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BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES

DEPARTMENT MATTERS | June 14, 2019


A short but very busy week has flown by. Congratulations to all of our research students who have shown off their outstanding work at our HDR conference this week. A huge thank you to Julian and the student organising team for a great conference (see the highlights below).

Happy reading

Grant Hose

Save the Date

This coming week 17th – 21st June 

Wed 19th: Department Morning Tea; 10.30am – 11.30am; 205b Culloden Rd.


Following week 24th – 28th June

Wed 26th: PGRF “Tips for Success” Workshop. 2pm – 3pm; 14EAR(E8A)-280 (Biology Tea Room).

Thu 27th: Ian Wright Congratulatory Morning Tea; 10.30am – 11.30am; 14EAR(E8A)-280 (Biology Tea Room).

Thu 27th: PowerPoint Improv. 3:30pm – 4:30pm; 14EAR(E8A)-280 (Biology Tea Room).

Thu 27th: R-Users Group (RUG) Fortnightly Help Session; 3.30pm – 4.30pm; Continuum Room (75 Talavera Road, room 3114).

Thu 27th: Biology Social Club; 5.00pm – 7.00pm; Biology Courtyard.


Weekly Events

Thu: Venture Café; 3–8pm; 58 Waterloo Road, Macquarie Park, NSW (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 1st: Insect Preservation Workshop, 1pm – 2:30pm; 6WW(E8C) digital teaching labs 106 & 110. RSVP to <braxton.jones@mq.edu.au>

July 2nd: Formal Department Exam meeting; 11am – 12.30pm; Biology tearoom.

July 2nd: Christmas in July Lunch; 1pm – 3pm; Biology Courtyard, please register at this link – http://bit.ly/2VZkgTv

July 18th: (Thursday) 6WW (E8C) Digital Teaching Lab Induction; 9.30am to 12pm; 6WW(E8C)-106.
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.

General News and Announcements

Congratulations! Kerstin Bilgmann and Andrew Nicolaou are overjoyed to announce the birth of their son Jai Xander Nicolaou, born 10th June 2019, 10:51am. Length 50cm, weight 3.2kg. All three are healthy, happy and doing beautifully well.


‘Tis the Season to be Knitting! In previous years we’ve had regular gatherings at lunchtime to knit squares for contribution to ‘Wrapped with Love’. http://www.wrapwithlove.org/

It’s never to late to start, and Biology has some champion knitters to help with the basics. We currently have wool and knitting needles in two locations in Biology, but we need a champion for each location to continue to support this activity. Can you be that champion? The two locations are the Biology Tearoom (E8A 280) and W19F foyer. The W19 collection needs a new home. Please send suggestions to <samantha.newton@mq.edu.au> by Monday 24th June.


Vehicle Access to E2 Parking Area – Please be advised that boom gates are now in place to control access to the E2 car park. All department vehicles are now equipped with a key fob to assist with access to the car park. The fob is placed along with the key bunch for the cars. If you have any issues gaining access to the car park, please contact Tarun on 0401 191 312 or ext 8149 or email <tarun.rajan@mq.edu.au> and he’ll liaise with property to have the issue resolved.


HDR Conference – Thanks The annual Biology Department HDR Conference wrapped up on Thursday with prizes and pizza.

Julian would like to thank all the ECRs for judging talks, academics for their time on HDR Panels, students who chaired sessions (Alfonso Aceves, Joni Pini-Fitzsimmons, Hue Dinh, Francisco Martinez-Baena, Shubham Chhajed, Kate Dodds, Annachiara Codello, Matthew Kerr, Georgina Binns, and Ariningsun Cinantya), other students who helped with the lunch and clean-up, and the Social Club organisers (Ivan Beltran, Shubham Chhajed).

Special thanks to George Binns, for leading the student organising committee, and to our guest speaker – Lizzy Lowe – for coming at short notice to talk to the Dept. about her PhD experiences.

HDR Conference – Prizes

Barbara Rice memorial field research award, for best presentation of field-based research: Alfonso Aceves “Poncho”

Best presentation of field-based research, equal runner-up: Kate Dodds

Best presentation of field-based research, equal runner-up: Georgina Binns

Best presentation of laboratory-based research: Tim Ghaly

Best presentation of laboratory-based research,  runner-up: Binh Nguyen

Best presentation of modelling-based research: Jim McLean

People’s choice award for best MRes poster: Tristan Guillemin

Closest guess for number of stick insect eggs in a jar (courtesy of Braxton Jones): Tim Ghaly


Christmas in July lunch; Tuesday 2 July 2019, 1 pm to 3 pm – The Outreach committee will be holding a special lunch following the S1 exam meeting. Everyone is welcome to attend and celebrate the hard work of the volunteers and the outreach activities carried out on behalf of our Department. Weather permitting, the lunch will take place in the Biology Courtyard. There will be music, games and prizes and certificates presented for the most outreach done and filled out in our online form  For catering purposes; please register at this link – http://bit.ly/2VZkgTv

Christmas in July Flier


Dr Helen Ramsay awarded an AM in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List – We congratulate Helen Ramsay who was awarded an AM in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List yesterday for significant service to plant science.

Helen retired as a senior lecturer from the University of New South Wales in 1988. After her retirement from UNSW, she was appointed as an Honorary Senior Lecturer in the Department of Biological Sciences here at Macquarie and she continues to hold an honorary position at the National Herbarium of New South Wales. Bryophytes (mosses and liverworts) have been the focus of her research, initially genetics studies at University of Sydney, in later years taxonomy and biogeography. However, Helen has had a long and continuous association with Macquarie from the late 1970s when, together with Macquarie University bryologist Patricia Selkirk, she edited the Australasian Bryological Newsletter from 1979 to 1991.

Helen has always been focused on her scientific research. Her achievements up until 2004 were summarised in a special edition of the Australasian Bryological Newsletter No. 49, http://www.utas.edu.au/docs/plant_science/ABN/index.htm. Since then, every year, she has added significantly to the knowledge of bryophyte taxonomy in particular. In the last year, she has published at least 4 scientific papers on bryophyte taxonomy, has another submitted, and one (with colleagues from James Cook University and Melbourne University) on bryophytes of the Wet Tropics of north-eastern Queensland. Over the years, she has collaborated with colleagues in Canada, the United States, New Zealand as well as in Australia.

At the National Herbarium of New South Wales, Dr Ramsay was the person responsible for implementing the curation of the bryophyte collection of a famous Australian bryologist, W. W. Watts, who collected in the late 1800s through to about 1914. The late Dr Elizabeth Brown from the National Herbarium of NSW wrote that without Dr Ramsay’s intervention, this famous collection may have been lost or destroyed. Now the specimens are available for review by botanists from both Australia and overseas.

Helen’s contributions to studies of the bryophyte flora of Australia are quite exceptional. This determined lady retired in 1988, and now in 2019, she continues to successfully publish the outcome of her research.


FSE has a New Dedicated Sci-comms Officer – Virginia Tressider has just joined the Faculty of Science and Engineering to provide science communication support. She would like to encourage any academics who have a new paper or have anything else they would like publicised to contact her. The Faculty will now be able do more in-house that was previously outsourced to Science in Public, which should hopefully make things faster and more seamless.

Please see contact details below:

Virginia Tressider, Communications Adviser, FSE

Group Marketing
Building 158 Waterloo Road
Macquarie Park NSW 2113

Email: <virginia.tressider@mq.edu.au>


Science in the City Festival Display: Inspiring the future generation of Biologists? With the slogan ‘Celebrate all things science’, the Science in the City Festival organised by the Australian Museum hosts a range of interactive displays to the wider public.

And MQ Biology will be there!

We are looking for students and staff who would like to create an interactive display about science and their research for this year’s Science in the City (Sydney Science Festival) https://australianmuseum.net.au/learn/teachers/science-in-the-city/. This is an excellent opportunity to promote your research, develop your science communication portfolio as well as inspiring the general public. We have 2.5hr time slots available on the primary school (8th August), high school (13th August) and general public (10th August) days of the expo. If you’re interested in being involved please contact Vivian <vivian.cumbo@mq.edu.au>, or Juliano <juliano.morimoto@mq.edu.au> before June 21. The early date is because we wish to help foster your science communication skills. Prior to the event we will meet twice to help you develop ideas and ways to effectively communicate your display.

For more info about the event, visit https://australianmuseum.net.au/learn/teachers/science-in-the-city/.


Plant of the Week -click the thumbnails for larger images-

This week Crucifix Orchid – Epidendrum radicans Epidendrum secundum hybrid complex, brought to you this week by Roger Hiller.

Epidendrum radicans and Epidendrum secundum originate in Central and South America and are widely distributed. This man-made hybrid, Epidendrum radicans Epidendrum secundum, has been grown in gardens in eastern NSW and Queensland for many years and has become naturalised in several places.


OPPORTUNITIES

Session 2, 2019 Tutor Applications Are Now Open!

Click here to apply

Applications close Friday 28 June. Please contact <caitlin.kordis@mq.edu.au> with any questions.


Skype A Scientist connects “real scientists” with classrooms around the world. They match scientists based on their specialties with k-12 classrooms looking to met someone in your field. Once matched, you video chat into the classroom for a 30-60 minute Q and A style chat. The idea is to put a friendly face to science and lower the intimidation factor that surrounds science for some students. This is a great opportunity for PhD’s and ECRs to get some SciComm and outreach experience. Check it out here: https://www.skypeascientist.com/


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

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 first event will be Wednesday 26th June, 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:

Wed 26th June

Tues 23rd July

Tues 13th August

Tues 10th September

Tues 8th October

Tues 12th November

Tues 10th December


PGRF Workshop “How to Improve Your Chances of Success”

Linda Beaumont, who has been involved in judging PGRF applications in the past, will give more tailored instruction in this workshop on how what to write to get ranked more highly.

Tentative workshop details:
Venue: 14 EaR (E8A) 280 Biology Tea Room
Date and Time: Wed 26th June, 2-3pm

To express interest in attending, please email <julian.may@mq.edu.au>

– Note: the Faculty will likely hold a workshop on the 1st of August (TBC), i.e. basic instructions on how to complete the grant application – NOT the same as the Dept. workshop.


PowerPoint Improv – Academics hilariously embarrassing themselves!

 

Now that the HDR students have finished their presentations, all are invited to judge some academics! A star line-up (TBC) will give improvised 5min presentations to a set of student-prepared slides.
Venue: 14 EaR (E8A) 280 Biology Tea Room
Date and Time: Wed 26th June, 2-3pm

To be followed by the usual Dept. Social Club.


Insect Preservation Workshop – To those who have seen an insect and though “Wow! This is the most beautiful creature” – this workshop will help attendees learn about different preservation techniques and get hands-on experience! Whether for research or just a general love for these fascinating creatures, this workshop will set up attendees with the equipment and knowledge required to preserve insects for many years of admiration. All materials are provided, including an insect to preserve and keep. All attendees need to bring are questions and curiosity.

RSVP: <braxton.jones@mq.edu.au> by Wed 26th June

Venue: 6WW(E8C) digital teaching labs 106 & 110.

Date: Monday 1st July; Time: 1-2:30pm; Schedule: 1:05pm – official start

1:05-1:20 – talk about preservation techniques

1:20-1:40 – demonstration under visualiser.

1:40-2:00 – your turn (wonder around answering questions and helping)

2:00-2:30 – any keen people who want to learn more/need more time

Insect Preservation Workshop


Venture Café – Want to know more about innovation, and how to achive it?  Come along to the Venture Cafe, Thursday, 3pm – 8pm, 58 Waterloo Road, Macquarie Park, NSW (map). Find out what is on each week here – https://venturecafesydney.org/

This week: 3pm Let’s Explore Aerospace;  4.15pm Digital Disruption & Innovation with Emerging Technologies; 5.30pm Accelerating Australia’s New Space Race!


R-Users Group (RUG) Fortnightly Help Sessions – Do you have a problem with data analysis? You might want to give R a go which is a fantastic analytical and plotting tool. For all your R-related queries, drop by ‘Ask An R Geek for Help’ (aaRgh) session where you can get one-on-one assistance. No registration is required and there will be snacks and beverages (BYO mug). Date: 27 June, 2019. Time: 3:30 PM to 4:30 PM. Venue: Continuum Room (75 Talavera Road, room 3114).


Workshop on ‘Maps and spatial analysis in R by Matthew KerrDescription: “People tend to use R for their stats, but move to GIS when it comes to anything spatial. Here’s the secret – R has many powerful tools for implementing spatial data into your analyses, without the need for learning a whole new piece of software! We will briefly go over a few major spatial functions, including reading and writing raster files in R, before looking at how ggplot and base R can be used to create publication-ready maps for any situation you may bump in to.“ Presenter: Matt is a PhD student in the palaeobiology lab with John Alroy, working on spatial trends in coastal molluscs. He has used R for several very different projects and is yet to find his favourite package. Date: 27 June, 2019. Time: 3:30 PM to 5:30 PM. Venue: Continuum Room (75 Talavera Road, room 3114).


Wildlife at the Watering Hole – 3rd Tuesday of each month, 6:30pm @ Botany View Hotel, King St Newtown!


HDR NEWS AND OPPORTUNITIES

3-Minute ThesisPhD students: we will be holding our Department heat for the 3-Minute Thesis (tentative date, TBC) on Thursday the 8th of August; Faculty and University finals will follow in Sept. 

TO ENTER: Send your slide to <culum.brown@mq.edu.au> and <julian.may@mq.edu.au> by 31st July 5pm. 
WORKSHOP: will be held on Wednesday 3rd July, details to come. See info, and videos of previous years’ winners: https://students.mq.edu.au/study/my-research-program/3-minute-thesis-competition 


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

Slides for the Recent Departmental Meeting
Dept Meeting Slides 04 June 2019


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

Call for Yellow Pages Books: Any unwanted yellow pages books old or new can be donate to PGF. Pages will be used to line pots. Kindly leave them outside office 14EAR(E8A)-175.


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?


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.

  1. Please write in third person. The information is coming from the Newsletter, not directly from you.
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  3. 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.
  4. 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

It doesn’t take two to tango: increased capacity for self-fertilization towards range edges of two coastal invasive plant species in eastern Australia

By: Tabassum, Samiya, and Michelle R. Leishman. Biological Invasions (2019): 1-13. | Find with Google Scholar »

Abundance estimates and habitat preferences of bottlenose dolphins reveal the importance of two gulfs in South Australia

By: Bilgmann, Kerstin, Guido J. Parra, Lauren Holmes, Katharina J. Peters, Ian D. Jonsen, and Luciana M. Möller. Scientific reports 9, no. 1 (2019): 8044. | Find with Google Scholar »

A revision of Australian Pectinariidae (Polychaeta), with new species and new records

By: ZHANG, JINGHUAI, and PAT HUTCHINGS. Zootaxa 4611, no. 1 (2019): 1-70. | Find with Google Scholar »

Individual differences in numerical skills are influenced by brain lateralization in guppies (Poecilia reticulata)

By: Gatto, Elia, Christian Agrillo, Culum Brown, and Marco Dadda. Intelligence (2019). | Find with Google Scholar »

In the Media

Vanessa Pirotta was interviewed on ABC North and West SA Regional Late Afternoons

Dr Vanessa Pirotta from the Department of Biological Sciences was interviewed on ABC North and West SA Regional Late Afternoons regarding studying whale populations by collecting their snot with a drone.


Kerstin Bilgmann was featured in the Adelaide Advertiser 

Dr Kerstin Bilgmann from the Department of Biological Sciences was featured in the Adelaide Advertiser regarding a study showing bottlenose dolphins are under a growing threat from climate change and human activity.


Recent Completions