Emily McColl-Gausden: Humans of BioSciences

Meet Emily McColl-Gausden, a PhD candidate in the Quantitative and Applied Ecology Group (QAEco) in the School of BioSciences. Emily’s research uses environmental DNA (eDNA) to detect animals in water. A major focus of her PhD is conducting the Great Australian Platypus Search, a large-scale platypus survey where she and other researchers are sampling hundreds of sites across Victoria and New South Wales to try to understand why they are occupying certain areas, and not others. Emily completed her undergraduate and graduate degrees at the University of Melbourne. “I feel lucky to have great supervisors and a great research group to support me.’’

Emily portrait

What problem are you trying to solve with your research?

Sometimes it's hard for us to know where animals are in their environment. They might camouflage well or only come out at different times of the day, and this problem is exacerbated when the environment is aquatic. I’m therefore using an emerging technology called environmental DNA (eDNA) to detect animals like platypuses in aquatic environments. eDNA is the traces of DNA that we all leave behind in our environment, whether that be in the soil we walk over, or the water a platypus swims through. It is a great technique for detecting where different species are, as they all leave traces of themselves behind.

sampling

A major component of my PhD is conducting the Great Australian Platypus Search where we are sampling 100s of sites across Victoria and New South Wales to try to understand why they are occupying certain areas, and not others. It could also help us fill in some of the gaps in the platypus distribution and is a great demonstration of the landscape- level data that you can gain from using eDNA sampling. As eDNA is an emerging technology, my PhD is also trying to answer some more methodological questions about its use in ecology. For example, comparing different techniques so we that know which is better for detecting platypus for future species monitoring.

Emily in the field

What do you enjoy doing outside of science? 

I love being outside and in nature. More camping and hiking are definitely at the top of my list when it’s safe to do so. In terms of indoor activities, I’ve been really enjoying cross stitch and crochet in front of the TV, especially on these cold winter nights.

Do you have any advice for undergraduate students considering a PhD?

Talk to people! It is a great way to find out what they are doing, and whether you would want to do that too! This could be through volunteering, emailing a PhD or Masters student (we are all very friendly, I promise) or attending events and seminars where people talk about their research.


Find Out More

Emily McColl-Gausden on Twitter: @EcoEmcg

Quantitative and Applied Ecology Group (QAEco)

Great Australian Platypus Search


'Humans of BioSciences' is a special series to introduce the School of BioSciences' undergrad and postgrad students, our academics, professional staff and associates.