The evolution of honey bee dance communication: a mechanistic perspective
By: Barron, Andrew B., and Jenny Aino Plath. Journal of Experimental Biology 220, no. 23 (2017): 4339-4346. | Find with Google Scholar »
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Dear all,
This will be the final newsletter of the year – you can look forward to a new format next year that will hopefully be easier to read!
Thanks to all staff and students for your contributions to the department throughout the year. It has been a great year with lots of successes – prizes and awards, grants and promotions. We have had new academic and professional staff join the department in the last 12 months and all are making great contributions.
We have come in just on budget (well done Sharyon!) and are meeting our research targets for publications, HDR recruitment and grant income. Our new curriculum is settling in well and enrolments continue to increase in our postgraduate program. The new building in the Fauna Park is now underway and we look forward to celebrating our end of year function there in 2018!
I wish you all a safe and happy break over the Christmas – New Year period. I’ll be on holidays from 22 Dec to 22 Jan, so see you next year. I’m sure that any Head of Department issues will be capably handled by one of Mariella, Grant or Andy while I’m away!
cheers,
Michelle
Save the Date
This coming week 18th – 22nd December
Wed 20th: Department Morning Tea; 10.30am – 11.30am; The Hill.
Fri 22nd: Last day MQ is open for 2017!
Next week 27th – 29th December
University is CLOSED between Saturday, 23rd December 2017 up to and including Monday, 1 January 2018!
Coming up in 2018
Tue Feb 13th: E8C Digital Teaching Labs Induction; 9 – 11.30am; E8C-106.
Fri Feb 16th: F7B Digital Teaching Labs Induction; 9.30 – 11.30am; F7B-108 & 105.
Thu Feb 22nd: E8A Digital Teaching Labs Induction; 9 – 12.00pm; E8A-129 & 150 (Red and Blue Labs).
General News and Announcements
North Ryde Community Aid Christmas collection – Thank you!
Thank you to everyone who donated food and gifts for the North Ryde Community Aid Christmas collection. Our big box of goodies will join other collections from across campus to help make Christmas a little better for many people in the North Ryde area. Here’s a photo of our tree with its stash of goodies.
Turn Off Before You Take Off!
Taking a week or three off this summer? Please turn off all your computers, computer screens and other devices that don’t need to be on over the break. The amount of power consumed by a single screen in standby mode may be small, but consider that across the department there will be over 100 screens all consuming a similar amount of power. It all adds up.
Photo Competition – December 2017 & January 2018 – Chance to win $100 Gift Card
This month’s theme is TEAMWORK!
Please follow the drop box file request link to submit your images.
Submission close: 31 January 2018
The top photos each month will be shared on our Department website and this newsletter. The top photos for the month will be featured on our Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. The best image from the preceding 12 months will be announced at the annual biology Christmas party and the lucky winner will receive a $100 Gift Card! You can enter as many photos as you like.
Criteria
- Shows what’s unique about the work being done
- Taken in the last five years
Please provide the following details to jenny.ghabache@mq.edu.au:
- Details of where/what/who/ is featured in the photo
- Who took the photo
- Date/Year is was taken
To motivate and amaze, here are some of the entries from the November fieldwork catagory!
It is that time of year again!
Admin Office Hours
Effective Now…
End of year financial workload is high for the admin staff, so office hours are changing.
Admin Offices Open: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday
Admin Offices Closed: Tuesday and Thursday
Offices Affected:
- Sharyon O’Donnell – E8B203 (Project Accounts ending in 2017)
- Julian May, Harriet O’Sullivan and Ayden De Courcey – E8B 204 ( Financial processing team)
- Kate Barry, Caitlin Kordis – E8B 207 (Exam processing team)
If your matter is urgent, please see Ayden De Courcey or Jenny Ghabache – E8B206 who will arrange an appointment with the appropriate person. Alternatively, please pick up the phone & call, to avoid increasing the email load. We need your co-operation with this, to ensure the admin staff survives this stressful time.
Biological Sciences Administrative Requests
Please email any admin requests you have to <sci.bio-adm@mq.edu.au>. The email is monitored by the whole Admin Team, so your request won’t sit unanswered in a single person’s inbox should they be away or on leave. If you need to contact the individual admin staff member directly, you will find their contact details in this document.
And if you need HoD signoff on any applications, forms, etc please send to <fse.bio-hod@mq.edu.au>
2018 Fisheries Scientific Committee Student Research Grant Round Now Open
The NSW Fisheries Scientific Committee (FSC) is now accepting applications for their 2018 round of Student Research Grants.
The FSC has available $3,000 to fund 1-2 student projects, aimed at filling gaps in research information for threatened and rare species of fish and marine vegetation in NSW. The grants are intended for use by undergraduate 3rd year major project students, or as part of an Honours, Masters or PhD project.
The FSC assesses nominations for the listing (or de-listing) of threatened species, populations and ecological communities of fish and marine vegetation in NSW, and key threatening processes. This task relies on the availability of up-to-date scientific data on species distribution, abundance, habitat and ecology. Projects funded through the Student Research Grants provide the FSC with information on threatened fish and marine vegetation species and communities in NSW to help support their listing or de-listing. This information may also assist in managing species recovery through initiatives undertaken by NSW Department of Primary Industries.
How to apply
Visit the FSC website to access the online application form. Applicants should read the Student Research Grants Terms and Conditions, and the Information for Applicants available on the website prior to commencing their Application. Any questions should be directed to the FSC’s Executive Officer at <fsc@dpi.nsw.gov.au>
Applications close 11.59 pm (AEDT) on Friday 16 February 2018.
Plant of the Week (again!)
This week Alison is still showcasing Colours of Christmas – Red and Green – flowers, fruit and foliage.
Summer Project Wanted for Third-Year Advanced Biology Student
There is one student from the 2017 Advanced Biology class who needs to complete her 50-hour PACE placement over the coming summer break. She would prefer a data analysis-type project but laboratory-based experimental work would also be fine. If you have a suitable project, please contact Koa Webster (<koa.webster@mq.edu.au>; phone ext. 6289).
Complex Systems Summer School (CSSS)
June 10 – July 6, 2018
Applications Accepted: Now through January 29, 2018.
The SFI Complex Systems Summer School (CSSS) offers an intensive 4-week introduction to complex behavior in mathematical, physical, living, and social systems. Lectures are taught by the faculty of the Santa Fe Institute (SFI). The school is for students and professionals seeking to transcend traditional disciplinary boundaries and ask big questions about real-world complex systems.
The program consists of an intensive series of lectures, labs, and discussion sessions focusing on foundational concepts, tools, and current topics in complexity science. Participants collaborate in developing novel research projects throughout the 4 weeks of the program that culminate in final presentations and papers.
Graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and professionals are eligible to apply. Women and members of underrepresented groups are encouraged to apply.
More Information and to Apply: santafe.edu/CSSS
Are you getting credit for your Outreach Activities? Have participated in an activity for Biology recently?
Don’t forget to fill in the super-quick form here – ACCESS OUTREACH FORM HERE
Test Out the Scoop a Poop kit!
Do you have brushtail or ringtail possums in your yard?
The Scoop a Poop project needs more possum poop. The team would also appreciate feedback on the usability of the collection kit they use for their citizen science project.
If you can collect poop and return the kit by 8th December, please contact Koa Webster (<koa.webster@mq.edu.au>; ext. 6289) for a kit.
NOTE: both BRUSHTAIL and RINGTAIL possum poop now accepted!
Method for Submitting to Department Matters
Department Matters submissions now have their own email address. Please send all future submissions to 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.
STEM Speakers in Schools
What is it?
The Speakers in Schools program places Macquarie University academics in schools to connect students and teachers with researchers who inspire, inform and challenge students to question their thinking. Presentations discuss hot topics, global issues affecting society, have inspirational and significant impact for students.
How does it work?
We request that interested schools give us 4 weeks’ notice with some suggested dates, Alison Willard (FSE Future Students) will then liaise with you to see if any of those dates suit your schedule. The FSE Future Students Team provides transport for you (either someone will accompanying and drive you, or you can get a cab charge voucher).
Are you interested?
Please express your interest here:
Worm Farm and Tea Bags
Our worms are healthy and enjoying the lovely coffee, banana and salad scraps you’ve been providing. The worm farm is about to be refreshed, with lovely worm castings available for the home veggie garden. A quick inspection reveals a layer of tea bags and tags. Further investigation, via google, has revealed some interesting information about tea bags:
- Most teabags (including the Dilmah tea supplied by the department) is 70-80% biodegradable
- T2 tea bags are made of Nylon (not biodegradable)
- Loose leaf tea is fully biodegradable and tastes better
Therefore, for the sake of our worms, our gardens and or planet, please switch to loose-leaf tea, or non-T2 teabags where possible. If you absolutely must use a T2 tea bag, or a bag sealed with a staple, please throw the used bag into the general waste, not the worm container. If you would like to take home some worm castings for your garden, please email Samantha Newton, <samantha.newton@mq.edu.au>
Searching For A Room To Rent
Caterina Funghi, a joint PhD student finishing her fieldwork, is searching for a Room in Sydney between December 19 to January 7. If you have a room, or know someone renting out a room, please let her know at <caterina.funghi@students.mq.edu.au>
New Publications
Ocellar structure is driven by the mode of locomotion and activity time in Myrmecia ants
By: Narendra, Ajay, and Willi A. Ribi. Journal of Experimental Biology 220, no. 23 (2017): 4383-4390. | Find with Google Scholar »Influence of body size on tube feet morphology and attachment capacity in the sea urchin Holopneustes purpurascens (Temnopleuridae)
By: Connolly, David M., Thomas Desvignes, and Jane E. Williamson. Marine Biology 164, no. 12 (2017): 223. | Find with Google Scholar »Novel predators emit novel cues: a mechanism for prey naivety towards alien predators
By: Carthey, Alexandra JR, Kaja Wierucka, Martin P. Bucknall, and Peter B. Banks. Scientific reports 7 (2017): 16377. | Find with Google Scholar »The loneliness of the long-distance toad: invasion history and social attraction in cane toads (Rhinella marina)
By: Gruber, Jodie, Martin J. Whiting, Gregory Brown, and Richard Shine. Biology letters 13, no. 11 (2017): 20170445. | Find with Google Scholar »The role of visual cues in mother-pup reunions in a colonially breeding mammal
By: Wierucka, Kaja, Benjamin J. Pitcher, Robert Harcourt, and Isabelle Charrier. Biology letters 13, no. 11 (2017): 20170444. | Find with Google Scholar »Moving in Dim Light: Behavioral and Visual Adaptations in Nocturnal Ants
By: Narendra, Ajay, J. Frances Kamhi, and Yuri Ogawa. Integrative and comparative biology 57, no. 5 (2017): 1104-1116. | Find with Google Scholar »The evolution and function of spider feet (Araneae: Arachnida): multiple acquisitions of distal articulations
By: Labarque, Facundo M., Jonas O. Wolff, Peter Michalik, Charles E. Griswold, and Martín J. Ramírez. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society (2017): zlw030. | Find with Google Scholar »A Comparative Analysis of SVM and IDNN for Identifying Penguin Activities
By: Chessa, Stefano, Alessio Micheli, Rita Pucci, Jane Hunter, Gemma Carroll, and Rob Harcourt. Applied Artificial Intelligence 31, no. 5-6 (2017): 453-471. | Find with Google Scholar »In the Media
Rob Harcourt featured in The Age and Sunday Canberra Times
Professor Rob Harcourt from the Department of Biological Sciences featured in The Age and Sunday Canberra Times on reports seabirds at Montague Island off Narooma have stomachs full of plastic.
John Alroy provided comment to the Sydney Morning Herald, Sun Herald, Sunday Canberra Times and Sunday Age
Associate Professor John Alroy from the Department of Biological Sciences provided comment to the Sydney Morning Herald, Sun Herald, Sunday Canberra Times and Sunday Age in relation to new evidence of “super corals” which offers the prospect of more time for the world’s coral reefs hard-hit by climate change.