Costs of acquiring phosphorus by vascular land plants: patterns and implications for plant coexistence
By: Raven, John A., Hans Lambers, Sally E. Smith, and Mark Westoby. New Phytologist (2018). | Find with Google Scholar »
|
Dear all,
A busy week in the department with ARC Discovery grants due and teaching preparation cranking up for S1. Department committees are now beginning with their first meetings of the year, so hopefully planning to implement the Department’s strategies for 2018 are well under way. I will be away at an industry conference Monday-Wednesday next week but if you need anything from the HoD office, just email the HoD email fse.bio-hod@mq.edu.au
cheers,
Michelle
Save the Date
This coming week 19th – 23rd February
Mon 19th: HDR Student Welcome + Lunch; 12.00pm – 2.00pm; E8A-280 (Tea Room).
Tue 20th: E8A AV Make-up Induction; 9.30am – 10.10am; E8A-120.
Wed 21st: Department Morning Tea; 10.30am – 11.30am; E8A-280 (Tea Room).
Wed 21st: Lab Supervisors’ information session; 1-2pm; E8A-280 (Tea Room).
Thu 22nd: E8A Digital Teaching Labs Induction; 9 – 12.00pm; E8A-129 & 150 (Red and Blue Labs).
Thu 22nd: Research Enrichment Program ‘Launch Event 2018’; 10-11am; Level 8 of 12 Wally’s Walk (E7A).
Thu 22nd: R Users Group 2018 Info Session and Workshop; 3.00pm – 5.00pm; E8A-280 (Tea Room).
Next week 26th February – 2nd March
Wed 28th: Department Morning Tea; 10.30am – 11.30am; The Hill.
Thu 1st: Workshop – Research Opportunities and Challenges in the Developing World; 2.00pm – 4.00pm; Level 8, 12 Wally’s Walk (E7A).
Fri 2nd: E8C Digital Teaching Labs Makeup Induction; 1.00pm – 4.00pm; E8C-106.
Coming up
The week of 5-9 March – an event every day for International Women’s Week – watch for announcements
Mon Mar 5th: Mason Lecture by Dr Rebecca Johnson, Australian Museum; 5-6.30pm; MUSE
Thu Mar 5th: Welcome to 1st year students Sausage Sizzle; 12.00pm – 1.00pm; E8 courtyard.
Thu Mar 22nd: HDR Supervision Training – Mental Health; 10.30am – 12.00pm; E8A-280 (Tea Room).
Tue Apr 17th: L&T Special Seminar Commitment, engagement and learning in a large cohort of students by Maruizio Manuguerra; 1 – 2pm; E8C212 for (sign up here).
Wed Apr 18th: Biological Sciences Graduation Ceremony; 2.30pm; Location E7B main hall.
General News and Announcements
RESEARCH OUTCOMES AND OPPORTUNITIES
Grant Success!
Simon Clulow received a new, small grant this week for $30k from the Office of Environment and Heritage, Saving our Species (SoS) grant program. Congratulations Simon.
Department Prizes for HDRs
This year, the department is coordinating two prizes for HDRs in plant sciences, supported by two bequests:
- Tony Price Award for plant ecology
- Milthorpe Memorial Award in Plant Biology (this includes forestry, agriculture and horticulture)
In both cases, the funds (up to $2500) can be used for research support or conference presentation. Applications close 31st March, and must be submitted to fse.bio-hod@mq.edu.au
External Research Funding for HDRs
Australian Marine Sciences Association Allen Award (closes 28 February) for a HDR student in any field of marine science, supporting attendance at an international conference.https://www.amsa.asn.au/node/6
Ecological Society of Australia, Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment (closes 31 March), for HDRs in ecology, wildlife management and natural history studies, to the value of $7500.https://www.ecolsoc.org.au/awards-and-prizes/holsworth-wildlife-research-endowment
Birdlife Australia, Stuart Lesley Bird Research Award (closes 31 March), for HDRs studying native Australian birds. Funds can be used to support research or attend conference, to the value of $5000. http://www.birdlife.org.au/who-we-are/our-organisation/awards-scholarships/stuart-leslie-bird-research-award
The Australian Wildlife Society University Research Grants are scholarships offered to honours or postgraduate students at Australian universities. Each year, ten $1,500 grants are awarded. Applicants must be a member of the Society, and those wishing to join can do so at http://www.aws.org.au/
LEARNING AND TEACHING
iLearn Drop-in Clinic
The iLearn Drop-in Clinic is back for Session 1, 2018 where help is on hand for all things iLearn.
It will be open 10am – 2pm weekdays from 12th February – 2rd March 2018.
Get help with:
- iLearn – Editing and building your unit
- iTeach – iLearn Spaces (in plain English, creating/activating your iLearn unit for the new session)
- iTeach – Unit Guides
- Echo360 and Active Learning Platform
- Turnitin and Feedback Studio
Drop in any time at the following locations:
Monday 12 – Friday 16 February: 12SW 204 (formally C5A 204)
Monday 19 – Friday 23 February: 12SW 204 (formally C5A 204)
Monday 26 February – Friday 2 March: 12WW G23 (formally E7A G23)
No need to register, just turn up during the opening hours.
iLearn: How to Interpret a Turnitin Similarity Report
Turnitin is running a webcast on How to Interpret a Turnitin Similarity Report which you may be interested in viewing.
Date – 21st Feb 2018
Time – 12:00pm Sydney time
Go to this link to register – https://go.turnitin.com/APAC-Webcasts2018-InterSimReport
Save the date! 2018 Graduation Ceremony
The Graduation Ceremony for Biology will be held at 2.30pm on Wednesday 18 April.
Further details will be sent as soon as they come to hand.
Upcoming Department L&T special seminars:
- Tues 17th April: Commitment, engagement and learning in a large cohort of students by Maurizio Manuguerra; 1-2pm; E8C212 for (sign up here)
HDR Supervision Training – Mental Health
There is an upcoming workshop that will contribute to your requirement of ongoing HDR supervisory training.
Dr Benjamin Wilkes, Clinical Psychologist, Campus Wellbeing will be facilitating the workshop: Responding to Mental Illness in the tertiary setting.
Ben has graciously offered to run this session especially for the Biological Sciences Department.
When: Thursday 22nd March 10:30-12
Where: E8A 280 Biology tea room
This workshop will cover:
– Managing the supervisory relationship
– Supporting students with symptoms of mental illness
To register: please email <julian.may@mq.edu.au>.
SEMINARS AND WORKSHOPS
Research Enrichment Program ‘Launch Event 2018’
Come along and see what the Research Enrichment Program is about and it’s menu of offerings for 2018. Everyone is warmly welcome:
10-11am next Thursday the 22nd February, level 8 of 12Wally’s Walk (E7A).
Tea/Coffee and biscuits will be provided.
R Users Group 2018 Info Session and Workshop – Thursday, Feb 22nd at 3pm in the E8A tearoom.
Come along for some snacks and we’ll chat about what we’re doing with R Users Group in 2018. Then James Lawson from Biology will be talking about data manipulation in R.
“Much of the busywork we do as numerical researchers involves getting our data into a useful format for analysis. Fortunately, this is an area where R really shines. I’m going to introduce you to the packages dplyr and tidyr, which provide some intuitive and powerful functions for ‘wrangling’ your data. Filter it, transform it, mutate it, summarise it, split, apply, combine, all in a few lines.
I’ve given this talk before but it’s back by popular request because it’s a good headache remedy.”
Media & Communications for Scientists – Training in Sydney 7th March & 4th July – Department Support Available
The Department has limited funds available to support researchers in media training. Science in Public will be running one-day workshops on the 7th of March and 4th of July (see below). If you are interested in attending, and would like Department support, please email <culum.brown@mq.edu.au> with an expression of interest ASAP (Friday 23rd of February at the latest).
Need to talk about your research but unsure how? Join Science in Public for their one-day media and communication training workshop and get some help.
Conveying the complexity of your research, your life’s work, into a 30-second grab for the media can be hard. The solution is to shape the essence of your science into a story.
We will help you find the right words to explain your research in a way that works for the media, as well as for government, industry and other stakeholders.
Two experienced science communicators will work with you to find the story in your research. Over the years we’ve helped Monash launch the world’s first printed jet engine, revealed the loss of half the coral on the Great Barrier Reef, helped CERN announce the Higgs boson, and revealed the link between CSIRO’s Wi-Fi patent and Aussie astronomy.
Working journalists from television, print and radio will join us over the course of the day to explain what makes news for them. And you’ll get the chance to practice being interviewed in front of a camera and on tape.
The day’s insights and training will help you feel more comfortable in dealing with journalists when media opportunities arise.
Media training courses are $800 + GST per person, and include lunch, morning and afternoon tea, and lattes on demand.
Or if you want a brief introduction to the media for a larger group (20 to 200 people), talk to us about our ‘Meet the Press’ sessions.
Sydney events: Wednesday 7 March or Wednesday 4 July.
The course will run for a full day (8.30am to 5pm) and will be held in the CBD.
If you’d like to book a place in a course, head to www.eventbrite.com.au/o/science-in-public-8313184779 or contact Toni Stevens toni@scienceinpublic.com.au or (03) 9398 1416.
You can read more about our courses at www.scienceinpublic.com.au/training.
Upcoming Workshop: Research Opportunities and Challenges in the Developing World — with Robin Chazdon
2-4pm, Thursday 1st March (followed by light refreshments; 4-5pm)
Level 8, 12 Wally’s Walk (E7A)
This workshop will be of interest to:
• Any researchers already engaging with, or considering engaging with, developing countries.
• Any Higher Degree Research students and Higher Degree Research student supervisors who are interested in research on a developing country topic.
Professor Emerita Robin Chazdon is a Senior Fellow with the World Resources Institute Global Restoration Initiative. Professor Chazdon is a long-time campaigner in addressing pressing global problems and has personal and organizational experience working in developing countries (https://www.weforest.org/robin-chazdon).
Hosted by Emeritus Prof Mark Westoby (Research Enrichment Program) and Prof Shawkat Alam (Director of the Centre for Environmental Law), this workshop will be delivered as a Q&A session with questions posed by interviewers and the audience. It will tap into Robin’s experience and highlight the research opportunities possible in developing countries.
This workshop is run by the Research Enrichment Program, Centre for Environmental Law and the Office of the Dean of HDR
Everyone warmly welcome!
Conservation Biology
The Society of Conservation Biology is the main society for conservation-minded folks globally, and rest assured they have lots of stuff to do in the coming months!
The first event for the society in 2018 is a follow up to their many successful bush walks, with an added nature-drawing theme. On March 18th, members of the society will be leading a walk around Wentworth Falls, with a focus on drawing native wildlife. Take a camera along, and use your photos as inspiration for drawings. If you want a nice walk on the weekend, or want to lend a hand by helping with fun facts about the wildlife you see, come along! More information at https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/bushwalk-nature-drawing-tickets-42841457954
The university representative for the society is Matt Kerr, located in the palaeobiology lab in E8A – contact him for more information or to buy a fancy SCB keep cup ($10 each, which is of course the best bargain you’ll ever see). More events will be shared in due time.
ADMIN THINGS
Find out all about what’s happening around the Department all week long on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Photo Competition – February 2018 – Two Chances a Year to Win a $100 Gift Card
This month’s theme is BIOLOGY 2017.
Looking for photos from any events, activities, team photos, plants, animals or anything else of interest. Remember you must have taken the photo in 2017.
Your images could be used on our Department website, in this newsletter and on our social media. The two lucky winners a year will each receive a $100 Gift Card! A winner will be announced at the Biology EOY party and another in early April.
Criteria
- photo captured in 2017
- must provide caption information including details of what/where/who/date
- all photos must have been taken by you
Please provide the details to <jenny.ghabache@mq.edu.au> and the follow the drop box file request link to submit your images.
Submission close: 28 February 2018
You can enter as many photos as you like.
Changes to HoD sign off for HDR/MRes Documents
Do you require sign-off for HDR or MRes forms and documents?
All forms such as nomination of examiners, supervisor memos, thesis corrections etc, no longer come through to our HoD Michelle Leishman for signing.
What do you need to do?
Please send an email with a soft copy (PDF or Word file) attachment through to the following delegates for approval/signature. Please remember to CC Jenny Ghabache on the email. Please note that hardcopies will no longer be accepted at the HoD office.
HDR documents – Culum Brown
MRes documents – Grant Hose
Recurring Room Bookings – Contact Admin to Re-book for 2018
We still have some recurring room bookings within Biological Sciences (E8A280, E8B215, E8C212) that were set up some time ago. Please contact admin (fse.bio-adm@mq.edu.au) to re-book your recurring meetings for 2018 – for those who have already done this, thank you. Any meetings that have not been re-booked before the end of February will be deleted from the calendar.
As a courtesy, if you know you will not be using a room in your usual time, please let us know – particularly during busy periods (e.g. exams), when many rooms are needed.
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
SUSTAINABILITY
E-waste Disposal
This month, the Department will be doing a battery and electronic waste collection. Bring all items that you wish to dispose of to the administration front desk (room 206, E8B). Collection ends at the end of February.
JOB POSITIONS AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Postdoctoral Research Associate, Marine Green Engineering, Sydney Institute of Marine Science
We are seeking an energetic and innovative benthic ecologist, with green engineering research experience, to fill a Postdoctoral Research Associate position. The Research Associate will coordinate and conduct research on several green engineering grants recently awarded to SIMS researchers.
The position is for 18 months, with the possibility of extension; a position description, selection criteria and the application process are detailed in the attached document.
Applications close 5 pm, Friday 23 February.
For further details, please contact A/Prof Melanie Bishop <melanie.bishop@mq.edu.au>.
BLOGS AND OTHER THINGS OF INTEREST
Plant of the Week Returns for 2018!
For this week, Flowers and fruit for Chinese New Year.
Friday marks the beginning of Chinese New Year or Spring Festival, 春节, to be more correct. Flowers and fruit are much loved and important symbols in the celebration of Chinese New Year. In Australia, Spring Festival falls in the middle of summer, so available flowers and fruit are very different from those available in mid-winter in China. However, all manner of flowers are considered auspicious and markets are full of brightly coloured blooms and colourful fruits.
Impact Factors: A Must Read Especially For Younger Researchers
Nature article by Professor of Biology and Assistant Provost at Imperial College, London: “Impact factors were never meant to be a metric for individual papers, let alone individual people”. “We should not outsource evaluation of individual researchers and their outputs in seductive journal metrics”.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-01642-w
Also check out: The San Francisco Declaration on research Assessment: https://sfdora.org/
Scientific 7-minute Workout
Want to exercise more, but don’t have time? Try a 7-minute routine, which can be easily fitted into your day.
https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/10/24/for-a-7-minute-workout-download-our-new-app/
WANTED & AVAILABLE
Volunteer Position
Molly Gilmour is looking for a volunteer(s) to join her to look at animal behaviour in the arid zone. Dates from the 19/02/18 to 31/03/18 of March. Even if you can just come for part of the time she would still love to hear from you! Travel (from Sydney), food, and accommodation will be covered.
She is studying sheep personality and movement out at Fowlers Gap in rural NSW. You’d be helping with personality tests and focal follows of individuals in the field and in the station.
If you’re interested in behavioural research, movement, or even just fieldwork come along and get some great experience out at Fowlers! The field site itself is beautiful – it’s a research station with an incredible diversity of plants and animals and people do research on things like kangaroos, birds, and reptiles. There are also a variety of trails to walk and great places to watch the sun set. Get in touch by either phone or email: 0439811741 or< molly.gilmour@hdr.mq.edu.au>.
Looking for a Room to Rent?
Laura Fernandez and her housemate have one in their house at Woy Woy, near the train station. It is a three-bedroom house, very affordable price. If anyone is interested, please drop her an email at <laura.fernandez@hdr.mq.edu.au> and she will give you more details.
New Publications
Ecosystem effects and the management of petroleum-contaminated soils on subantarctic islands
By: Errington, Ingrid, Catherine K. King, Daniel Wilkins, Tim Spedding, and Grant C. Hose. Chemosphere 194 (2018): 200-210. | Find with Google Scholar »Parasite infestation increases on coral reefs without cleaner fish
By: Grutter, A.S., De Brauwer, M., Bshary, R., Cheney, K.L., Cribb, T.H., Madin, E.M.P., McClure, E.C., Meekan, M.G., Sun, D., Warner, R.R. and Werminghausen, J., 2017. Coral Reefs, pp.1-10. | Find with Google Scholar »Does enemy damage vary across the range of exotic plant species? Evidence from two coastal dune plant species in eastern Australia
By: Tabassum, Samiya, and Michelle R. Leishman. Oecologia (2017): 1-7. | Find with Google Scholar »Towards physiologically meaningful water-use efficiency estimates from eddy covariance data
By: Knauer, J., Zaehle, S., Medlyn, B.E., Reichstein, M., Williams, C.A., Migliavacca, M., De Kauwe, M.G., Werner, C., Keitel, C., Kolari, P. and Limousin, J.M., 2017. Global change biology. | Find with Google Scholar »Designing connected marine reserves in the face of global warming
By: Álvarez‐Romero, J.G., Munguía‐Vega, A., Beger, M., Mar Mancha‐Cisneros, M., Suárez‐Castillo, A.N., Gurney, G.G., Pressey, R.L., Gerber, L.R., Morzaria‐Luna, H.N., Reyes‐Bonilla, H. and Adams, V.M., 2017 Global change biology. | Find with Google Scholar »Limits of vector calibration in the Australian desert ant, Melophorus bagoti
By: Freas, Cody A., and Ken Cheng. Insectes Sociaux (2017): 1-12. | Find with Google Scholar »Cooperative defence operates by social modulation of biogenic amine levels in the honey bee brain
By:Nouvian, Morgane, Souvik Mandal, Charlène Jamme, Charles Claudianos, Patrizia d'Ettorre, Judith Reinhard, Andrew B. Barron, and Martin Giurfa. In Proc. R. Soc. B, vol. 285, no. 1871, p. 20172653. The Royal Society, 2018. | Find with Google Scholar »Elevated salinity blocks pathogen transmission and improves host survival from the global amphibian chytrid pandemic: implications for translocations
By: Clulow, Simon, John Gould, Hugh James, Michelle Stockwell, John Clulow, and Michael Mahony. Journal of Applied Ecology (2017). | Find with Google Scholar »In the Media
Kenneth Cheng was featured in ABC Online and ABC Radio
Professor Kenneth Cheng from the Department of Biological Sciences was featured in ABC Online and ABC Radio in relation to his research that has shown that ants rescue fallen comrades from the battlefield for emergency treatment.
Dr Simon Clulow was interviewed on BBC World News TV, live radio interviews with BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio 5, ABC national TV evening news package, national radio and online, and 76 other individual media stories generated (radio, print and online) including Australian Geographic, Xinhua news, IFL Science and others.
Dr Simon Clulow of the Department of Biological Sciences, published a paper recently (see publications in this newsletter) which has attracted a large amount of media globally, with highlights including a live interview with BBC World News TV, live radio interviews with BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio 5 (20 min live segment), ABC national TV evening news package, national radio and online (cover story http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-02-05/salt-curing-frogs-worldwide-from-chytrid-fungus/9390882), and 76 other individual media stories generated (radio, print and online) including Australian Geographic, Xinhua news, IFL Science, and others.
Lesley Hughes was featured in The Guardian
Professor Lesley Hughes from the Department of Biological Sciences was featured in The Guardian discussing Australia’s extinction crisis.
James Baxter-Gilbert was interviewed on ABC Radio Sydney
James Baxter-Gilbert from the Department of Biological Sciences was interviewed on ABC Radio Sydney about water dragons. See page 10 of the report.