University of Tasmania, Australia

Molecular aggression: variation and heritability of the levels of reactive oxygen species and their effects on the evolution of life histories in the wild

Ageing is arguably one of the most fundamental aspects of a species life history and impacts almost every other fitness component (e.g., tradeoffs with fecundity and fertility, and investments into immunology and DNA repair). This PhD project will integrate a detailed field based component with laboratory studies on an established model system to examine free radical biology (the molecules responsible for ageing) and their effects on key life history characteristics. Specifically, it will assess the extent to which the production and maintenance of levels of Reactive Oxygen Species and other reactive metabolic by-products of respiration act as selection pressures in natural populations. This project is part of an ARC funded discovery grant to Professor Mats Olsson (University of Wollongong) and Dr Erik Wapstra (University of Tasmania). A background in evolutionary biology will be key as will a desire to combine fieldwork with experimental and laboratory work.