) examine newly discovered theropod tracks at Jungkurr–Ngakalyalya. Photo: Damian Kelly Photography.
As part of a three year ARC Discovery Project (2014­­–2016), our aim is to digitally map the dinosaur tracksites of the Dampier Peninsula, utilising high-resolution aerial photography with both manned and unmanned aircraft, airborne and hand-held LiDAR imaging, and digital photogrammetry. The results will allow us to construct high-resolution, 3D digital outcrop models of the tracksites, and bring the 130 million-year-old landscapes back to life.

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Dr Steve Salisbury (left) and Anthony Romilio (right) ducument a sauropod track at at Jungkurr–Ngakalyalya for 3D photogrammetry. Photo: Nigel Clarke.
Potential research areas for PhD and Honours projects include the following:
  • Detailed analysis and interpretation of new dinosaur tracksites using 3D laser scanning and digital photogrammetry;
  • Ichnotaxonomic, behavioural or biomechanical analysis of various types of dinosaur tracks (sauropods, thyreophorans, ornithopods, theropods);
  • Palaeoenvironmental analysis and palaeoecology of the Broome Sandstone and its biota (facies analysis, stratigraphy and palaeobiodiversity).

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Broome Dinosaur Trackers Damien Hirsch (left) and Louise Middleton (right) help Goolarabooloo Law Boss Richard Hunter (centre) uncover new tracks north of Walmadany. Photo: Nigel Clarke
All projects are expected to involve some amount of fieldwork, and funding is set aside to facilitate this. The ARC project will nominally involve three ~10 day field trips each year, with the timing contingent on tides and weather conditions.

Good spoken and written English is desirable. Applicants should ideally have a background in either palaeontology, ichnology, comparative anatomy, biomechanics, sedimentary geology, or digital 3D visualisation.

Please send expressions of interest, along with a CV and academic transcript, to Dr Steve Salisbury.
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Early morning tracking session at Yinara. Photo: Steve Salisbury
For more background information on the Dinosaur Coast and the recent battle to save it from large-scale industrial development, click here.

ABC Catalyst -- Kimberley Dinosaurs (video + transcript) YouTube

For more information about other potential Honours and PhD projects in the Vertebrate Palaeontology and Biomechanics Lab, click here.

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All our research is conducted with the consent and collaboration of the area's Traditional Custodians and the Broome Dinosaur Trackers. Goolarabooloo Law Boss Phillip Roe (left) and Yawuru elder Micklo Corpus (right) during a recent fieldtrip. Photo: Steve Salisbury.

UQ's Honours program
For more information about Honours in the School of Biological Sciences, click here.

UQ's PhD program
Acceptance into UQ's PhD program is contingent on a meeting the UQ entry requirements. Overseas applications are encouraged, as the School of Biological Sciences has made available a number of competitive international PhD scholarships.
  • For general information about how to enroll in UQ’s Research Higher Degree program, click here 
  • For more information on International PhD scholarships in School of Biological Sciences (UQ), click here
  • For more information on International PhD scholarships offered at The University of Queensland, click here 
  • For further information on PhD scholarships for Australian students offered at The University of Queensland, click here 

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The Cretaceous ghosts of Walmadany. Image: ABC graphics designer Toby Goulding.
2 Comments

Live dinosaur chat with Dr Steve Salisbury and members of the UQ Vertebrate Palaeontology & Biomechanics Lab

3/6/2014

4 Comments

 
By Steve Salisbury

This morning myself, Caitlin Syme and Tamara Fletcher participated in an online Q & A session as part of Dinosaur Week for the APN Dinosaur Collector Card Series.  This is a promotion aimed at school kids (and anyone else who's into dinosaurs!) in regional parts of Queensland and northern NSW, run through The Queensland Times, The Morning Bulletin, The Coffs Coast Advocate, The Sunshine Coast Daily, and The Northern Star. 

The Q & A session
was a lot of fun, and there were some great questions! We tried to answer as many questions as we could in the time allocated (1 hour), and with a question hitting our screens every minute or so, it was hard to keep up.  But we got there in the end! 

If you had a question but didn't get to post it, please do so in the comments section at the end of this page.  Below is a transcript of the session as it unfolded online, with edits from me afterwards in square brackets [like this].  The APN dinosaur page is still up, so check it out if you missed it.

The APN Dinosaur Collector Card series runs from now until 21 June. There are heaps of fun games, dino facts, quizzes, etc here.

Clive Palmer, if you're out there, I'd like a response to our comment please!

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Moderator:  

Hi everybody, we're about to start so we'll just check that everything works first up. 

Comment From DakDak 

Hi everyone!

Comment From Guest 

Hi Steve, My Name is Sage from Katoomba. I have a question regarding the recently discovered sauropod at Argentina- Do you think it is just a large specimen of Argentinasauros? How is this find significant?

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