Host Faculty: Science
General Subject Area: Microbial ecology
Project Level: PhD
Low-temperature geothermal systems (>30°C and up to nominally ~70°C) are a largely underexplored component of New Zealand’s geothermal resource base. While high-temperature systems have been explored and exploited for decades, low-temperature geothermal systems have been sidelined, despite being useful in areas such as horticulture, aquaculture, and industrial processing. One of the impediments to utilising low-temperature geothermal resources is that they are difficult to identify and monitor within groundwater systems using existing geophysical approaches.
This PhD project aims to solve this issue by integrating microbial ecology and extremophile microbiology with hydrogeochemistry and modelling to develop a new methodology to monitor and map low-temperature geothermal resources in groundwater systems in NZ. This PhD project will exploit key taxonomic and metabolic characteristics of extremophilic microorganisms as sensitive tracers of transient geothermal–groundwater interactions.
Supervisors
Primary Supervisor: Matthew Stott
Other Supervisor(s): Karen Houghton
Key qualifications and skills
The ideal candidate will have expertise in microbial ecology and diversity, bioinformatics, and geochemistry. Knowledge of modelling and biogeochemical interactions are beneficial, and experience with working with Indigenous communities, and an understanding of Indigenous knowledge and data sovereignty would be considered highly desirable
Does the project come with funding
Per annum: Stipend of $32,650 plus PhD tuition fees
Funding duration: Three years (360 points)
Final date for receiving applications
15 September 2026 (midnight)
How to apply
This is a UC Connect Scholarship and applications must be made through the Scholarship Portal in your myUC account. Emailed applications will not be considered. Find out more here: University of Canterbury Scholarship Portal - UC Connect - Geothermal microbial biomarkers in groundwater
Keywords
microbial ecology; groundwater; geothermal; extremophiles; modelling
