Branch Thinning and the Large-Scale, Self-Similar Structure of Trees
By: Hellström, Lars, Linus Carlsson, Daniel S. Falster, Mark Westoby, and Åke Brännström. The American Naturalist 192, no. 1 (2018): E000-E000. | Find with Google Scholar »
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Dear all,
Another quiet week around the corridors as the final marking frenzy takes place before next week’s formal Department grading meeting. I will be away for the next month but there are a few things coming up that I encourage you to attend – the Department’s Research committee is running a workshop for all researchers on linking with Industry (July 16), our L&T committee is running an L&T workshop on iLearn and engaging software on July 17 (thanks Kath!), followed by the Town Hall meeting on the outcome of feedback from the curriculum architecture project. And this year’s Outlook Conference from the Research Enrichment Program (24-25 July) looks fantastic.
The latest addition to our academic staff, A/Prof Jaco Le Roux, has now arrived with his family to set up life in Sydney. His office is on the 3rd floor of E8A – if you see him in the corridors be sure to say hi and welcome!
See you in August,
Michelle
Save the Date
This coming week 2nd – 6th July
Tue 3rd: Formal Department meeting for grade finalisation: 1-3pm; Biology tearoom
Following week 9th – 13th July
Thu 12th: aaRgh – R drop-in help; 3.00pm – 4.00pm; 14EAR (E8A) 280 Biology Tea Room.
Thu 12th: Thursday drinks; 5.00pm – 6.00pm; 14EAR (E8A) 280 Biology Tea Room.
Coming Up
July 16th: Department Research workshop – Linking with Industry for Research; 1.00-3.30pm; 14EAR (E8A) 280 Biology Tea Room.
July 17th: Department L&T workshop – iLearn Workshop – Engaging Software for S2 with Kath McClellan; 10.00am -12.00pm; 6WW(E8C) 212.
July 17th: MQ Staff Town Hall meeting on Curriculum Architecture program; 12-1pm, Macquarie Theatre. Register here
July 18th: 6WW (E8C) Teaching Labs Induction; 9.00am – 11.30am; 6WW (E8C) 106.
July 20th: 4WW (F7B) Teaching Labs Induction; 10.00am – 12.00pm; 4WW (F7B) 105.
July 24th: 14EAR (E8A) Teaching Labs Induction; 9.00am – 12.00pm; 14EAR (E8A) 120.
July 24-25th: Research Enrichment Program – Outlook Conference “The Future of the Human Landscape”; Incubator Building, MQU.
General News and Announcements
We Want Your Views! The Department’s Diversity & Inclusion group have prepared a short survey on how you perceive Diversity & Inclusion in the Department. We want to use your responses to develop our strategy and measure ourselves in how we are tracking. The survey is here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/biology-DandI-survey-2018 and will close on July 11th (in two weeks). Please take a few moments of your time and fill it in.
Congratulations to MRes 2nd year student Callum McDiarmid who has been successful in securing a student research grant from Birdlife Australia – well done Callum! Hopefully this is the first of many career successes!
Quantitative Advice Forum Returns – http://quantitative-advice.gg.mq.edu.au/ We are pleased to announce that the Department’s Quantitative Advice Forum is once again up and running – http://quantitative-advice.gg.mq.edu.au/ . This forum is for any and all questions about stats, maths, and programming, at all levels from basic to advanced. The format is similar to StackExchange and similar forums, but you’ll be talking with people from around the Department in a more relaxed environment. Ask your own questions, or share your knowledge and help your colleagues. A huge thank you to Drew Allen, who has agreed to administer the forum.
All Staff Town Hall on Tuesday 17 July where feedback received through the Curriculum Architecture survey will be discussed.
RESEARCH STORIES, OUTCOMES AND OPPORTUNITIES
PhD Publication Successes
We have several PhD students whose papers published in 2017 were among the top downloaded in their respective journals. Congratulations to:
Mohasin Haque, whose first PhD paper published in Austral Ecology was one of the most downloaded papers in that journal over 2016-2017 (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/aec.12487). Mo’s study looked at spatial biases in the collection of plant records across Australia.
Sabira (Dina) Sultana, whose first PhD paper published in Scientific Reports was one of the top 25 papers in Ecology downloaded from this journal in 2017 (out of 1500 published) (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-13307-1). Dina’s study modelled current and potential future distributions of suitable habitat for Queensland Fruit Fly.
Ben Ofori, whose paper on the adaptive capacity of Cunningham’s skink was also in the top downloaded Ecology papers published in Scientific Reports in 2017.
Attention Marine Researchers! MQ Marine is currently gathering data on how members classify their research in order to identify the marine research strengths of Macquarie University. Based on two recent papers by Steffen et al. (2015) and Nash et al. (2017), we wish you to identify which of the following nine planetary boundaries your research falls under by completing the below survey. Identifying which of the nine planetary boundaries our researchers are most involved in will help MQ Marine narrow the focus of our research centre in the coming years. Your participation is much appreciated. If you know of anyone at Macquarie who is involved in marine research and did not receive this survey, please feel free to forward the link.
MQ Marine Research Survey – The Nine Planetary Boundaries
MQ Marine Research Survey – The Nine Planetary Boundaries
Add to the SCATLAS! Scoop a Poop App Evaluation – help needed! A Beta version of the ‘Scoop a Poop’ App for iPhone (Android will be ready soon) requires testers. Keen people can grab a kit to collect a possum poop, test the App, and provide some comments. We need help fairly quickly, and would also like children aged 10 and up to trial the app. If you can help please contact <michelle.power@mq.edu.au> or <koa.webster@mq.edu.au> for an App link and to collect the scoop a poop kit. Remember, iPhones only for the moment please.
Who will be the next winner of Science and SciLifeLab’s Prize for Young Scientists? The Science & SciLifeLab Prize for Young Scientists is now open for entries! This is the sixth year that Science and SciLifeLab will present this award, which offers four recent PhD graduates a life-changing opportunity. Recent doctoral graduates in the life sciences may submit a 1000-word essay based on their thesis work. Four winners — in the categories of Cell and Molecular Biology, Ecology and Environment, Genomics and Proteomics and Translational Medicine — will be selected for this international award. Make sure your recent PhD graduate doesn’t miss out on this opportunity! Application deadline: July 15th, 2018
The winners will: Have their essay published by Science! Receive up to 30,000 USD in prize money. Be honored in Stockholm, Sweden in December!
2018-19 Fisheries Scientific Committee Student Research Grant round now open – Visit the FSC website to access the online application form. Applications close 11.59 pm (AEDT) on Tuesday 31 July 2018.
LEARNING AND TEACHING
Department iLearn workshop – Engaging Software for S2 – Echo 360 now has the Active Learning Platform embedded in it and this opens a range of engagement opportunities! We will introduce you to, and show you how to use, three different engagement technologies (ALP, MEAP and PLD). You decide how you will use them and what is right for you and your unit! We will then teach you any-iLearn-thing you want to know / help troubleshoot any issues you are having in iLearn for S2 (e.g. gradebook category weightings, setting up user overrides for quizzes, setting up marking rubrics in Turnitin, sharing quickmarks with tutors, etc…), and show you how to create videos/record lectures using Echo360 Personal Capture on your laptop. Come a long for the full two hours (presentations 10-11am) or just drop in (from 11am-12pm).
- iLearn workshop – Engaging Software for S2, with Kath (Tuesday 17th July, E8C212, 10am-12pm) sign up here.
S2 2018 Teaching Lab Induction Dates: If you intend to work, demonstrate, or teach in the Department’s Digital Teaching Labs next semester, and you haven’t done an induction this year (for 14EAR – E8A), or the past 2 years for other spaces, then please contact Prasanth Subramani <prasanth.subramani@mq.edu.au> to put your name down for the following induction dates.
- 6WW (E8C) teaching labs – Wednesday 18th July, 2018, 9.00am – 11.30am.
- 4WW (F7B) teaching labs – Friday 20th July, 2018, 10.00am – 12.00pm.
- 14EAR (E8A) teaching labs – Tuesday 24th July, 2018, 9am – 12.00pm.
Taronga Zoo PACE Opportunities – There are 4 positions available for PACE internships at Taronga Zoo, a non-for-profit organisation supporting over 350 species in Session 2, 2018. This is a fantastic opportunity to conduct research on a variety of animals, in a unique research environment. Applicants must have a background in animal behaviour, behavioural ecology or related disciplines. Interested students will need to have sufficient elective space to enrol in FOSC300 in 2018 S2. If applicants are not successful in obtaining a Taronga position, they can withdraw interest in the unit. You can find a description of the positions, the application process and contact details on the PACE website Taronga Zoo opportunities. The application process closes on the July 1st, 2018.
Need help with unit development or anything L&T? Talk to our friendly Faculty L&T team contact – Natalie Spence (x1943, <natalie.spence@mq.edu.au>).
BLOGS AND OTHER THINGS OF INTEREST
Plant of the Week – Again!
This week, Styphelia tubiflora, Red Five Corners (the display didn’t get updated last week, so Styphelia tubiflora gets a turn this week).
This delightful little shrub comes to life in winter, producing an abundance of crimson at a time when few other plants are in flower. Look for Styphelia tubiflora on poor sandy soils, usually in heaths and dry sclerophyll Eucalyptus woodlands on sandstone ridges and hillsides.
There has been a rush of publications on the efficacy of altmetrics for the evaluation of research. This is one from PLOSone with a brief quote from the Abstract: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0197133 The results of the regression analysis indicate that citation-based metrics and readership counts are significantly more related to quality than tweets.
Ally Training provides participants with an overall understanding of why LGBTIQ inclusion is important to the Macquarie University community and explores challenges often faced by people who identify as LGBTIQ and the impact of Homophobia, Transphobia & prejudice. Participants who complete the training will be able to join the MQ Ally Network if they so wish.
Key Takeaways:
- Introduction to the diversity of identities within the LGBTIQ+ community
- Gain an understanding of discrimination and bias that affect people in the LGBTIQ+ community
- Know what the Ally Network is and what it takes to be an active and effective Ally.
- Develop your skills to actively speak out against Homophobia, Transphobia and prejudice
- Learn to refer people to appropriate local resources, support services & assistance
If you’d like to attend Ally training please complete this poll so that we can find an appropriate time. https://doodle.com/poll/qpzsmvaq4enu5n45 Each session will run for approximately 2 hours. For more information or if you have any questions please contact <workplacediversityinclusion@mq.edu.au>.
SEMINARS AND WORKSHOPS
Workshop 16 July 1pm – 3:30pm Biology Tea Room Linking with Industry for Research – Please mark in your diaries. On the 16th July at 1pm the former Board Chair of the CRC program Philip Marcus Clark will visit the department to speak to us on what industry is looking for in a collaboration with university researchers. Philip will speak for about 30 mins at 1pm, followed by a question time. Please bring a laptop or iPad. There will be resources to look up online. After a coffee break we will then be brainstorming collaborative teams and projects for potential projects with industry partners.
Research Enrichment Program – Outlook Conference
July 24-25, Incubator Building, Macquarie University – “The Future of the Human Landscape”
The Outlook Conference (Research Enrichment Program Outlook Program) will bring together leading thinkers in diverse disciplines, spanning molecules to landscapes, and from scientific, historical and social viewpoints. Speakers at 2018 Outlook conference include Professor Tim Flannery (Writer and Social Commentator), Professor Angela Moles (UNSW), Associate Professor Greg Downey (MQ) and Professor Rob Brooks (UNSW). The objective of Outlook is to immerse participants in the frontiers of adjacent, and more distant disciplines. Speakers will present their vision for humanity’s future. These talks will not recount personal research findings, but will be future-scoping exercises. Our goal is to identify promising areas for high level trans-disciplinary collaboration, for novel applications, and to expose postgraduate students and early career researchers
aaRgh (ask an Rgeek for help) – Second Thursday of every month 3 – 4pm, Biology Tearoom – 14EAR (E8A) 280. Frustrated? Having an R-related problem? We will also run regular afternoon tea sessions where you can get one-on-one help, or just introduce yourself and chat. Snacks provided!
Department Writing Workshops for HDRs and ECRs – Running weekly for most of the year: Fridays 2-4pm in room E8B 111. 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.
Peer Writing Assistance Session – Are you a HDR? Need help with your writing? Unsure how to structure your argument? Want advice on how to handle HDR life? If you answered yes to any of these questions then come along to a Peer Writing Assistance session! Peer Writing Assistants are current PhD students and HDR Mentors at Macquarie University that are a ‘fresh pair of eyes’ to look over your work and provide constructive advice. We are also available to talk about any aspect of the HDR experience. Sessions can be booked on the HDR workshops page.
Social Network Analysis Mini-conference & Workshop –
When/Where: 10 – 13 September 2018, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia. Attendance is free but places are limited so register soon! Flyer_SNA_NA_final
For details of content – https://sites.google.com/site/drfarine/teaching/sna_workshop For inquiries & registration details – Nicolette Armansin (Macquarie University), <nicolette.armansin@mq.edu.au>.
When/Where: 10 – 13 September 2018, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia. Attendance is free but places are limited so register soon! Flyer_SNA_NA_final
For details of content – https://sites.google.com/site/drfarine/teaching/sna_workshop For inquiries & registration details – Nicolette Armansin (Macquarie University), <nicolette.armansin@mq.edu.au>.
SUSTAINABILITY
Plastic Free July starts this Sunday! Are you ready to reduce single-use plastics? Register your participation today. Registration: http://www.plasticfreejuly.org/ Learn how you can reduce your plastic use: http://www.plasticfreejuly.org/getting-started.html
ADMIN THINGS
Admin Alert! Admin workload is particularly high, so this is a reminder to submit your Absence on Duty early. Please give a minimum of 3 weeks before you travel domestically, and 6 weeks internationally, for approvals to be processed and bookings made for you. The more notice you give, the easier it is, and the better prices you can get. Any last-minute travel requests may not be processed.
PURE Training – The PURE system is used to manage researcher profiles, outputs including publications, funding applications, awards, projects and reports. Do you feel like you could use some more PURE training? Please register your interest via an email to <jenny.ghabache@mq.edu.au>.
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
Hurry Up! Last Chance to Enter the Photo Competition – JUNE 2018 – go in the draw to win a $100 Gift Card this month!
This month’s theme is BLACK & WHITE! Your images could be used on our Department website, this newsletter, on our social media and in other biology publications. A lucky person’s name will be drawn each month, and they will receive a $100 Gift Card! Criteria: you must provide caption information including details of what/where/who(names of people)/date & you must have taken all photos & the image was taken in the last five years. Please follow the dropbox file request link to submit your images. Submission close: 30 JUNE 2018 You can enter as many photos as you like – one entry to the draw for each good photo, good luck!
Location-W (Fauna Park) Admin Support – Monday, Wednesday & Friday from 10am – 1pm in W19F.
Deliveries – You will notice that we have placed a red “transfer Box” in W19F, put anything in this box that needs to be delivered to the E8 area location. We also have a red “Transfer Box” in E8B Level 2 location, which is for goods to betaken to the W location. These boxes will be emptied every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 10am. Deliveries from the main “MQ” store will be delivered daily. Any questions please contact Sharyon O’Donnell.
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.
Correct 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.
Follow us on Socia
JOB ADS
Marine Spacial Plan Design Position!We have secured $$ to fund a six-month position + two workshops to design a marine spatial plan. It is a casual position via Monash University. See the job advertise attached for more details. Also, watch this cool movie on who is who in the Bass Strait! Or do the whole thing at once on Twitter (see below).
New Publications
Why blue tongue? A potential UV-based deimatic display in a lizard
By: Badiane, Arnaud, Pau Carazo, Samantha J. Price-Rees, Manuel Ferrando-Bernal, and Martin J. Whiting. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 72, no. 7 (2018): 104. | Find with Google Scholar »Thermal acclimation of leaf photosynthetic traits in an evergreen woodland, consistent with the coordination hypothesis
By: Fürstenau Togashi, Henrique, Iain Colin Prentice, Owen K. Atkin, Craig Macfarlane, Suzanne M. Prober, Keith J. Bloomfield, and Bradley John Evans. Biogeosciences 15, no. 11 (2018): 3461-3474. | Find with Google Scholar »Thermal energy and stress properties as the main drivers of regional distribution of coral species richness in the Indian Ocean
By: Ateweberhan, Mebrahtu, Tim R. McClanahan, Joseph Maina, and Charles Sheppard. Journal of Biogeography 45, no. 6 (2018): 1355-1366. | Find with Google Scholar »How should we estimate diversity in the fossil record? Testing richness estimators using sampling-standardised discovery curves
By: Close, Roger A., Serjoscha W. Evers, John Alroy, and Richard J. Butler. Methods in Ecology and Evolution 9, no. 6 (2018): 1386-1400. | Find with Google Scholar »Morph-specific artificial selection reveals a constraint on the evaluation of polyphenisms
By: Buzatto, Bruno A., Huon L. Clark, and Joseph L. Tomkins. Proc. R. Soc. B 285, no. 1879 (2018): 20180335. | Find with Google Scholar »An Evaluation of Marine Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas in the Context of Spatial Conservation Prioritization
By: McGowan, Jennifer, Robert J. Smith, Moreno Di Marco, Rohan H. Clarke, and Hugh P. Possingham. Conservation Letters (2017). | Find with Google Scholar »Secondary foundation species enhance biodiversity
By: Thomsen, M.S., Altieri, A.H., Angelini, C., Bishop, M.J., Gribben, P.E., Lear, G., He, Q., Schiel, D.R., Silliman, B.R., South, P.M. and Watson, D.M., 2018. Nature ecology & evolution, 2(4), p.634. | Find with Google Scholar »Differential success in obtaining gametes between male and female Australian temperate frogs by hormonal induction: A review.
By: John Clulow, Melissa Pomering, Danielle Herbert, Rose Upton, Natalie Calatayud, Simon Clulow, Michael J. Mahony, Vance L. Trudeau (2018). General and Comparative Endocrinology: doi.org/10.1016/j.ygcen.2018.05.032 | Find with Google Scholar »