Even though its the middle of winter I’m still flat out with my PhD project – mainly because nothing is working so I’m scrabbling for any kind of progress I can muster! Here are some recent updates.
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phd
My PhD project in a nut shell
I started my PhD in October 2017 at the University of Auckland.
My supervisor is Associate Professor Greg Holwell. Greg is interested in evolution—particularly sexual selection—and uses arthropods to work on some of the biggest questions in this area. My co-supervisor is Dr Gonzalo Avila, leader of the biocontrol team at Plant & Food Research, Auckland. Gonzalo is interested in evaluating parasitoids for their uses in classical biocontrol programmes.
This post is a brief overview of the rationale and methods of my project.
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Stink Bugs of NZ
My PhD project focuses on biocontrol: using beneficial species to manage the impacts of undesirable species.
I’m looking at Trissolcus japonicus, or the ‘samurai wasp.’ This tiny Asian wasp has been proposed for release against the brown marmorated stink bug in New Zealand (if and when the stink bug is found to have established here). My work focuses on testing the likelihood this wasp would attack New Zealand’s native and naturalised stink bug species if it were released. In order to do this, I’m rearing NZ stink bug species so I can use their eggs to test the behaviour of the wasp.
Most researchers conducting these types of tests would have to compile a short-list of stink bug species to test, based on things like their biological classification, their rarity, their economic importance, etc. But New Zealand has so few species of stink bug, I can include all potential non-target species in my tests. Here is a visual guide to New Zealand’s stink bugs.
When stink bugs hatch, they aggregate together around the egg shells until after their first moult. Image CC-BY-NC 4.0 by fairyeagle / iNaturalistNZ
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Finding NZ’s Rarest ‘Bug’
I’m riding in a truck with Brian Lyford through the valleys surrounding Queenstown on a crisp December morning. Our destination is 1400 meters up on a nearby mountain. We complete the trip through private forestry land mostly by vehicle. An amazing view of the surrounding landscape greets us as we emerge from the tree-line. This is the mountain harbouring a special stink bug, Hypsithocus hudsonae, or the Alpine shield bug.
Otago is awash with views like these.
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Zapping Severed Antennae for Science
Last week I travelled to Lincoln to meet with Dr Kye Chung Park. The reason for my visit was to learn some interesting electrophysiology techniques from Dr Park. He was clearly passionate about the work he does, as well as an excellent teacher. I thank him for his patience and generosity during my stay. I’m also grateful to Lee-Anne Manning for showing me around and answering questions during my stay.
Dr Kye Chung Park welcomed me into his lab and taught me the basics of electrophysiology.
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Postgraduate Tips
I’m joining a panel of students to talk about ‘Our Postgraduate Journey,’ at 4.30pm today in room B28 (underneath the general library) at the University of Auckland city campus.
Before I head in, I thought I would throw together a post with some quick tips. Feel free to ask more question is the comments, or tweet to me @TomSaundersNZ.
Starting your postgraduate journey can be daunting, but there is lots of help available.
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