REPLY TO SOLOW: Sense and nonsense in the choice of extinction priors
By: Alroy, John PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Volume: 113 Issue: 9 Pages: E1133-E1133 Published: MAR 1 2016 | Find with Google Scholar »
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Dear all,
Easter fast approaches so get your teams together for the great treasure hunt next Thursday!
cheerio
Michelle
Save the Date
This section will keep you informed of the events and meetings that are of specific interest within the Department.
This coming week 21st – 24th March
Mon 21std March; Special Seminars by Dr Jon Hill (University of York) and Dr Katie Davis (University of Bath); 1:00pm – 2:00pm; E8A-280 (tea room).
Tue 22nd March; BIOL326 (Biology Special Interest Project) Seminars Part 1; 11:00am – 2:00pm; E8C-212.
Wed 23rd March; Weekly Seminar by Dr Jordan Price of St. Mary’s College of Maryland; 1:00pm – 2:00pm; E8A-280 (tea room).
Wed 23rd March; BIOL326 (Biology Special Interest Project) Seminars Part 2; 12:00pm – 1:00pm; E8A-215.
Thu 24th March; Great Biology Easter Treasure Hunt; 10:30am – 11:30am; E8A-280 (tea room)
Thu 24th March; Thursday drinks – biology courtyard from 5pm
Fri 25th March; Good Friday – no classes or labs; all day.
Following week 29th March – 1st April
Mon 28th March; Easter Monday – no classes or labs; all day.
Wed 30th March; VWR Morning Tea; 10:30am – 11:30am; E8A-280 (tea room).
Wed 30th March; Weekly Seminar by Dr Karen Weynberg of the Aus. Inst. of Marine Science; 1:00pm – 2:00pm; E8A-280 (tea room).
Coming up.
Wed 15th – Fri 17th June; 2016 Annual HDR Conference; 9am onwards each day; Location TBA.
General News and Announcements
The Great Biology Easter Treasure Hunt……is coming!!!
Thursday March 24, 10:30-11:30 E8 tearoom.
The treasure list will be released early next week!!!!
Hot cross buns for everyone!!!!!
BIOL326 Seminars
Ten of our best and brightest third year students taking BIOL326 (Biology Special Interest Project) will give seminars on their research topic next week:
March 22nd, 11:00 – 14:00 in E8C-212
March 23rd, 12:00 – 13:00 in E8A-215
All are welcome to attend.
Important Notice Regarding Departmental Vehicle Usage
The department will not be footing the $500 excess payment for vehicle related incidents. These incidents will be assessed on a case by case basis and the cost of excess will be borne by the driver involved in the incident. I request you all to take care when driving.
95% of all panel beating repairs since 2013 have been a result drivers reversing into posts or pillars or other cars.
- Please use a spotter if you are unable to see where you are reversing.
- Stop, look and assess how far back you need to reverse
- If you are not confident of your reversing skills, get someone more competent to reverse the car for you
Your co-operation is appreciated
Grant Success
Linda Armbrecht was accepted as one of very few participant to travel to Antarctica this winter for an Early Career Scientists Advanced Training Program in “Biological Adaptations to Environmental Change”. The program is fully sponsored (except for thermal underwear!) by the US National Science Foundation and will start from Chile, where the participants will board a US research vessel to head to Palmer Station in Antarctica for 6 weeks.
Autoclave Issues and Inductions for the Next 3 Weeks
While Elsa Mardones is away, Ray Duell is taking on Autoclave duties. Please contact him <ray.duell@mq.edu.au> for autoclave inductions and autoclave faults.
Please also note that, due to class workloads and peak times around Easter, inductions are unavailable until the afternoon of Wed, 30th March.
2016 HDR conference
The dates for the annual 2016 HDR conference are JUNE 15-17 2016 (Wed-Fri), please note these down now.
This is a great opportunity to bring everyone together and learn about the diverse research happening around the department. This year we are also including the research being done by our MRES students during a Poster Session. The first formal panel interviews for 2016 will be held directly after the talks, please see attached document with panel group membership. The second interviews will commence in November with a conversation via email and followed up with a face-to-face discussion if needed.
A reminder to students: attending the HDR conference is a mandatory part of your HDR candidature.
Biology HDR Panels 1-12 Updating 160309
2016 HDR Supervision Enhancement Program
All current information concerning the 2016 HDR Supervision Enhancement Program can now be found at http://staff.mq.edu.au/research/hdr_supervision/
On this page, you will find links to
- the Initial Supervision Enhancement Program (for HDR Supervisors new to Supervision at MQ, or new to HDR Supervision)
- the annual training update self-directed program
- the annual training update face-to-face program
If you have any questions, please send your enquiry to HDR.Supervision@mq.edu.au
Living Lab program
Climate Futures and the Cooks River Alliance will co-establish the first living lab in Australia dedicated to enhancing social interactions with natural systems. The living lab will be a unique and dynamic learning tool that will integrate research and citizen science to educate the community about the interconnectedness of ecological systems in a real-world setting (see attachment).
We understand that the success of the living lab will require a true collaboration between science, education and the Cooks River Alliance and we currently seeking interested parties to participate in the development.
The living lab program will be co-designed and co-created and is expected to take around a year to develop. We will be applying for funding through a number of streams, the first being the Innovation and Scholarship Program (ISP) Grants that closes on 2nd April 2016.
We will be holding a planning meeting next Thursday 24th March at 10am, location TBC.
If you are interested in participating in the co-creation of the living lab, or require more information please contact Daniel Bateman by Tuesday 22nd March.
Feel free to pass on this information to those who may be interested.
Weekly Seminar
Date: 23/3
Time: 1 – 2pm
Location: E8A-280 (tea room).
Speaker: Jordan Price (St. Mary’s College of Maryland)
Title: Reconstructing the evolution of song and colour dimorphisms in the New World blackbirds
Abstract:
The songs and plumage colours of birds have been considered classic examples of sexually-selected ornaments, in part because they are often more elaborate and diverse in males than in females. Past evolutionary changes in these traits are assumed to have occurred mostly in males, and current differences between the sexes (sexual dimorphisms) are assumed to reflect levels of sexual selection. However, few studies have tested these assumptions by reconstructing evolutionary changes in both sexes. Here I describe the evolution of male and female songs and plumage colours in the New World blackbird family, a diverse group of songbirds with a range of mating systems. Both songs and colours have evolved more rapidly in polygynous than monogamous species, presumably due to sexual selection, yet these evolutionary rates show little relationship with current levels of sexual dimorphism. Furthermore, although male traits appear more divergent across species today, females have undergone more frequent and rapid changes in the evolutionary past. These findings suggest that the influences of natural and sexual selection in the evolution of secondary sexual characteristics are more complicated than we often assume.
Special Seminar
Date: 21/3
Time: 1 – 2pm
Location: E8A-280 (tea room).
Speaker: Dr Jon Hill (University of York) and Dr Katie Davis (University of Bath)
Title: “Automated supertree construction using the Supertree Toolkit” and “Applications of supertrees in macroevolution and macroecology” respectively
Further details:
Dr Jon Hill (University of York) and Dr Katie Davis (University of Bath) are visiting from the UK and will both give short seminars on Monday entitled “Automated supertree construction using the Supertree Toolkit” and “Applications of supertrees in macroevolution and macroecology” respectively. If you want to meet with either Katie or Jon during their stay then please email Graeme Lloyd: graemetlloyd@gmail.com.”
Plant of the Week
Rhododendron cv Ne Plus Ultra
A Vireya gem from Victorian England
Contributed by Dr Roger Hiller
SciLife Award
The Prize is awarded annually to one young scientist for outstanding life science research for which he/she was awarded a doctoral degree in the previous two years. The topic of the entrant’s thesis research must be in one of the following categories: Cell and Molecular Biology, Genomics and Proteomics, Ecology and Environment, Translational Medicine.
Entrants for the 2016 prize must have been awarded their Ph.D. between January 1 2014 and December 31 2015.
More info: http://www.sciencemag.org/prizes/scilifelab/rules
Please send any nominations you may have for this prize to a member of the prizes committee.
Karma Cuppa!
Need a reusable cup to get your morning coffee? Want to support conservation efforts in Sydney? Get a karma kup for only $10! Email toni.mizerek@mq.edu.au
Pop-Up Conservation Cafe
Sydney SCB has organised a Pop-Up Conservation Café with Leanne Elliott, a Sydney born Botswana based Conservationist working with Cheetah Conservation Botswana (CCB). Please come along to the Café at the Education Precinct in Centennial Park on the 30th of March @ 6pm. Leanne will be presenting on big cat conservation and CCB’s work in the field and with the communities that hold the key in determining the fate of the cheetah.
Make sure you don’t miss out on a presentation about these majestic African cats!
Please download the flyer (1.6MB PDF file) for details,
and RSVP on eventbrite.
Your life’s work in 30 seconds: media training in Melbourne and Sydney
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. Over the course of a day, 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. We will help you find the right words to explain it in a way that works for the media, as well as for government, industry and other stakeholders. Working journalists from television, print and radio will explain what makes news for them and you will practice being interviewed in front of a camera and on tape. The training will help you feel more comfortable in dealing with journalists when media opportunities arise.
We’ve got courses coming up in:
- Melbourne: Monday 21 March and Tuesday 19 April at the Royal Society of Victoria
- Sydney: Tuesday 12 April at Business Events Sydney
We can also hold courses in other locations or on other dates. If you have at least four participants, we can probably find others in your area to make a course viable. If you can guarantee six participants, then we’re happy to confirm a course in your city/campus.
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.
If you’d like to book a place in a course, contact Ellie Michaelides at ellie@scienceinpublic.com.au or on (03) 9398 1416.
You can read more about our courses at www.scienceinpublic.com.au/training
Lab Assistant Looking For Work
If you have need of a new lab assistant, please contact Ray Duell <ray.duell@mq.edu.au> for Agnieszka Tomkutonis’ resume.
Thank you.
Eppendorf & Science Prize for Neurobiology
The annual Eppendorf & Science Prize for Neurobiology is an international award which honors young scientists for their outstanding contributions to neurobiological research based on methods of molecular and cell biology. The winner and finalists are selected by a committee of independent scientists, chaired by Science’s Senior Editor, Dr. Peter Stern. Researchers who are not older than 35 years are invited to apply.
You could be next to win this prize and to receive
> Prize money of US$25,000
> Publication in Science of an essay by the winner about his/her research
> Full support to attend the Prize Ceremony held in conjunction with the
Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in the USA
> An invitation to visit Eppendorf in Hamburg, Germany
> Up to three finalists are honored, too!
Application Deadline: June 15, 2016
Congratulations to Shigeki Watanabe on winning the 2015 Eppendorf & Science Prize for his work on synaptic vesicle endocytosis. Dr. Watanabe has developed two novel techniques in electron microscopy that allow visualization of protein and membrane dynamics at synapses at a millisecond temporal resolution. Using these techniques, he has discovered an ultrafast mechanism that removes synaptic vesicle components rapidly from the plasma membrane following exocytosis and further demonstrated that synaptic vesicles are regenerated from endosomes.
It’s easy to apply!
Learn more at www.eppendorf.com/prize
Lost and Found
A telescoping wand with a magnet on the end was found in the E8A west stairwell some weeks ago now. If you lost it, please see Head of Department’s office to retrieve it.
New Publications
High sea surface temperatures driven by a strengthening current reduce foraging success by penguins
By: Carroll, Gemma, Jason D. Everett, Robert Harcourt, David Slip, and Ian Jonsen. Scientific Reports 6 (2016). | Find with Google Scholar »Starving honey bee (Apis mellifera) larvae signal pheromonally to worker bees
By: He, Xu Jiang, Xue Chuan Zhang, Wu Jun Jiang, Andrew B. Barron, Jian Hui Zhang, and Zhi Jiang Zeng. Scientific Reports 6 (2016). | Find with Google Scholar »Effects of two locust control methods on wood-eating termites in arid Australia
By: Maute, Kimberly, Kristine French, Paul Story, C. M. Bull, and Grant C. Hose. Journal of Insect Conservation: 1-12. | Find with Google Scholar »plant: A package for modelling forest trait ecology and evolution
By: Falster, Daniel S., Richard G. FitzJohn, Åke Brännström, Ulf Dieckmann, and Mark Westoby. Methods in Ecology and Evolution 7, no. 2 (2016): 136-146. | Find with Google Scholar »Key questions in marine megafauna movement ecology
By: Hays GC, Ferreira LC, Sequeira AMM, Meekan MG, Duarte CM, Bailey H, Bailleul F, Bowen WD, Caley MJ, Costa DP, Eguíluz VM, Fossette S, Friedlaender AS, Gales N, Gleiss AC, Gunn J, Harcourt R, Hazen EL, Heithaus MR, Heupel M, Holland K, Horning M, Jonsen I, Kooyman GL, Lowe CG, Madsen PT, Marsh H, Phillips RA, Righton D, Ropert-Coudert Y, Sato K, Shaffer SA, Simpfendorfer CA, Sims DW, Skomal G, Takahashi A, Trathan PN Wikelski M, Womble JN, Thums M (2016). Trends in Ecology & Evolution. Doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2016.02.015 | Find with Google Scholar »In the Media
Associate Professor Melanie Bishop spoke to ABC about introduction of controversial diploid Pacific oyster into south-east New South Wales waters
Associate Professor Melanie Bishop from the Department of Biological Sciences spoke to ABC South East NSW, ABC Illawarra, ABC Northern Tasmania, ABC Eyre Peninsula and West Coast, 666 ABC Canberra, and featured on ABC Online Rural in regards to the recent request by Pacific oyster producers to get approval to introduce the controversial diploid Pacific oyster into south-east New South Wales waters.
Professor Rob Harcourt provided comment to The Guardian about the recovery of a population of southern right whales
Professor Rob Harcourt from the Department of Biological Sciences provided comment to The Guardian about a study which looked at the recovery of a population of southern right whales.
Professor Simon Griffith featured in Australasian Science in ongoing coverage of his research
Professor Simon Griffith from the Department of Biological Sciences featured in Australasian Science in ongoing coverage of his research which found that the increasing frequency and severity of heat waves could cause zebra finch eggs to hatch early.
Linda Armbrecht talks at Women in Science Symposium 2016 at the Australian National Maritime Museum
Linda Armbrecht was invited to speak about marine science and her research at the Women in Science Symposium on this year’s International Women in Science Day. The event was organised by the Australian National Maritime Museum in partnership with the University of New South Wales, and was a great success in encouraging high school girls to look beyond the lab coats and to see the possibilities for careers in science. You can follow the event here.