Information uncertainty influences conservation outcomes when prioritizing multi-action management efforts
By: Cattarino, Lorenzo, Virgilio Hermoso, Josie Carwardine, Vanessa M. Adams, Mark J. Kennard, and Simon Linke | Find with Google Scholar »
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Hi all
The curriculum architecture project rolls on – there are weekly meetings on Tuesdays until all courses are submitted. This week the meeting will be straight after the monthly Department meeting, so all welcome to stay and contribute to our curriculum development for 2020 onwards. And don’t forget to send any and all news of successes and opportunities to fse.bionewsletter@mq.edu.au so we can tell everyone!
cheers
Michelle
Save the Date
This coming week 3rd – 7th September
Mon 3rd: MQ Town Hall meeting – outcomes of new academic staff enterprise agreement. All staff welcome; 10-11a; E7B Mason Theatre
Tue 4th: Department Meeting; 1.00pm – 2.00pm with lunch at 12:30pm; 14EAR (E8A) 280 Biology Tea Room.
Wed 5th: Department Morning Tea; 10.30am – 11.00am; 14EAR (E8A) 280 Biology Tea Room.
Wed 5th: Departmental Seminar – Dr Camilla Whittington, USyd; 1.00pm – 2.00pm; 14EAR (E8A) 280 Biology Tea Room.
Thu 6th: Biology Social Club; 5.00pm – 7.00pm; Biology Courtyard.
Following week 10th – 14th September
Wed 12th: Departmental Seminar – Professor Ian Crawford, Birkbeck, University of London; 1.00pm – 2.00pm; 14EAR (E8A) 280 Biology Tea Room.
Thu 13th: aaRgh – R drop in session; 3.00pm – 4.00pm; 14EAR (E8A) 280 Biology Tea Room.
Thu 13th: Biology and Environment Society Careers Night; 4.00pm – 7.30pm; 14EAR (E8A) 280 Biology Tea Room.
Future Events
Sep 10th: REP Workshop ‘Is The Mainstream Account of Evolution Satisfactory?’; 10.00am – 12.00pm; 7WW (E6B) 149 Briefing Room.
Sep 19th: Biology ECR Research Showcase; 9.30am; 14EAR (E8A) 280 Biology Tea Room.
Sep 19th: Biological Sciences Graduation Ceremony; 2.30pm; Great Hall, MQU.
Sep 21st: Frank Mercer Garden 40th Anniversary; 12.00pm – 2.00pm; Frank Mercer Garden, behind Biology Courtyard.
Oct 2nd: REP Workshop ‘Conservation Conversations: Saving Our Smallest Species’; 9.00am – 11.00am; 14EAR (E8A) 280 Biology Tea Room.
Oct 10th: Faculty Safety Day; 10.00am – 2.00pm; Biology Courtyard.
Want to know what Department seminars are coming up? You can check out the Dept webpage at any time!
General News and Announcements
Three Minute Thesis – Biology finals
Well done to our 3 Minute Thesis Department finalists Francisco (Paco) Martinez Baena and Kate Dodds who both represented Biology at the Faculty finals on Monday 27th August 2018.
The annual Biology ECR Research Showcase is nearly upon us! The Early Career Researcher (ECR) Showcase is just around the corner on Wednesday September 19th. Please put it in your diary. The organisers (Ajay N, Rachael D, Jonas W) are busy collating a schedule of fascinating talks for your intellectual tastebuds, and also organising some carefully considered catering for your real ones. The ECR showcase is an annual mini-conference organised by our ECR committee, with the aim to promote and expose the great research being conducted in our department by our ECRs, while enabling networking across the department. All Department members (e.g. ECRs, Academics, Professional Staff and HDR students) are warmly invited to attend. Thank you so far to everyone who has volunteered to give a talk. Schedule to follow.
Biology Garden 40th Anniversary – Please Help! – We’re celebrating the 40th anniversary of our garden on Friday 21st September.
We need your historic photos! As part of the celebrations we’ll have a display of how the garden, especially the courtyard, has been used over the past 40 years.
Please help by submitting images you have to Samantha Newton <samantha.newton@mq.edu.au>
We’d love to have a range of photos from across the decades: planting days, student pracs, open days, Christmas parties and farewells. Precious hard copies can be scanned. Please contact Samantha
Train Station Closure 30th September 2018 With the Macquarie University train station closure from 30 September 2018 for 6-7 months, this website offers information about bus options from your closest train station. http://www.mysydney.nsw.gov.au/stationlink It will be the first place to look for information and will be continually updated.
The Faculty Women in STEM committee is working to enhance the profile of women in the Faculty. To that end, we have created an FSE Women in STEM twitter account. https://twitter.com/STEMwomenMQ
Please follow us! Please retweet! Please send us examples or news items concerning Women at MQ Faculty of Science and Engineering that would be appropriate for this account.
LEARNING AND TEACHING
Curriculum architecture changes under development – weekly meetings Tuesday 1pm in the tearoom until further notice. Join with the L&T committee and contribute to the development of our curriculum to be delivered from 2020.
Need help with unit development or anything L&T? Talk to our friendly Faculty L&T team contact – Natalie Spence (x1943, <natalie.spence@mq.edu.au>).
SEMINARS AND WORKSHOPS
Biological Sciences Weekly Seminar
Date/Time/Venue: Wednesday, 5th September 2018, 1 – 2pm, 14EAR (E8A) 280 Biology Tea Room.
Speaker: Dr Camilla Whittington, USyd. Title: The genetic basis of innovation: venom, pregnancy, and the evolution of complex traits. More information on this and all department seminars ON OUR WEBPAGE HERE
Animal Social Network Analysis Mini-conference and Workshop
This mini-conference and workshop has over 30 participants attending, representing 13 universities from across Australia and internationally. As part of the mini-conference, there is a series of plenary talks addressing different applications of network analysis to biological systems. If you’re keen to attend these talks, please register by 7th September by emailing the convenor – Nicolette Armansin, nicolette.armansin@mq.edu.au.
RESEARCH ENRICHMENT PROGRAM: Is the mainstream account of evolution satisfactory?
Date/Time/Venue: Monday, 10th September 2018, 10 am – 12 pm, E6B 149 Briefing Room.
The broad aim of this workshop is for participants is to think over our knowledge of evolutionary biology, especially the question whether standard or mainstream accounts of Darwinism should be regarded as somehow unsatisfactory or incomplete. Click here to register to attend.
RESEARCH ENRICHMENT PROGRAM: Conservation conversations: saving our smallest species
Date/Time/Venue: Tuesday, 2 October 2018, 9 am – 11 am, 14EAR (E8A) 280 Biology Tea Room.
Almost all animals are invertebrates, yet their vital role in maintaining the health of our environments and providing essential ecosystem services is systematically undervalued. These “other 99%” are under threat from a range of human activities but the need for their conservation is virtually ignored. In order to save our smallest species, we need increased public engagement, new ideas and improved collaboration between interest groups. Click here to register to attend.
Weekly writing workshops for HDR students and Early Career Researchers – Convened by Ken Cheng – Running weekly for most of the year: Fridays 2-4pm in room E8B 111
If you are interested in attending a session email Ken Cheng (ken.cheng@mq.edu.au) by Wednesday 12:00-noon, preferably with a draft attached of what you are working on and some indication of what you especially need help with.
ADMIN THINGS
Two new faces arriving in the Admin Team
We have two new administration staff starting with us this week, Ann Van Uden and Erin Cheng. Please join us at the Department Morning Tea and make them feel welcome.
Pure Training – Registration – 25 September 2018 – 1.00 pm to 3.30 pm
The PURE system is used to manage researcher profiles, outputs including publications, funding applications, awards, projects and reports. Do you feel like you could use some more PURE training? Please register for this session via an email to jenny.ghabache@mq.edu.au.
Outreach activities – Have you participated in an activity for Biology recently? Don’t forget to fill in the super-quick form here – ACCESS OUTREACH FORM HERE
Building Name Changes – Cheat Sheet – If you are trying to identify buildings on campus with new names or old names, please use this link to convert them from old to new or vice versa.
Photo Competition – SEPTEMBER 2018 – go into the draw to win a $100 Gift Card this month! This month’s theme is Man Made! Your images could be used on our Department website, this newsletter, on our social media and in other biology publications. A lucky person’s name will be drawn each month, and they will receive a $100 Gift Card! Criteria: you must provide caption information including details of what/where/who(names of people)/date & you must have taken all photos & the image must have been taken in the last five years. Please follow the dropbox file request link to submit your images.
Submission close: 30 SEPTEMBER 2018. You can enter as many photos as you like – one entry to the draw per photo with caption info, good luck!
Here some photos from the Landscape catagory last month for your viewing pleasure (click on thumbnails to enlarge the image).
RESEARCH FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
The Paddy Pallin Foundation and the Foundation for National Parks & Wildlife Science Grants 2018 – worth up to $7,000 each to support field-based, high quality ecological research.
The grants are open to postgraduate students and Early Career Researchers. Applications close 14 September. Further details and application forms can be found here
Ecological Society of Australia Student research awards open 31 August – Ten student research awards of up to $1,500 will be available to Australian postgraduate and honours students conducting ecological research with applications opening Friday 31 August. The award can be used to cover expenses such as field travel, research assistance, equipment or consumables.
Applicants must be a member of the ESA and not have previously won a research award from the Society. Info here
Are You an Early-Career Researcher Who Loves Sharing Your Research? The NSW Office of Environment & Heritage (OEH) and the Ecological Society of Australia (ESA) have joined forces to establish a new prize for early-career researchers who are doing an exceptional job of communicating ecological research to the public. The OEH/ESA Prize for Outstanding Outreach is a $400 cash prize which will provide much-deserved recognition, and additional experience, for up to six early-career researchers who are doing an excellent job of communicating their research.
Applications are now open, closing at midnight Saturday 13 October. Details here
Would you like the opportunity to sail on the R.V. Investigator?! CAPSTAN – Trainers and Student Participant Applications are now open! The 2nd CAPSTAN voyage is scheduled to depart from Hobart, Tasmania 29th April, arriving in Fremantle, Western Australia, 9th May, 2019 and it is time to crew the voyage! Applications open 15th of August, close 30th of September 2018. For more information visit the website: https://goto.mq/6g Enquiries: <fse.capstanenquiries@mq.edu.au>
SUSTAINABILITY
Recycle Nook – books books books! The Recycle Nook has been rearranged so that academic texts are on the top shelf and fiction and general interest are on the lower shelves. There are a number of recent and ‘historic’ texts on the top shelf, esp Microbiology, Zoology and HSC Science. Have a browse and see if these are of interest and value to anyone you know. Any text published prior to this century will be recycled on Friday 10th August (giving you 3 weeks of browsing pleasure). Also in the recycle nook are a number of printer cartridges, blank CDs/DVDs, and miscellaneous other items.
OPPORTUNITIES
SUPERSTARS OF STEM – applications open NOW!
The search is on for the next 60 Superstars of STEM! Applications are already open! Science & Technology Australia are particularly keen for articulate and passionate women to apply: the aim is to make sure as many STEM disciplines as possible are represented on the program. Each of the participants will be equipped with the skills, contacts and opportunities to become confident public spokespeople for their work, their discipline, and their sector. They will meet decision makers at all levels of government, media, business and academia, and we will provide them with opportunities to connect with thousands of students across Australia. Applications due 23 September 2018.
Lecturer in PACE – is this the job for you? – http://jobs.mq.edu.au/cw/en/job/503804/lecturer-in-pace-learning-teaching-and-research
BLOGS AND OTHER THINGS OF INTEREST
Plant of the Week
Polygala myrtifolia is an old-fashioned garden plant with rather unusual flowers. They superficially mimic pea (Fabaceae) flowers but have only 3 petals whereas peas have 5. And the tips of Polygala petals have extraordinary white, branched crests. In their natural environment in South Africa, these not only attract insects but also serve as platforms from which insect pollinators can access pollen and nectar.
Climate Council 5th Birthday Celebration – This September marks 5 years since the Climate Council launched, backed by an avalanche of community support in Australia’s largest ever crowdfunding campaign.
To celebrate all that we’ve achieved together, and to thank you for the pivotal role you’ve played, we’re delighted to invite you to our special 5th Birthday Celebration at The Australian National Maritime Museum featuring a panel discussion from our Climate Councillors and CEO Amanda McKenzie. The panel will address where we’ve come from, current climate communications challenges, as well as what’s next and a host a Q&A session. Join in the celebration here!
Date/Time: Wednesday 19th September, 6 pm to 8 pm
Location: The Australian National Maritime Museum
Cost: $35 general admission, $25 concession (plus booking fees). Tickets are limited, so please register now.
Event Format: The evening will be MC’d by Tony Eastley, one of the ABC’s most experienced and respected journalists*.
Accommodation needed – The Behavioural Ecology Lab have a research assistant who will be looking for accommodation from mid October to March next year. If you have a room free or are looking to rent out your place over summer please get in touch with lizzy.lowe@mq.edu.au and/or nikolas.willmott@gmail.com
Correct Method for Submitting to Department Matters
Department Matters submissions now have their own email address. Please send all your news items for the newsletter to <fse.bionewsletter@mq.edu.au>
Also, please see the following to correctly format your additions, and keep them rolling in!
You may have noticed that we try to keep all the articles to the same format for the Department Matters, however, rest assured, they do NOT all turn up in this format! To help keep your Department Matters looking as good as possible, when sending in additions to the Newsletter, please try to keep these formatting guidelines in mind.
- Please write in third person. The information is coming from the Newsletter, not directly from you.
- Do not use fancy text formatting. Bold heading, normal text, and only italics or bold to highlight. No font size changes will make it through, sorry.
- If sending via email, set your email output to basic. HTML output will add all sort of formatting that will have to be removed before your article can go into the newsletter.
Keeping to these guidelines will streamline your article’s addition to the newsletter. Thank you.
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New Publications
Subspecies status and methods explain strength of response to local versus foreign song by oscine birds in meta-analysis
By: Parker, Timothy H., Emma I. Greig, Shinichi Nakagawa, Marcelina Parra, and Anthony C. Dalisio | Find with Google Scholar »The risk to Myrtaceae of Austropuccinia psidii, myrtle rust, in Mexico
By: Esperón‐Rodríguez, Manuel, John B. Baumgartner, Linda J. Beaumont, Katherine Berthon, Angus J. Carnegie, M. A. Alfonzetti, Victor L. Barradas, and M. Leishman. | Find with Google Scholar »In the Media
Adam Stow provided comment to 9 News and FOX News regarding a stingray’s virgin birth.
Associate Professor Adam Stow from the Department of Biological Sciences provided comment to 9 News and FOX News regarding a stingray’s virgin birth.
Culum Brown provided comment to Smithsonian Magazine about fish intelligence.
Associate Professor Culum Brown from the Department of Biological Sciences provided comment to Smithsonian Magazine about fish intelligence.
Culum Brown provided comment to Sydney Morning Herald regarding a whale calf washed ashore in Bondi.
Associate Professor Culum Brown from the Department of Biological Sciences provided comment to Sydney Morning Herald regarding a whale calf washed ashore in Bondi.
Adam Stow provided comment to News.com.au regarding a stingray’s virgin birth.
Associate Professor Adam Stow from the Department of Biological Sciences provided comment to News.com.au regarding a stingray’s virgin birth.
Recent Completions
Jessica Wilks submitted her thesis entitled Temporal and spatial variability of phytoplankton fluxes in the Australian and New Zealand Sectors of the Southern Ocean.
Supervised by Glenn Brock and Matthew Kosnik