Increasing microhabitat complexity on seawalls can reduce fish predation on native oysters
By: Strain, E. M. A., R. L. Morris, R. A. Coleman, W. F. Figueira, P. D. Steinberg, E. L. Johnston, and M. J. Bishop. Ecological Engineering 120 (2018): 637-644. | Find with Google Scholar »
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Hi all,
We had a great turnout for the Women in STEM morning tea hosted by Biological Sciences – it was wonderful to see so many people and babies enjoying sunshine and cakes and hearing about parenting and STEM career experiences from Lizzy Lowe and Chris Reid.
In the next 2 weeks there will be some special seminars from applicants for the Evolutionary Genomics lectureship – watch out for notices of times and please come along to hear about their research and provide any feedback to the selection committee.
Finally – more opportunities to have your say. Firstly for Project Catalyst – the technical staff review – we have all had many opportunities to provide input but now we are getting near the end of the process so this is your chance to provide feedback on the final 4 suggested options. There are two feedback sessions to be held in the Faculty E6A conference room on Friday 24 May 9.30-10.30am or Thursday 30 May 3-4pm. Or send your thoughts to Faculty Feneral Manager Emma Bowen. Secondly, the Faculty review of the acacdemic workload is underway – please take the opportunity to provide feedback to Linda Beaumont who is our department rep by 24 May, via the document link she has emailed to academic staff.
And of course – Eurovision 2019 is here – join the fun of the Final at morning tea on Monday in the Biology tearoom.
cheers,
Michelle
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Save the Date
This coming week 20th – 24th May
Wed 22nd: Department Morning Tea; 10.30am – 11.30am; 205b Culloden Rd.
Wed 22nd: Department Seminar – A/Prof Shauna Murray, UTS; 1.00pm – 2.00pm; 14EAR(E8A)-280 (Biology Tea Room).
Thu 23rd: Workshop on ‘Introduction to tidyverse package in R’; 3:30 PM – 5:30 PM; Continuum room (75 Talavera road, room 3114); snacks provided.
Following week 27th – 31st May
Wed 29th: FSE Department Morning Tea; 10.30am – 11.30am; 14EAR(E8A)-280 (Biology Tea Room).
Wed 29th: Department Seminar – A/Prof Stephen Pratt, Arizona State University; 1.00pm – 2.00pm; 14EAR(E8A)-280 (Biology Tea Room).
Thu 30th: Good Luck Tarun @ IKC Morning Tea; 10.30am – 11.30am; 14EAR(E8A)-280 (Biology Tea Room), BYO mug.
Thu 30th: Beginners workshop on ‘Getting started with R’; 3.30 PM – 5.30 PM; Continuum room (75 Talavera road, room 3114); snacks provided.
Thu 30th: Biology Social Club; 5.00pm – 7.00pm; Biology Courtyard.
Weekly Events
Thu: Venture Cafe; 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
Weekly Molecular Sciences seminar program is here
Future Events
June 11th-13th: HDR Conference 2019, 9am-1pm, Panel Interviews: 2-5pm; venue TBD – Save the date!
July 2nd, 11am-12.30pm: Formal Department Exam meeting; Biology tearoom
General News and Announcements
FSE Student Awards – Congratulations to all of our distinguished students that received an award last Thursday night for their hard work and commitment to their studies. A special thanks to all of the award donors and sponsors.
200-LEVEL BIOLOGY PRIZE – For the best student overall in two or more 200-level BIOL units, awarded to: Jackson Dominic Siskovic
300-LEVEL BIOLOGY PRIZE – For the best student overall in two or more 300-level BIOL units, awarded to: Jonathon Mifsud
BIOLOGY PRIZE – For the highest GPA for a finishing Biology major, awarded to: Paige Elizabeth Lieurance
AUSTRALIAN FEDERATION OF GRADUATE WOMEN NSW (NORTH SHORE BRANCH) PRIZE – For proficiency by a female student in at least two units at 200 level in Biological Sciences, awarded to: Kaitlin June Mccloghry
BRENDAN SEARLE PRIZE – For proficiency in the unit BIOL206 Genetics, awarded to: Lauren Goodwin
MILTHORPE MEMORIAL PRIZE – For proficiency in a 300-level Plant Biology unit. awarded to: Tara Marie Boreham, and Emily Owens
MOLLIE THOMSON PRIZE – For proficiency in two 100-level Biological Science units, awarded to: Linda Jean Drake
MRES YEAR 1 BIOLOGY PRIZE – For the best Biology student overall in the MRes coursework year, awarded to: Yvette Monique Bauder, and Sarah Jane Campbell
MRES RESEARCH BIOLOGY PRIZE – For the best Biology student overall in the MRes Research year, awarded to: Alexander Edward Harvey Burton
RALPH FAULKNER PRIZE FOR EVOLUTIONARY PALAEONTOLOGY – For proficiency in the unit BIOL381 Evolutionary Palaeontology, awarded to: Ailie Mackenzie.
DEAN’S PRIZE FOR MRES THESIS – Timothy Ghaly
The Tony Price Award – Congratulations to Cecilia Hjort (supervised by Rachael Dudaniec), who is the 2019 winner of the Tony Price Award. Cecilia’s PhD assesses the adaptive and dispersal capacity of the bumblebee, and the funds will enable her to undertake fieldwork in Tasmania.
The Biological Sciences Department Video, Phase 1. Behind the Scenes! Filming took place over two days and some very good quality footage was obtained. The finished video will be under 5 minutes and will showcase the research and teaching strengths of our department. This will also include some staff interviews and overview of facilities.
Many thanks to everyone that submitted video footage and participated in filming related activities.
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Learning and Teaching Support Survey – DVC(Academic) has now commenced a University-wide process to further improve the learning and teaching support of both staff and students at Macquarie, focusing on student success in their coursework, and successful student career paths upon completion. The first stage of the process is focused on consultation with key stakeholders, staff and students to understand what’s working well, what can be improved and what more we can be doing to set our students up for success in the future. With this in mind, all staff are now invited to offer their thoughts on the current learning and teaching support at Macquarie via a short online questionnaire (https://www.mq.edu.au/about/about-the-university/governance/executive/deputy-vice-chancellor-academic/student-success-strategic-framework). All academic and professional staff and students are encouraged to take a few minutes to complete the questionnaire. Your feedback, along with key stakeholder and student inputs will be used to inform the next steps in the process. The survey closes at 5pm, Monday 20 May.
Ally Training – If you have not participated in an Ally training yet or want to refresh your training, there are some workshops coming up:
Facilitated by Pride in Diversity (PiD). The workshops will raise current issues for LBGTI+ staff and students and equip you with language and resources to support sexual diversity on campus.
Plant of the Week
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This week – Tomato – brought to you by Monika King, David Edgecombe, Prasanth Subramani as well as the usual suspects.
Today tomatoes dominate the cuisine of many countries, yet its probable parent, Solanum pimpinellifolium, supposedly originated in western regions of South America, although there are numerous other species that have contributed to produce the tomatoes we enjoy today. One contributor, the Galapagos tomato, Solanum cheesmaniae, is salt-tolerant and tasty, but if you want to germinate the seeds, remember to collect them after they have passed through the gut of a giant Galapagos tortoise.
Call for Research and Professional Development Workshop Suggestions The Department is compiling a program of workshops focused on research and professional development for postgraduate students and ECRs in the Biological Sciences, and we want your suggestions! Perhaps there is a particular skill you want to develop or advice that you are seeking. Or you may want to deliver a session on something relevant! This could range from writing and data analysis, to publishing and interview skills, and anything in between. We are looking for suggestions of workshop topics as well as nominations for people or groups to run them.
Please submit your suggestions via this google form: https://forms.gle/KaYnCr4fp2b1ucWm8
OPPORTUNITIES
Teaching Opportunities in S2
BIOL115 Genes to Organisms – The Department wishes to appoint a suitably qualified person as unit convenor for BIOL115 in S2. This will be a casual position that includes responsibility for convening the unit, delivery of lectures and pracs, as well as co-ordination of assessment. Desirable criteria are: PhD in cell biology or genetics or other relevant discipline, experience in convening and delivering teaching, enthusiasm for teaching and excellent organisation and communication skills. Applicants should send their CV and supporting letter to <fse.bio-hod@mq.edu.au> by 30 May 2019.
BIOL227 Ecology / BIOL876 Climate Change Impacts – We have an excellent opportunity for 1-2 people wishing to advance their teaching experience. The successful pplicant(s) will convene and teach BIOL227 (Ecology) and/or BIOL876 (Climate Change Impacts) in S2, 2019 only, replacing A/Prof Linda Beaumont. Duties will include: all administrative tasks associated with the unit, such as iLearn, prac/tutorial notes, tutor meetings, organising guest speakers and, for BIOL227, fieldtrip organisation; delivery of ~ half of the lectures; revamping and delivery of tutorials and practicals; marking of assessments, collating and presenting marks; student queries and mentoring; moderation of unit; tasks association with finalisation of the unit; attendance at the department exam meeting.
Please see the attached document for for information on number of hours, essential and preferred skills and links to unit guides. To apply, or if you have further queries, please contact A/Prof Linda Beaumont <linda.beaumont@mq.edu.au>. Applications close 30 May, and the applicant will start in late June.
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
Looking for Work Within the Department – Claire Laws is looking for any work or interesting volunteer opportunities within the Department. She has been with Macquarie since 2012 and has worked as a Research Assistant in various plant ecology labs, and more recently, with the Biology admin team.
Claire has a B. Environmental Science (Hons) and is currently studying a Master of Laws in Environmental Law.
If anyone has any job opportunities for Claire, please email her at <claire.ava.laws@gmail.com>.
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
Two rounds remain for the rest of the year:
– Round 2 closes Friday 31 May 2019
– 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
Biological Sciences Seminar – Date/Time: Wednesday, 22nd May, 2019; 1pm – 2pm. Speaker: A/Prof Shauna Murray, UTS. Title: The evolutionary ecology of toxin synthesis in eukaryotic microalgae Venue: 14EAR-280 (Biology Tea Room). More information on this and all department seminars ON OUR WEBPAGE HERE.
Molecular Sciences Seminar – Date/Time: Monday, 20th May, 2019; 3pm – 4pm. Speaker: Professor J. Ravi Prakash from Department of Chemical Engineering, Monash University; Title: The Dynamics of Polymer Solutions at Finite Concentrations. Venue: 4WW 322 seminar room. More Information: https://goto.mq/6q
And: Date/Time: Thursday, 23rd May, 2019; 2pm – 3pm. Speaker: Dr Laura Nolan, the Centre for Molecular Bacteriology and Infection (MRC CMBI), Imperial College London; Title: Using ‘Insider Information’ to Identify Novel Antibacterial Targets. Venue: 4WW 322 seminar room. More Information: https://goto.mq/7l
Physics Department Colloquium – Date/Time: Wednesday, 22nd May, 2019; 12pm – 1pm. Speaker: Dr Mark Ballico, Section Manager: Mechanical, Thermal and Optical Standards, National Measurement Institute; Title: The Kg is Dead: Long Live the Kg. Venue: Lecture Theatre, Level 1, Australian Hearing Hub. More Information: In May 2019, the SI-System, the framework underpinning all measurement in Physics and Chemistry, underwent a fundamental transformation, bringing to fruition a long held dream first voiced over a century ago by Gauss, Maxwell and Planck, of a unified system linked not to physical artefacts, or even to atomic properties, but to immutable constants of nature. Find out the reasons for this momentous change and its impact on measurement science.
Title of the workshop: Introduction to tidyverse package in R. Description: Whether you’ve been using R for decades, just starting out, or somewhere in between knowing even the tiniest bit of the tidyverse will go a really long way in making your use of R a more efficient and generally pleasant experience. The aim of the workshop is to showcase some of the core packages which form the tidyverse and teach you their basics – helping you to use R in a very user friendly and intuitive “grammar based” manner. Presenter: Kate Dodds. She is a PhD student in Mel Bishop’s Benthic Ecology Lab within the Biology Department at Macquarie. She’s working on the Living Seawalls green engineering project. Kate was new to R at the beginning of last year and has found the tidyverse to be a complete gamechanger for learning and using a new programming platform.
Date: May 23, 2019; Time: 3:30 PM – 5:30 PM; Venue: Continuum Room (Rm 3114, 75 Talavera Rd). No registration is required and there will be snacks and beverages (please bring a mug, if you can).
Title of the workshop: Beginners workshop- Getting started with R. Description: From analyzing data to plotting publishable figures, R does it all for you. If you have never used R, are finding it difficult to get started, or are a beginner at it, this is theworkshop for you. It will include an introduction to basic commands in R. Come along and discover how life is made easy by a few lines of simple code or just a few words for that matter. Presenters: Rodrigo Araujo e Castro, Lachlan Phillips, Shubham Chhajed.
Date: May 30, 2019; Time: 3:30 PM – 5:30 PM; Venue: Continuum Room (Rm 3114, 75 Talavera Rd).
What: Rethinking the urban forest cross-sector conference
When: Friday 24th May 2018, 9.00am
Where: Gumbramorra Hall, Addison Road Community Centre, 142 Addison Rd, Marrickville, NSW 2204
Book now: https://www.trybooking.com/book/sessions?eid=463628
Join us at the Rethinking the Urban Forest conference where for the first time arborists, academics, activists, ecologists, planners, project managers, policymakers and politicians come together to discuss the benefits of urban forest and the roadblocks to scaling up and speeding up implementation in the face of climate crisis, habitat/biodiversity loss and fast-growing urban life.
Wildlife at the Watering Hole – 3rd Tuesday of each month, 6:30pm @ Botany View Hotel, King St Newtown!
FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
Australian Academy of Science
There is a wide range of funding opportunities available for research, travel and conference support, closing dates generally 1st June. For details see here
HDR NEWS AND OPPORTUNITIES
University Scholars Leadership Symposium: Kuala Lumpur, August 1-7 – The Government of Malaysia and Humanitarian Affairs Asia is looking for 10 Outstanding Student Leaders to attend the 10th University Scholars Leadership Symposium 2019 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from August 1 to 7.
A video of last year’s 9th USLS, held in the United Nations Conference Centre in Bangkok, should give a good understanding of the general content of the symposium. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=parlOvytPas&t=3s).
For more information about this unique global opportunity and the registration fee, please send enquiries to Global Partnership Associate, Mr. Alexi Heazle at <alexi.heazle@humanitarianaffairs.org> or visit the website at www.universityscholars.org.uk.
There is more information (blurb, brochure, poster, testimonials) at this google drive link. Please note that the priority deadline for students to apply is the 30th of May.
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>.
Australian Wildlife Society University Research Grants are scholarships offered to honours or postgraduate students at Australian universities. Each year, ten $1,500 grants are awarded. Applicants wishing to become a member of the Society can do so at www.aws.org.au. Closing date: 31st May 2019.
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
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?
- 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
Mollusks from the upper Shackleton Limestone (Cambrian Series 2), Central Transantarctic Mountains, East Antarctica
By: Claybourn, Thomas M., Sarah M. Jacquet, Christian B. Skovsted, Timothy P. Topper, Lars E. Holmer, and Glenn A. Brock. Journal of Paleontology (2019): 1-23. | Find with Google Scholar »Developing a spectral disease index for myrtle rust (Austropuccinia psidii)
By: Heim, R. H. J., I. J. Wright, A. P. Allen, I. Geedicke, and J. Oldeland. Plant Pathology (2018). | Find with Google Scholar »Predicting cationic exchange capacity in calcareous soils of East-Azerbaijan province, northwest Iran
By: Asadzadeh, Farrokh, Mahdi Maleki-Kakelar, and Farzin Shabani. Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis (2019): 1-11. | Find with Google Scholar »Climate warming and plant biomechanical defences: Silicon addition contributes to herbivore suppression in a pasture grass
By: Johnson, Scott N., James MW Ryalls, Craig VM Barton, Mark G. Tjoelker, Ian J. Wright, and Ben D. Moore. Functional Ecology (2019). | Find with Google Scholar »Cointroductions of Australian acacias and their rhizobial mutualists in the Southern Hemisphere
By: Warrington, S., Ellis A., Novoa, A., Wandrag, E.M., Hulme, P.E., Duncan, R.P., Valentine, A., Le Roux, J.J., Journal of Biogeography, 2019. DOI: 10.1111/jbi.13602 | Find with Google Scholar »In the Media
Culum Brown and Catarina Vila Pouca were featured on Radio National Big Ideas
Professor Culum Brown and Dr Catarina Vila Pouca from the Department of Biological Sciences were featured on Radio National Big Ideas regarding understanding shark behaviour and personalities.
Catarina Vila Pouca was featured in New Scientist
Dr Catarina Vila Pouca from the Department of Biological Sciences was featured in New Scientist regarding how sharks can learn from their experiences.
Lizzy Lowe provided comment to Yahoo News
Dr Lizzy Lowe from the Department of Biological Sciences provided comment to Yahoo News about a green huntsman found in a box of vegetables.