Towards a general framework for the assessment of interactive effects of multiple stressors on aquatic ecosystems: Results from the Making Aquatic Ecosystems Great Again (MAEGA) workshop
By: Paul J.Van den Brink, Sally A.Bracewell, Alex Bush, Anthony Chariton, Catherine B. Choung, Zacchaeus G. Compson, Katherine A. Dafforn, Kathryn Korbel, David R. Lapen, Mariana Mayer-Pinto, Wendy A. Monk, Allyson L. O'Brien, Natalie K .Rideout, Ralf B. Schäfer, Kizar A. Sumon, Ralf C. M. Verdonschot, and Donald J. Baird. 2019. Science of The Total Environment Volume 684, 20 September 2019, Pages 722-726. | Find with Google Scholar »
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Dear all,
I am back in the HoD office, relaxed and refreshed after a month’s leave. Many thanks to Grant Hose who did a fabulous job of keeping everything going while I was away! This week was an important week with the Session 1 exam meeting to finalise grades, then some rest and relaxation for all with the Christmas in July and Outreach thank you lunch and games – thanks to Jenny Ghabache for her organisation of this and to Caitlin Kordis for her calm and efficient management of the grading. And of course a big thank you to all the S1 teaching staff for all your hard work.
There are lots of changes happening in the admin team, as Annie, Erin and Jenny have done or will soon be taking up opportunities for promotion beyond the department. I wish them all well in their next adventures! Please be patient as we fill the vacant positions.
We are in the midst of the interview process for candidates for the lectureship in evolutionary genomics – keep an eye out for the candidate seminars in the next two weeks and you are welcome to provide feedback to the committee by contacting me.
Congratulations again to Prof Ian Wright on his becoming a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Sciences – you can enjoy the pictures from last week’s celebration below.
cheers
Michelle
-click thumbnail for larger image-
Save the Date
This coming week 8th – 12th July
Mon 8th: Special Seminar delivered by Evolutionary Genomics Candidate – Sally Potter; 10.00am – 11.00am; 14EAR(E8A)-280 (Biology Tea Room).
Wed 10th: Department Morning Tea; 10.30am – 11.30am; 14EAR(E8A)-280 (Biology Tea Room).
Wed 10th: Special Seminar delivered by Evolutionary Genomics Candidate – Cheong Chan; 10.00am – 11.00am; 14EAR(E8A)-280 (Biology Tea Room).
Thu 11th: Special Seminar delivered by Evolutionary Genomics Candidate – Oliver Griffith; 10.00am – 11.00am; 14EAR(E8A)-280 (Biology Tea Room).
Thu 11th: HDR Completion Seminar – Wendy Grimm; 4.30pm – 5.00pm; 14EAR(E8A)-280 (Biology Tea Room).
Thu 11th: Biology Social Club; 5.00pm – 7.00pm; Biology Courtyard.
Following week 15th -19th July
Tue 16th: Special Seminar delivered by Evolutionary Genomics Candidate – Seth Barribeau; 10.00am – 11.00am; 14EAR(E8A)-280 (Biology Tea Room).
Wed 17th: Department Morning Tea; 10.30am – 11.30am; 205b Culloden Rd.
Thu 18th: 6WW (E8C) Digital Teaching Lab Induction; 9.30am to 12pm; 6WW(E8C)-106.
Weekly Events
Thu: Venture Café; 3–8pm; (map). Find out what is on each week here – https://venturecafesydney.org/
Fri: Writing workshops with Prof Ken Cheng – to support HDRs and ECRs with scientific writing; 2–4pm; Ken’s office at 205b Culloden Road, G12.
Fri: Behaviour and Evolution Journal Club; Friday at 12:30pm (bring your lunch); 205B Culloden Rd Boardroom.
Weekly Biological Sciences seminar program is here
Future Events
July 22nd: (Monday) 4WW (F7B) Digital Teaching Lab Induction; 9.30am to 11.30am; 4WW(F7B) 105.
July 23rd: (Tuesday) 14EAR (E8A) Digital Teaching Lab Induction; 9.30am to 12.30pm (TBC); 14EAR (E8A) 120.
August 8th: Biology 3-Minute Thesis competition; 4:30-5pm, 14EAR(E8A)-280 (Biology Tea Room) – followed by Social Club!
General News and Announcements
Congratulations – Jane Williamson and Louise Tosetto from the Department of Biological Sciences, along with Katherine Dafforn from the Department of Environmental Sciences and Penny Berents, President of the Australian Marine Sciences Association (AMSA), have successfully secured Research Attraction and Acceleration Program funding from the Office of the MSW Chief Scientist and Engineer to support the upcoming AMSA/NZMSS 2020 Conference. This conference will be held at Macquarie University, in conjunction with MQ Marine, in July next year. The theme of the conference in “Marine Science in the Anthropocene”. They look forward to everyone attending this conference!
Also, congratulations again to Jane Williamson who, along with Craig Blount, Kate Reeds and Dilys Zhang from Cardno and Daryl McPhee from Bond University, have secured a large Recreational Fishing Trust Grant titled “Identifying risk from marine debris sourced from recreational fishing and determining solutions to key issues.”
Congratulations to Laura Fernandez and team for having their paper Impacts of the invasive fungus Austropuccinia psidii (myrtle rust) on three Australian Myrtaceae species of coastal swamp woodland among the most downloaded papers in Austal Ecology for the 12 months after it was published online their work generated immediate impact and visibility, contributing significantly to the advancement of their field.
Congratulations! PhD Candidate, Joni Pini-Fitzsimmons has been awarded the 2019 Georgina Sweet Fellowship from Australian Graduate Women (formerly, Australian Federation of Graduate Women). The award, valued at $6,000, will fund a new research project for Joni where she aims to use acoustic telemetry to identify areas of reproductive significance for Australia’s largest stingray.
Christmas in July volunteer and outreach thank you lunch – this week the Outreach Committee held our 3rd annual lunch to celebrate and acknowledge the time and effort of the volunteers and people doing outreach activities for our Dept. There was soup, salads, desserts, a quiz and games and it was a whole lot of fun, have a look at these photos.
Join Millions of People Reducing Their Plastic Waste – Plastic Free July is a global movement that helps millions of people be part of the solution to plastic pollution – so we can have cleaner streets, oceans, and beautiful communities. Will you be part of Plastic Free July by choosing to refuse single-use plastics?
Whether you’re a beginner looking for a few single-use plastics to avoid, or someone well on their way to a plastic free life, we have ideas to inspire you at home, work, school, and within the community.
https://www.plasticfreejuly.org/get-involved/
The BIOL000 iLearn site needs significant updating and revamping to make it more user friendly and functional. After much discussion between Kate, Caitlin and Natalie Spence (FSE learning designer), the best suggestion so far is to piggy back off the FSE000 site and add a Biology-focused section to save doubling up and to minimise any issues with maintaining currency. Biology admin will also be able to make specific notes in general areas if the info is slightly different for Biology than for the other Science Departments, plus have the ability to add Biology-specific files (e.g. the Biology unit tree, the 1st year Biology Harvard Referencing Guide).
Please email Kate Barry at <kate.barry@mq.edu.au> if you have any strong opinions either way about this suggestion.
Biology Administration Staff Movements – It is with much sadness I advise the following staff have or are moving to a secondment or continuing position in other Faculties:
- Erin Cheng has moved to Medical Sciences gaining a finance position moving from a Hew 4 to Hew 6 for 12 months.
- Jenny Ghabache is moving to Sociology gaining a finance/admin position moving from a Hew 5 to Hew 6 for 13 months.
- Anne Van Uden has moved to the office of the DVC engagement moving from a Hew 4 to Hew 5, full time continuing position.
I would like to take this opportunity to wish them well in their new endeavours and thank them very much for their dedication towards their work, their support, and kindness to us all.
They will be sadly missed,
Sharyon O’Donnell
Department Manager
Plant of the Week -click the thumbnails for larger images-
This week – Coast Banksia – Banksia integrifolia
If you land just about anywhere along the Australian coastline between Proserpine (Qld) and Geelong (Vic), you are likely to find the Coast Banksia, Banksia integrifolia. The Coast Banksia, is one of four Banksia species collected by botanists Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander in Botany Bay in 1770.
And on the origin of the common name Madeira Vine (for Anredera cordifolia), for a vine that comes from Brazil and definitely not from the Madeira Archipelago, Wendy Grimm has brought to our attention the fact that Rio Madeira, or the Madeira River, is by far the largest tributary of the Amazon, and therefore likely to be the source of the name.
OPPORTUNITIES
The Clever Cookie Project – Casual Field Assistant Position. Ad_field assistant cockatoos
NEW LIBRARY RESOURCE: JoVE Science Education Core Biology – The library is happy to advise that we now have access to a new module of JoVE (Journal of Visualised Experiments), JoVE Science Education Core Biology. After clicking on this link, it is best to choose the JoVE option.
JoVE is a peer reviewed scientific video journal, providing access to thousands of visualised experiments and laboratory techniques in a variety of scientific fields. The JoVE Science Education video library is dedicated to teaching scientific fundamentals through simple easy-to-understand video demonstrations.
Higher Education Academy Fellowship Program Now Open for Mid-2019 Applications – Macquarie educators interested in having their professional practice in higher education teaching, learning support, and leadership recognised, can now register to apply for HEA Fellowship. Applicants must first attend a 1-hour information session; sessions will be held between 29 May and 15 July – register and see more information: https://teche.mq.edu.au/2019/05/macquarie-hea-fellowship-program-now-open-for-mid-2019-application/
Educators at all levels are encouraged to participate – from casual tutors (Associate Fellow) through to program and unit leaders (Senior or Principal Fellow). Information about Fellowship itself: https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/individuals/fellowship
Faculty Staff (Professional & Academic) Travel Grants – support for staff travel is now provided centrally by the Faculty. Funding is available for ECR travel, international collaboration, teaching and professional staff development. If you would like to apply, please discuss with your supervisor and A/Prof Andrew Barron (for research travel) or Dr Drew Allen (for teaching travel). Research Eligibility and application details can be found here.https://staff.mq.edu.au/intranet/science-and-engineering/faculty-awards,-schemes-and-procedures
One round remain for the rest of the year:
– Round 3 closes Friday 27 September 2019
Apply as soon as possible for any travel you intend on taking in 2019, that meets the criteria. Funds awarded must be spent in 2019 and will not be carried into 2020.
SEMINARS AND WORKSHOPS
HDR Completion Seminar – Date/Time: Thursday, 11th July, 2019; 4.30pm – 5pm. Speaker: Wendy Grimm. Title: The biology and ecology of Genoplesium baueri R.Br., an endangered terrestrial orchid endemic to New South Wales, Australia. Venue: Biology Tearoom. More information here
MolSci Seminar – Date/Time: Tuesday, 9th July, 2019; 1pm – 2pm. Speaker: Dr Thomas Booth from School of Molecular Sciences, University of Western Australia. Title: Evolution of Adenylation-Domain Specificity in Non-Ribosomal Peptide Synthesis. Venue: 4WW 322 seminar room. More information https://goto.mq/7n
Lunchtime Litter Collection – The days may be cooler, but they’re also clear and sunny. Lunchtime is a great time to go for a walk and get some vitamin D! It’s also a great time to join the Biology Litter Collection competition! The next event will be Wednesday 23rd July, 1pm. Meet in the Biology courtyard, bring a bucket or bag if you can.
We’ll be holding events throughout the rest of the year, every few weeks. At each event you go out to collect litter, between 1 and 1:30pm. Collections will be assessed at the end of each collection and gold stars awarded accordingly. Event results are tallied at the end of the year with a prize for the best collector.
Event dates: Tues 23rd July; Tues 13th August; Tues 10th September; Tues 8th October; Tues 12th November; Tues 10th December.
ECR Workshop – Preparing for Academic Promotion Interviews -Thursday 25 July, 2.00–4.30pm. Tutorial Room 131, 9 Wally’s Walk.
Have you applied for promotion to Level B or C in 2019 or are you planning to apply in coming years? This session will help ECRs prepare for academic promotions interviews by sharing information about how the interview process works, what panellists are looking for and what you can do to prepare for a successful interview. A panel of experienced academic promotions review panellists from each faculty will give an overview of the process and share with us their perspectives on stumbling blocks and opportunities to shine. Following on from a Q&A with panellists, ECRs will get to practice answering interview questions in tables with peers and panellists. This session will be valuable preparation for anyone applying for Academic Level B or C positions in 2019. Register here.
Venture Café – Want to know more about innovation, and how to achive it? Come along to the Venture Cafe, Thursday, 3pm – 8pm, (map). Find out what is on each week here – https://venturecafesydney.org/
This week: 4.30pm: The role of AI in de-risking leadership; 5.30pm: Networking 101 in practice.
Wildlife at the Watering Hole – 3rd Tuesday of each month, 6:30pm @ Botany View Hotel, King St Newtown!
HDR NEWS AND OPPORTUNITIES
3-Minute Thesis – PhD students: the Department round of this competition will be held on Thursday 8th August, 4:30-5pm, in 14EaR 280 Biology Tea Room – followed by Dept. Social Club to celebrate! Faculty and University finals will follow in Sept.
TO ENTER: Send your slide to <lizzy.lowe@mq.edu.au> and <julian.may@mq.edu.au> by 31st July 5pm.
See info and videos of previous year’s winners: https://students.mq.edu.au/study/my-research-program/3-minute-thesis-competition
Science and Conservation Career Day – Currently studying in the biological sciences? Are you thinking about career pathways or postgraduate research? Not sure what to do next? Then come along to the 2019 Sciences and Conservation Careers Day hosted by the Royal Zoological Society of NSW at Taronga Zoo.
You’ll hear from scientists across a range of disciplines that are working to make an impact for the conservation of the species and ecosystems important to us all. You’ll have the opportunity to meet and mingle with the speakers and participate in panel sessions where you can seek advice on the next steps in your career.
When: Saturday 6 July 2019, 9:00am – 2:00pm. Where: Taronga Institute of Science and Learning, Taronga Zoo, Mosman. Cost: $20 RZS members (incl. lunch), $50 Non-members (incl. lunch and zoo entry).
On the day you’ll hear from industry professionals from a variety of fields.
For more information and to register, clink this link.
Fulbright 2020 Program provides prestigious, high-quality, transformative exchange experiences to Australian students wishing to conduct research in collaboration with US institutions. In 2019 they have doubled the number of Fulbright Scholarships on offer to Australian applicants. Open to: Postgraduate, Postdoctoral, Scholar, or Distinguished Chair positions.
The 2020 round of Fulbright applications will remain open until 15 July 2019, for programs to commence June/July 2020; see application information here: https://www.fulbright.org.au/applicants/australian-applicants/
NOTE: Applicants must hold Australian citizenship, and not be dual-Australian-US citizens. An information session recording can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/QpLRAMpvyl0
PhD Students: got a grant? Dept. will co-fund up to $1500 – The Department would like to encourage students to seek external sources of funding, and has a small budget with which to support successful candidates.New limits from 2019:PhD students ONLY: Dept. will match up to $1500 of external (non-MQ) funding ONCE during the student’s candidature.
If you have received a grant (student as chief investigator) and wish to request co-funding, please forward a copy of the award letter to <sharyon.odonnell@mq.edu.au> and <julian.may@mq.edu.au>.
Are you a HDR student? Need help with writing? HDR Mentors in collaboration with HDR Learning Skills is running another round of Peer Writing Assistance (PWA) for the rest of the year! This program is designed to support MRES and HDR candidates in managing thesis writing and research-related concerns. All peer writing assistants have undergone training for their role and are current PhD candidates at Macquarie.
The PWA program is based on the principle of collaborative learning in which a more experienced research student helps you develop stronger academic and research skills. Peer Writing Assistants are not teachers. Rather, they are trained to function as a ‘friendly audience’ or ‘fresh pair of eyes’ to help you gain new perspectives on your writing or research ideas.
Registrations are now open for individual consultation bookings. If you are interested, please go to book in for a 45-minute session with a PWA here.
And:
Writing workshops – Convened by Ken Cheng, running weekly for most of the year: Fridays 2-4pm in Ken’s office at 205b Culloden Road, G12.
These writing workshops are meant for HDR students and early-career researchers. In these face-to-face encounters, writing at any stage of any genre is welcome, from first draft to final polish, from empirical paper to literature review to popular news story. Ken envisages personal feedback linked perhaps with rounds of revisions on selected passages during the session. The aim is not just to get stuff written, but to write everything well.
Those interested in attending a session should email Ken Cheng <ken.cheng@mq.edu.au> by Wednesday 12:00-noon, preferably with a draft attached of what they are working on and some indication of what they especially need help with.
ADMIN THINGS
Need to Contact the Biology Admin Team via Email? Please send your email to <fse.bio-adm@mq.edu.au> or drop in and see us. The old google group (sci.bio-adm) email no longer works, if you have this email as a remembered address please delete.
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.
THIS AND THAT
Moving beyond P values: data analysis with estimation graphics: This article (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41592-019-0470-3) might interest you if statistics is your shtick.
Harvest Hub – great food that doesn’t cost the earth
Do you want:
- To eat with the seasons?
- Have fresh fruit and veg delivered weekly?
- Buy from local growers and support local farmer more directly?
- Access weekly specials and a flexible, easy to use ordering system?
- Have produce delivered to you at work?
- Buy grains and cereals too?
Then try Harvest Hub www.harvesthub.com.au
Hub name: MACQUARIE04 F: @harvesthubau
More information?
- Check out the website
- Talk to Samantha Newton <samantha.newton@mq.edu.au>.
- Orders are delivered weekly, on Tuesdays
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.
- Keep your submission short and direct (two paragraphs) and if possible provide a document, email or link where readers can get more information. Any long submissions will be cropped.
Keeping to these guidelines will streamline your article’s addition to the newsletter. Thank you.
Have You Missed Out on an Issue of Department Matters? Back issues can be found at this newsletter archive link for your reading pleasure.
New Publications
Urbanisation of floodplain ecosystems: Weight-of-evidence and network meta-analysis elucidate multiple stressor pathways
By: Monk, Wendy A., Zacchaeus G. Compson, Catherine B. Choung, Kathryn L. Korbel, Natalie K. Rideout, and Donald J. Baird. Science of The Total Environment (2019). | Find with Google Scholar »After decades of stressor research in urban estuarine ecosystems the focus is still on single stressors: A systematic literature review and meta-analysis
By: O'Brien, A. L., K. A. Dafforn, A. A. Chariton, E. L. Johnston, and M. M. Mayer-Pinto. Science of The Total Environment (2019). | Find with Google Scholar »Endangered species face an extra threat: susceptibility to the invasive pathogen Austropuccinia psidii (myrtle rust) in Australia
By: Berthon, Katherine A., Laura Fernandez Winzer, Karanjeet Sandhu, Will Cuddy, Anthony Manea, Angus J. Carnegie, and Michelle R. Leishman. Australasian Plant Pathology (2019): 1-9. | Find with Google Scholar »Macronutrients and infection in fruit flies
By: Dinh, H., Mendez, V., Tarahi Tabriz, S., Ponton, F. 2019. Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Volume 110, July 2019, Pages 98-104. | Find with Google Scholar »Important At-sea Areas of Colonial Breeding Marine predators on the southern patagonian shelf
By: Baylis, A.M., Tierney, M., Orben, R.A., Warwick-Evans, V., Wakefield, E., Grecian, W.J., Trathan, P., Reisinger, R., Ratcliffe, N., Croxall, J. and Campioni, L., 2019. Scientific reports, 9(1), p.8517. | Find with Google Scholar »Important At-Sea Areas of Colonial Breeding Marine Predators on the Southern Patagonian Shelf
| Find with Google Scholar »High diversity and rapid spatial turnover of integron gene cassettes in soil
By: Ghaly, Timothy M., Jemma L. Geoghegan, John Alroy, and Michael R. Gillings. Environmental microbiology (2019). | Find with Google Scholar »A new chancelloriid from the Emu Bay Shale (Cambrian Stage 4) of South Australia
By: Yun, Hao, Glenn A. Brock, Xingliang Zhang, Luoyang Li, Diego C. García-Bellido, and John R. Paterson. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology (2019): 1-11. | Find with Google Scholar »Island of Opportunity: Can New Guinea protect amphibians from a globally emerging pathogen?
By: Bower, D; Lips, K; Amepou, Y; Richards, S; Dahl, C; Nagombi, E; Supuma, M; Dabek, L; Alford, R; Schwarzkopf, L; Ziembicki, M; Noro, J; Hamidy, A; Gillespie, G; Berger, L; Eisemberg, C; Li, Y; Liu, X; Jennings, C; Tjaturadi, B; Peters, A; Krockenberger, A; Nason, D; Kusrini, M; Webb, R; Skerratt, L; Banks, C; Mack, A; Georges, A & Clulow, S. (2019). Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. doi:10.1002/fee.2057 | Find with Google Scholar »In the Media
Culum Brown was interviewed on ABC Radio Sydney Drive
Professor Culum Brown from the Department of Biological Sciences was interviewed on ABC Radio Sydney Drive regarding a grey nurse shark attack at Manly.
Recent Completions
Wendy Grimm submitted her PhD thesis entitled “The biology and ecology of Genoplesium baueri R. Br., an endangered terrestrial orchid endemic to New South Wales, Australia”
Supervised by Michelle Leishman