BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES DEPARTMENT MATTERS | May 20, 2016

Dear all,

We had a great turnout for Vincent Raoult’s PhD completion seminar with drinks following – congrats to Vince and we look forward to the next batch of completion seminars in 2 months! Also of excitement in the department (at least for the plant people!) was the arrival of the new growth cabinets for the Plant Growth Facility – see photos below and look forward to a dept morning tea there soon to admire our new toys, courtesy of the DVC-R (the toys that is, not morning tea).

I strongly encourage all academic and research staff to come along to the May 31 meeting organised by Mel Bishop to discuss the ARC engagement and impact paper – this will affect us all in future years so it’s important we have our input.

Finally – don’t forget the Tony Price and Milthorpe awards available to HDR students – applications close 31 May.

cheerio

Michelle

Save the Date

This coming week 23rd – 27th May

Mon 23rd; G2G Seminar: Prof. Isaac Santos (National Marine Science Centre, Southern Cross University); 12:00 – 1:00pm; E8A-280 (tea room).

Wed 25th; Morning Tea with HoD; 10:30 – 11:00am; E8A-280 (tea room).

Wed 25th; Departmental Seminar: Dr James Cleverly (Associate Director TERN OzFlux, Deputy Leader Alice Mulga SuperSite, UTS); 1:00 – 2:00pm; E8A-280 (tea room).

The following week 30th May – 3rd June

Tue 31st May; R-Users Group – Project Management ; 3:00 – 4:00pm; E8A-280 (tea room).

Wed 1st June; Morning Tea with HoD; 10:30 – 11:00am; The Hill.

Wed 1st; Departmental Seminar: Prof Chris Dickman (Faculty of Science, University of Sydney); 1:00 – 2:00pm; E8A-280 (tea room).

Coming up

Wed 15th – Fri 17th June; 2016 Annual HDR Conference; 9am onwards each day; Location E8A labs.

July 31st; applications for PhD scholarships due

Aug 20th; Open Day

General News and Announcements

Your input needed: ARC Engagement and impact consultation paper

As part of its National Innovation and Science Agenda (NISA) the Government is developing a national engagement and impact assessment which will examine how universities are translating their research into economic, social and other benefits and incentivise greater collaboration between universities, industry and other end-users of research. The ARC and the Department of Education and Training will implement this assessment. It will run as a companion to ERA, with the first full collection and assessment to take place in 2018.

A consultation paper has been developed and the Research Committee are presently seeking your feedback on it. Please find attached:

1. The ARC Engagement and Impact Assessment Consultation paper,
2. A template for providing your feedback to the ARC Consultation paper, and
3. The ATSE paper with metrics – please see p.12 for details

We will hold a Department meeting on Tuesday 31 May 1-2 pm to discuss

If you are unable to attend, would you please email your feedback, using the attached template, to Melanie Bishop <melanie.bishop@mq.edu.au> by COB Friday 3 June.

ATSE – Research-engagement-australia-pilot-report

ARC Engagement and Impact Assessment Consultation – Appx A – Template for Feedback

ARC Engagement and Impact Assessment Consultation Paper

LEARNING AND TEACHING

Session 2 convenors – get ready

1. ilearn sites will be accessible 26^th May. Note that there is a new version of Turnitin so it may look different.

2. Unit guides are now ready to populate via iTeach. Internal unit guides need to be populated by 25^th July and external by 20^th June.

3. Hurdle assessments – do you identify any hurdles such as attend certain percentage of practical classes? achieve a certain mark in final exam? Please contact Michelle Power ASAP if you do.

Turnitin V2

Version 2 of Turnitin will be available from 26^th May. No impact to units running now. Additional features include all file types) for quick mark, peer mark ability, unit guides ready to populate.

Library resources

See attached document for exciting news from the Library

Library_Resources

Weekly Seminar

Day/Date/Time/Location: Wednesday, 25th May, 1pm – 2pm, E8A-280 (Tea room)

Speaker: Dr James Cleverly, Associate Director TERN OzFlux, Deputy Leader Alice Mulga SuperSite, UTS

Title: Ecosystem resilience to droughts and flooding rains in Australia’s semi-arid interior: continental responses and global consequences

Abstract:  Australia periodically experiences extremes in climate, transforming the landscape with consequences for global carbon and water cycles. One such period of climate extremes began in 1999, when climatic influences of the Pacific, Indian and Southern Oceans synchronised to bring the Millennial Drought and Victorian bushfires, as well as floods in Queensland and verdant growth to the semi-arid interior of the continent. We in the terrestrial ecohydrology research group at UTS established the Alice Mulga SuperSite to investigate the ecosystem dynamics of iconic Australian dryland ecosystems to large fluctuations in climate. The SuperSite is located 200 km north of Alice Springs in the Ti Tree catchment, where the catchment is home to three primary vegetation types: open hummock (Triodia schinzii) savanna with bloodwood trees (Corymbia opaca) wherever the groundwater is shallow; Mulga (Acacia anuera and relatives) woodlands; and Red Gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) along the rivers. Over the last five years, the carbon budgets of these ecosystems varied from a strong carbon sink in a Mulga woodland to a strong source in an open Corymbia–Triodia savanna. The strong carbon sink occurred during a year when extraordinary precipitation across the Southern Hemisphere brought a 20% increase in global net primary productivity. Photosynthetic responses to light in the Mulga woodland showed a tendency for deep depression at midday when air temperatures increase above the photosynthetic limit for these tropical legumes. By contrast, photosynthetic light-response curves in the open Corymbia–Triodia savanna showed a tendency for CO2 efflux to also be dependent upon light intensity, suggesting the presence of abiotic decomposition in the form of photodegradation. The large rates of photodegradation formed as a result of the juxtaposition of very wet and dry climate extremes, thus illustrating the potential for vast areas of Australia to contribute significantly to the global carbon cycle.

Award Applications Now Open!

Milthorpe Memorial Award in Plant Biology – closing date May 31

This scheme is supported by a bequest to the (then) School of Biological Sciences by the family of Fred Milthorpe. Professor Milthorpe was a Founding Chair in the School of Biological Sciences. He was a plant physiologist in the classical sense, influencing a generation of plant scientists here and abroad. His research revealed underlying biological processes that are critical to forestry, agriculture and horticulture. His philosophy was to make discoveries by inspiring postgraduate students to be curious about their research questions and thoughtful about how they execute them. This award aims to foster these philosophies. The maximum amount of the award is $1500 and the award is offered in alternate years.

Milthorpe Award Application_2016

Tony Price Award – closing date May 31

This scheme is supported by a bequest to the (then) School of Biological Sciences during the 1980s by Greville Anthony (Tony) Price (1934-2010), who was a student in the School. The Tony Price Award supports plant ecological research by providing funding up to $2,500 p.a. for postgraduate students in the department to support activities such as fieldwork and conference attendance.

Tony Price Award Application_12May2016

New Resources from Nature

We now have access to the following wishlist titles:

Molecular Psychiatry

(access is via Nature, from Vol 2, no 1 1997-)

Nature Immunology

(from Vol 13, no 1 2012-)

Nature Reviews: Immunology

(from 2012 onwards)

Nature Reviews: Drug Discovery

(from Vol 11, no 1 2012-)

Nature Microbiology

(2016-)

Nature Plants

(2015-)

New Growth Cabinets Arrive at the PGF

Here are some pictures for our new science toys. Growth cabinets delivered today. – Masood.

Dear Vehicle Users

Please take care to note the parking spots for FSE vehicles in the F5B FSE parking area. There are designated spots assigned to the Dean, Executive Dean, Heads of Department. Please DO NOT park vehicles in those areas. Special ‘B’ permit vehicles (such as the fieldwork vehicles) can only be parked in the general Science reserved parking spots (marked as in the image below).

Thank you for your co-operation.

Plant of the Week – Claret Ash or Raywood Ash (Fraxinus angustifolia subsp. oxycarpa)

PhD Opportunity at Sgro Lab, Monash University

PhD Opportunties Sgro lab, Monash University

PhD Scholarship Possibility

These offerings are for current internal domestic non scholarship holders who are completing a PhD.

Applicants must be within the first year of their candidature.

If enrolled part time they must be willing to convert to full time if offered the scholarship.

Applicants are not required to submit academic referee reports with their application (this is unique)

However the Faculty ADHDR must endorse the scholarship application and rating.

Applicants are advised to use a paper based application for these scholarship offerings. See the attached for the processing timeline.

2016 Macquaire 10 Application Processing Timetable

Applications open for SIMS Shark Post-Doctoral Position

The NSW Government, through the NSW Office of Science & Research, has awarded SIMS a grant to facilitate use of IMOS data as a NSW-based National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) facility under its Research Attraction and Acceleration Program (RAAP). In 2015 the NSW government also launched a new Shark Management Strategy which is being implemented by the NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI). The Strategy seeks to reduce the risks from shark bites associated with recreational activities in NSW coastal waters.

SIMS is now looking  for a Post-Doctoral researcher through the RAAP project to help address this issue using IMOS and DPI data to characterise oceanographic conditions in relation to the NSW-DPI shark occurrence database and possible links to nearshore productivity hotspots. The project will leverage existing infrastructure and the new NSW Shark Management Strategy to advance understanding of the oceanographic conditions that might influence shark distributions and movements.

A position description is attached with applications closing 31^st May 2016.

SIMS Shark Postdoc

Short Term Accommodation Sought

Dr Marine Lasbeleiz is undertaking a post doctoral position at the Department of Biological Sciences, and is looking for a short term accommodation from 30th June to 14th August in Sydney. If you have or know of a room available, please contact her via email <marine.lasbleiz@mq.edu.au>.

Anyone need a four week retreat on the Central Coast in June/July?

Dan W. and Teresa I. are off to meetings and fieldwork from June 12-ish to July 8, and we’re looking for someone to cat-sit for us if possible.  Our house is north of Sydney near Woy Woy, about an hour and fifteen minutes from MQ by train.  It’s near the top of the hill in Horsfield Bay, almost in a national park, absolutely crowded by dense trees and vegetation on all sides.  It’s amazing for bird watching, and we just got NBN access.  It would be a great retreat for a non-cat-allergic grad student or postdoc, or a couple looking to get away.  Preferably no kids though, as we don’t want to freak the kitties out too much.  Rent is free as long as you feed and pet the cats and tell them they are handsome (they are, see attached photographic evidence).  Please email <dan.warren@mq.edu.au> if you’re interested.

New Publications

In the Media

Recent Completions