Project: Soil and soil–plant interactions are central reservoirs of microbial life, with direct implications for food systems and nutrition, immunity, and overall well-being. This project will investigate how microbial biodiversity in the soil–plant system connects to human health outcomes. The opportunity exists to begin with a broad scale analysis of microbial diversity across Australian soils in relation to national health datasets, before narrowing to state-level comparisons in Western Australia, and ultimately locally based experiments. These experiments will be guided by the broader scale analyses, with emphasis on how Indigenous land management practices shape microbial communities and their potential health effects/benefits.

Significance: Contemporary Indigenous land management and restoration practices are growing in scale, and while Australian Indigenous knowledge reflects multidimensional linkages between the health of Country and people, such linkages have not been extensively explored by Western science. This work would produce much needed research on the emerging field linking soil and plant microbial biodiversity to human health, as well as support the broader Ecohealth research program at Healing Country which aims to explore the importance of Indigenous land management practices for health discourse and policy. By connecting large-scale patterns with local experiments, the research will help to uncover mechanisms of ecological influence on human health in ways that are translatable to science and policy.

Research environment: You would work with the Ecohealth team at the ARC Training Centre for Healing Country - an Indigenous-led interdisciplinary research centre aiming to support the Indigenous restoration economy. The team is highly multidisciplinary, bringing together soil and plant scientists, social and health scientists, data scientists, and statisticians, alongside Indigenous knowledge-holders. This rich mix of expertise will enable the candidate to engage with multiple perspectives and methodologies, ensuring that the research spans ecological, biomedical, and sociocultural dimensions of human-environment health.

Ideal candidate: We are seeking a highly motivated candidate with a solid understanding of the scientific process and a strong foundation in experimental design and quantitative analysis. Candidates should demonstrate the ability to work across disciplines and be willing to develop and apply novel approaches that support an Indigenous-focused Ecohealth research program. Experience with statistical software (e.g., R or Python) is desirable along with an openness and willingness to learn new analytical, experimental, and data analysis skills. An interest in microbiology and spatial science will be particularly valuable, given the project’s focus on linking soil-plant microbial biodiversity with human health across multiple scales. Other relevant areas of interest include microbial ecology, bioinformatics, and epidemiology.

Scholarship: PhD Scholarship is available under the “Australian Research Council Industrial Transformation Training Centre for Healing Country Scholarship”, an ARC Industrial Transformation Research Program. The scholarship stipend commences at $37,500 AUD per annum paid fortnightly, the PhD stipend is paid up to 3.5 years and a tuition fee offset is provided for international applicants. Candidates must be able to commence by end of January 2026.