BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES DEPARTMENT MATTERS | FEBRUARY 27 2015

Dear all,

Please join me today at 4pm in the E8A tearoom to celebrate Mark Westoby’s 40th anniversary in the Department. There will be lovely drinks and nibbles!

cheerio

Mariella

General News and Announcements

Department Meeting – March 3, 2015

We are back into the groove of having Department meetings on the first Tuesday of the month. I want to keep this meeting trim with a discussion on the next academic positions for the Department. All staff (professional, academic), post-docs and higher degree research students (MREs, PhD) are cordially invited to attend Department meetings!

Agenda thus far:

• Safety update – Marita
• Learner Experience of Unit – Mariella and Kath
• What are our next hires – everyone

Seminar next week

Next Weeks Bio Dept speaker in collaboration with Climate Futures, is Rebecca Harris from UTas. 

Climate projections for ecologists

Climate projections are essential for studying ecological responses to climate change, and their use is now common in ecology. However, the lack of integration between ecology and climate science has restricted understanding of the available climate data and their appropriate use. Bec will give an overview of climate model outputs and issues that need to be considered when applying projections of future climate in ecological studies. She will outline the strengths and weaknesses of available climate projections, the uncertainty associated with future projections at different spatial and temporal scales, the differences between available downscaling methods (dynamical, statistical downscaling, and simple scaling of global circulation model output), and the implications these have for ecological models. She will describe some of the changes in the Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), including the new representative concentration pathways. Finally, she will highlight some of the challenges in using model projections

New to the Department

Welcome to our new Future Fellow: Ajay Narendra (ajay.narendra@mq.edu.au) who is joining the Department from the ANU. Ajay will be here in person from July 1, 2015 and until then occasionally visit the Department. Ajay will be located on the Hill with more details to follow.

If you have a new student, post-doc or visitor, please bring them past to introduce them and send me details for inclusion in the Department Matters.

Feedback on the fieldwork manual

Please provide feedback on the new field work manual to Sarah by March 6!

The Department of Biological Sciences fieldwork manual

Australian Marine Sciences Association (NSW) event at the Macquarie Art Gallery next Tuesday 

We are hosting the Australian Marine Sciences Association NSW AGM at Macquarie on Tuesday evening (the 3rd of March).  The event will be held at the Macquarie Art Gallery (E11A) starting at 7pm. There will be food and drinks as well as two short talks by Gemma White and Melanie Bishop highlighting the excellent marine research we do at Macquarie. Please let Josh know if you plan to come along for catering numbers (joshua.madin@mq.edu.au).

Biology Safety Alert

1.  2015 Office inspections.

The 2015 office inspections will commence in March.  This year the WHS committee will be conducting them and filling in the paper work for you.  The office inspection checklist that the committee will be using is attached.  Please ensure your office is in good order to keep your corrective actions to a minimum.

2.  Minutes of Biology WHS committee meeting held 3rd February 2015

Biology WHS Advisory Group minutes 3rd February 2015 2015 Office inspection checklist-MH

For sale

VW GOLF GTI 2012 Manual, still under New Car Warranty to April.

Laura’s daughter has moved to New York for work and has left her near new car with her to sell.

Features: 

• Only 20,200 Kms
• $31,500 ono
• 5 door hatch
• 6 speed gear box
• One owner (Laura’s daughter – bought brand new)
• Always garaged
• Cloth seats (interior – as new)
• USB connection
• Alloy wheels
• Other standard factory inclusion 
• Colour: black 
• Serviced by VW authorised dealers
• Next service at 29,000 kms
• Enquiries:  Laura Ext 8226

Philosophy Seminar: What can (and cannot) non-human animals tell us about the human mind?”

Rachael Brown (Macquarie University)

Tuesday March 3rd, 1-2pm

Rm 107, Building W6A

While it is universally accepted that non-human animal evidence has a role to play in the study of the human mind, the limits of that role are unclear. This leaves open the question of when we are justified in making claims about the human mind of the basis of such evidence, and when we are not. In my paper I respond to this question by exploring the types of inferences that cognitive, scientists, neuroscientists and psychologists make from non-human animals and their limits. Ultimately I hope to develop a general guide for how we should use non-human evidence when theorising about the human mind and a framework for assessing claims about the human mind that are reliant on non-human animal evidence.

Feel free to bring your lunch. Bring a coffee mug if you would like a tea or coffee.

Contact: Rachael Brown (rachael.brown@mq.edu.au)

A google calendar with details of other events in this series is available for viewing and subscription by following this link: http://tinyurl.com/k85h2dl

Jobs

Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Community Engaged Learning and Research

Macquarie University is seeking an enthusiastic and talented post-doctoral researcher to join our Professional and Community Engagement (PACE) Research and Evaluation Team. The research fellow will be responsible for developing a ‘theory of change’ for the PACE program. A particular objective of the position is to further knowledge and understanding of the impact PACE is having and if and how it is meeting its goals. An associated project will also seek to understand different stakeholders views of what constitutes success in PACE both by themselves and other stakeholders. For more information see http://jobs.mq.edu.au/cw/en/job/495458/postdoctoral-research-fellow-in-community-engaged-learning-and-research

Proposed changes to vessel costs

Hi All

This year we are hoping to use fuel cards for the vessels to calculate boat operation costs.

Charges will be:

Usage tarrifs (fuel inclusive) for 2015 and projects funded prior to 2015:

• Pelagica $90/day 
• Sea Wasp $70/day
• Jimble $60/day
• Punt $40/day

Usage tarrifs (fuel inclusive) for 2016* and project seeking funding after March 2015:

• All boats – $40/day daily tarrif + number of engine hours used.
• Pelagica – $44/engine hour (dual engines, aka 2 x $22)
• Sea Wasp – $26/engine hour
• Jimble – $30/engine hour

* 2016 rates are provisional and may decrease depending on University policy decisions about cost recovery, but they will not increase over those listed here for 2016.

Please see the link

http://marinescience.mq.edu.au/diving/vessels_tariffs_bookings/

feel free to let me know if you have any problems

thanks Andrew

For sale

2001 Holden Barina for sale -$3500

More details and photos available at:

http://www.carsales.com.au/private/details/Holden-Barina-2001/SSE-AD-3234599/?Cr=37

or email sarah.collison@mq.edu.au

Jobs – Temporary Administrative Assistant at SIMS

see attached

Admin Assistant (temp) PD Final

Working on imported biological material?

Have a look at the Biosafety Factsheet from the Department of Agriculture attached

Dept of Ag biosecurity requirement_fact sheet

X-ray diffraction workshop at UWS

Course/Training: Introduction to X-ray diffraction (XRD)

When: Tuesday 24^th of February 2015

Where: Parramatta North Campus room LY.LG.04 

Start:  10am

The program will be:

• 10 to 11am                   Introduction to XRD
• 11 to 11.30am            Break – Morning tea
• 11.30am to 12.30pm       Instrumentation – hands on demonstration of Bruker XRD
• 12.30pm to 1pm            Identifying and Pattern Indexing
• 1pm to 2pm                Break – Lunch
• 2pm to 3pm                Hands on processing data. Hands on demonstration of XRD Software
• 3pm to 3.30pm           Break – Afternoon tea
• 3.30pm to 4.30pm      Sample Preparation, phase analysis, other analytical methods (Lattice parameter etc)
• 4.30 to 5pm                Conclusion and wrap up

Please email Richard.Wuhrer@uws.edu.au if you would like to attend.

Workshop on Nuclear Magnetic Resonance/Imaging and their Applications

Date and time: Monday 30^th March 2015, 1:00 pm – 4:30 pm

Where: UWS Campbelltown Campus, Building 30, Room G.213,

–          Please register to attend the workshop (www.uws.edu.au/nanosymposium ) as light refreshments will be provided during the break.

• 1:00 pm – The basic concepts of NMR/MRI.
• 2:00 pm – NMR spectroscopy and its applications to industry and medicine.
• 3:00 pm – Afternoon Tea
• 3:30pm – NMR Imaging (MRI) and its applications to industry and medicine.
• Date and time: Monday 30^th March 2015, 1:00 pm – 4:30 pm
• Where: UWS Campbelltown Campus, Building 30, Room G.213,
• Cost: Free
• Further information is available from;
• Dr Bahman Ghadirian at b.ghadirian@uws.edu.au

Change to Animal Facilities Committee

Macquarie University has a number of animal facilities, each with a separate identity. To represent the unified nature of these facilities, the Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) and the Animal Facilities Committee have decided to give these facilities a new identity that more accurately describes their joint functions.

The Vice Chancellor has approved the new name for the facilities to take effect from Tuesday the 17th of February 2015. Macquarie University’s Animal Facilities will become the Macquarie Animal Research Services (MARS).

BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards

‘The BBVA Foundation, in collaboration with the Spanish National Research Council(CSIC), is pleased to announce the eighth edition of the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards, and to invite you to participate by nominating a candidate or candidates through the institution to which you belong, following the instructions provided in the accompanying call conditions. Further information can be found at the foundation website: www.fbbva/es/awards 

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