BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES DEPARTMENT MATTERS | May 5, 2017

Dear all,

Get yourself a cup of tea and sit back for a great read – this week’s Department Matters is HUGE. You can start by catching up with last Tuesday’s Department meeting slides here.

We farewell long standing Biology admin team member Laura McMillan this week – her last day is Thursday so please come along to a special morning tea on Wednesday in the Biology tearoom to wish her well.

cheerio,

Michelle

Save the Date

This coming week 8th – 12th May

Tue/Wed 9 &10th: REP Workshop: ‘Perspectives on how insects integrate multiple behaviours’; booked out.

Wed 10th: Farewell for Laura McMillan on her retirement; 10:30am – 11am; E8A-280 (Biology Tea Room).

Wed 10th: Weekly Seminar – Associate Professor Eddie Holmes, The University of Sydney; 1pm – 2pm; E8A-280 (Biology Tea Room).

Wed 10th: FS&E Public Lecture Series: Prof Barbara Webb ‘Navigation in insects and robots’; 5:30pm – 8pm; E7A-801.

Thu 11th: Writing Workshop; 2:30-4:30pm, E8A-280 (Biology Tea Room).

Following week 15th – 19th May

Wed 17th: Associate Professor Vanessa Hayes, The University of Sydney and The Garvan Institute; 1pm – 2pm; E8A-280 (Biology Tea Room).

Thu 18th: Writing Workshop; 2:30-4:30pm, E8A-280 (Biology Tea Room).

Coming up

Every Thursday for the next few months: Writing Workshop; 2:30-4:00pm, E8A-280 (Biology Tea Room).

June 13 – 15th: HDR Conference; Timetable TBA; E7B Lecture Theatres.

July 19th: E8C Digital Teaching Lab Induction; TBA; E8C-106.

July 21st: F7B Digital Teaching Lab Induction; TBA; F7B-108.

July 24th: E8A Digital Teaching Lab Induction; TBA; E8A-120.

Department seminar schedule

May 24th:  Professor Mike Archer, The University of NSW, PANGEA Research Centre & CREATE School of Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences; 1pm – 2pm; E8A-280 (Biology Tea Room).

May 31st:  Professor Michael Romero, Tufts University; 1pm – 2pm; E8A-280 (Biology Tea Room).

June 7th:  Dr Ceridwen Fraser, ANU; 1pm – 2pm; E8A-280 (Biology Tea Room).

June 14th:  Dr Caragh Threlfall, The University of Melbourne; 1pm – 2pm; E8A-280 (Biology Tea Room).

June 21st:  Professor Bill Ballard, The University of NSW; 1pm – 2pm; E8A-280 (Biology Tea Room).

June 28th:  Professor Madeleine Beekman, The University of Sydney; 1pm – 2pm; E8A-280 (Biology Tea Room).

General News and Announcements

Department Calendar

As mentioned in the Department Meeting this week, there is now a Biology Department Events Calendar. This calendar will include all events happening within the department from morning teas to seminars, department meetings and important workshops. Please click here  for a ‘how to’ to add it to your O365 desktop. If you would like to add anything to the calendar please contact <rosie.neville@mq.edu.au>.

Congrats to Andy Barron on His Recent Science Publication!

Robinson, Gene E., and Andrew B. Barron. “Epigenetics and the evolution of instincts.” Science 356.6333 (2017): 26-27.

Tony Price Award for 2017

Congratulations Samiya Tabassum, who has received the Tony Price Award for 2017. This award is a bequest by Greville Anthony Price, who was a student at Macquarie in the 1980’s. Samiya is undertaking her PhD with Michelle Leishman, and is investigating the ecological and evolutionary mechanisms that may be promoting range expansion in two invasive exotic coastal dune plant species.

DEPARTMENTAL SEMINAR SERIES

Day/Date/Time/Place: Wednesday, 10th May, 1-2pm, E8A-280 (Tea Room)

Speaker: Associate Professor Eddie Holmes, The University of Sydney.

Title: Redefining the Virosphere: Metagenomics and Disease Emergence. 

Abstract: Virology is entering a new discovery phase. Bulk DNA and RNA shotgun sequencing, including RNA-Seq based techniques, provide a uniquely powerful means to rapidly reveal the microbial composition of any sample without bias. These metagenomic techniques provide important new information on the composition of the virosphere, the fundamental patterns and mechanisms of virus evolution, and are able to determine disease agents on clinically actionable time-scales. Here, I will show how metagenomics has advanced all these areas, providing new information of the viromes (and microbiomes) of a diverse array of invertebrate and vertebrates, including iconic Australian species as well as invasive pests. In particular, I will show how newly identified viruses filled major gaps in the RNA virus phylogeny, and reveal an evolutionary history characterized by both host switching and co-divergence that likely extends for more than a billion years. These metagenomic studies also reveal that the invertebrate virome is characterized by remarkable genomic flexibility, including frequent recombination, lateral gene transfer among viruses and hosts, gene gain and loss, and complex genomic rearrangements. Together, these data present a view of the virosphere that is more phylogenetically and genomically diverse than depicted in current classification schemes.

Visiting World-Expert in Computational Neuroscience and Biorobotics

Prof Barbara Webb is a world-expert in computational neuroscience and biorobotics. She is just about to launch a paper using neural modeling to explain how ants navigate that will pretty much revolutionise both neuroscience and the autonomous vehicle fields. She will be visiting MQ this week as a guest of the Faculty, organised by Andy Barron.

Next week Andrew and Barbara will be running a REP workshop: ‘Perspectives on how insects integrate multiple behaviours’ (Tuesday 9th and Wednesday 10th May).

Barbara will also be giving the first of the 2017 Faculty of Science and Engineering flagship public lectures: ‘Navigation in insects and robots’: Wednesday 10 May from 5.30pm (for 6pm) to 8.00pm at Level 8, E7A. This lecture will bridge across the fields of Engineering, Computing and Biological Sciences. (To register for her lecture, go here: http://www.cvent.com/d/85qk7h).

If you are interested in meeting-up with Barbara while she is here, please contact Andrew Barron <Andrew.barron@mq.edu.au>.

Biology Achieves Bronze Accreditation for Sustainability!

This week Leanne Denby, Director of Sustainability, presented the Department with a certificate recognising the Department of Biological Sciences as achieving Bronze accreditation for Sustainability practices. We’re the first academic department to be accredited! This followed discussions and assessment of current actions in December last year by members of the Sustainability working group. Through this process we created a list of actions, which are already being implemented. Stay tuned for further updates. Our next big step is to work towards achieving Silver accreditation, then Gold!

Outreach Opportunities and Requests – We Need Your Help

Outreach

Do you have any outreach activities coming up or recently completed? DON’T FORGET to let us know via the outreach form – (an average of 1min 46sec to fill in but worth so much more in terms of brownie points for the department) – ACCESS OUTREACH FORM HERE

Science Festival Gigs for August – We Need You!

1. Excite schools and public at the Australian Museum

For this year’s science festival the faculty will have a booth/space at the Australian Museum. The museum is the central hub of the festival and hence has high flow through traffic including both public and high schools. This is a great opportunity for Macquarie and a great one for those of you wanting to increase your outreach profile as well as broaden the knowledge of the public.

We need volunteers for:

Primary school days: 8^th (AM) and 11^th (Anytime)

Super Public day: 12^th (Anytime)

High School days: 15^th (anytime), 16^th (AM), 17^th (Anytime), 18^th (AM)

Your commitment:

At minimum, a couple of hours with whatever display/activity of your choosing

Have fun telling passer-by’s about the cool stuff you do

I particularly encourage participation on the high school days.

2. National Indigenous Science Education Program (NISEP)

The National Indigenous Science Education Program (NISEP), Redfern Community Centre and City of Sydney are once again running the Indigenous Science Experience at Redfern – 16-18^th and 20^th August. If you would like to contribute an activity to this, please contact the biology outreach team or Joanne Jamie directly for more information. It’s a wonderful opportunity to showcase our disciplines. I highly recommend (for those who have not contributed previously) checking out the YouTube channel to see previous years’ events:www.youtube.com/user/NISEPmq

Annual Report Anecdotes

Did you do an outreach activity last year that you were particularly proud of?

I need some nice examples for the Annual report and apparently, I need them by like yesterday. So, if you do please send through a few lines about what it was and a picture or two (if you have one – if not please send details anyway).

For any of these items please contact: <matthew.bulbert@mq.edu.au> or talk to any member of the outreach team which include Kath McCellan, Chris Reid, Ken Cheng, Jemma Geoghegan, Alexandra Carthey, Kerstin Bilgmann and Julian May. It is important you talk to us about any activities. Thanks

Macquarie University’s New Research Hub (PURE) is Coming

Exciting changes are coming to Macquarie University.  Outdated systems are making way for a new Research Hub – one place for your research activities.

What this means to you

• As a researcher, you can now ensure that your academic output is accurately stored and up to date.
• Your research will now be showcased on your personalised Macquarie University Research Portal which may enable you to identify collaborators internal and external to the University – you will decide what to display.

Attend one of our Faculty Days

• To facilitate the first step, the University IT is running ‘Faculty Days’ – drop-in clinics where you can learn about the Research Hub and Portal and start checking your data.
• This is a great opportunity to become familiar with the system, with support staff on-hand to answer your questions and help you through the process.

When and Where:  Drop into any sessions:

• 9 May, E8A-280 (Biology Tea Room), 10 am – 3 pm
• 10 May, E6B-149, 10 am – 3 pm
• 11 May, E8A-280 (Biology Tea Room), 10 am – 3 pm
• 12 May, E8A-280 (Biology Tea Room), 10 am – 3 pm

Duration:  You decide how long you want to stay, however we expect for most people, 30-40 minutes will suffice.

What to Bring:  Please bring your laptop and ipad so you can experience the new Research Hub and Portal first hand.

Please see the attached flyer for further information.

PURE Faculty day announcement for Faculty of Science and Engineering

Research Enrichment Program (REP) Update

Three exciting additions have been made to the Research Enrichment Program (REP) 2017 menu of masterclasses. Please visit the REP website to register for these offerings, and more: https://staff.mq.edu.au/research/resources-and-support/research-enrichment-program

Life in the universe – a planetary evolution discussion group

9am – 12 on the Mondays: 1 May, 8 May, 15 May, 22 May, 29 May, and 5 June

Convened by Craig O’Neill, this discussion group will workshop some of the fundamental questions in planetary science, and astrobiology. Participants will present and discuss recent topical papers on the big questions around planets, and critique the evidence for and against major controversies in the field. The format is 2-3 paper presentations per week, by the participants, on a range of planetary topics, including: 1) The habitability of exoplanets, 2) Origin of the Earth’s Moon, 3) Origin of Earth’s water, 4) The nature of planetary cores, 5) What happened in the Hadean? and 6) Supercontinents and the snowball Earth.

Science, misinformation, and alternative facts

Thursday 1st June, 10:30am – 4:30pm

This cross-disciplinary workshop – organised by Jon Brock (Research Fellow, Cognitive Science), Adam Dunn (Senior Research Fellow, Health Informatics) and Haidee Kruger (Lecturer, Linguistics), provides a forum for researchers and science communicators to discuss the representation of scientific evidence in the public domain. Experts from across human sciences will join application domain experts in vaccination, climate science, epidemiology, and health behaviours to discuss the challenges and potential solutions for closing the gaps between what the evidence says and what the public believes.

Transparent practices in empirical science

Tuesday 6th June, 9am – 12pm

In some disciplines there is discussion of a ‘reproducibility crisis’ triggered by recognition that many published findings do not seem to hold up to further evaluation. Many published results, it seems, are wrong. At the root of this crisis is NOT fabrication of results, but instead a lack of transparency in how science is conducted and reported. Although direct evidence of low reproducibility has been generated for only a few disciplines, there is widespread evidence that the poor transparency which drives low reproducibility is worryingly common in many disciplines, including in ecology and evolutionary biology.

This workshop, convened by Associate Professor Tim Parker (Department of Biology and Interdisciplinary Program in Environmental Studies, Whitman College, Walla Walla, USA), is designed to help scientists (from any empirical discipline) navigate the reproducibility crisis in two ways. First, participants will learn some* methods for being more transparent in their own work. This should reduce unintended bias and increase the reproducibility of your work. Second, participants will learn to better recognize insufficient transparency in published work, and to understand the potential implications of this insufficient transparency.

The workshop will be hands-on. You will work through the process of maximizing transparency in your own work (come ready to think about your own projects; ideally one project in the planning stage and one project at the writing stage, though you can use projects from any stage and if you don’t have your own project, you will be paired with other participants), and you will practice identifying insufficient transparency in sample work that will be provided at the workshop.

*There are many great ideas for improving transparency. We will be focusing on a subset of these.

Target audience: All empirical scientists who wishes to improve their own transparency and to recognize insufficient transparency when they encounter it.

IDAHoT (International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia)

Wednesday 17th May, 12-2pm, Marxine’s Courtyard

Please register here: https://www.cvent.com/c/express/dbd84d50-5418-4dc5-8195-60179e4301a4

Eurovision Ahoy

It is that time of the year when talent and good taste are abandoned and Eurovision takes hold! Sweepstakes are ready for purchase in the HOD office ($2/country or 3 for $5).

Eurovision morning tea on Monday May 15, 10:30 (E8A Tearoom)!

Stop Trump-watching and do something sensible like follow our blog (new URL): http://www.thescienceofeurovision.website/ reviewing every entry for Eurovision!

Glenn Brock in North China

Update from Glenn’s travels:

“I have been in China just over a month and just returned from 3 weeks of fieldwork in one of the most remote regions in North China along the border with “Inner” Mongolia and also along the southern margin of this huge continental mass that during Cambrian time, some 520 million years ago, was located close to the eastern margin of Australia. My Chinese colleagues kept telling me I was possibly the first foreigner to visit some of these regions and judging by the dumbfounded looks I was getting from the locals this was probably so! Though to be honest I get the same looks wherever I go! Hahaha!

Of course the Australian coastline during early Cambrian time would have run through Broken Hill, since much of QLD, NSW and Victoria as we know it had not yet formed… The Cambrian faunas from this Chinese ancient continent have always remained poorly known – but a group of palaeontologists from Northwest University in Xi’an (capital of the ancient Tang Dynasty and the eastern terminus of the Silk Road) invited me to be part of the team to excavate new Cambrian rocks from numerous localities and the results have been spectacular! Some really beautiful fossils – the major discovery is that many of the fossils are identical (down to species level) to taxa I and my students have described from Australia. Confirming the close palaeogeographic position of these continents.

I am currently hosted by Northwest University and to my surprise they have awarded me a 5 year Visiting Professorship to the Uni! After a talk I gave to the faculty I was formally welcomed to the University by the Rector and awarded a large formal certificate and commemoration trophy! I guess this counts as a good example of ongoing research collaboration! Attached are a few images of the trip so far – choose a few for the Newsletter. I will send more images when I can…

Best regards from the Middle Kingdom!

Glenn B.”

Opportunity to Order Books for Inclusion in the MQU Library

Book ordering for 2017 is well underway and MQU Library staff are very happy to receive any book title requests for purchase. So please encourage your colleagues to send through to us any order requests as they identify items for the collection. Order requests can be sent to <lib.acqdep@mq.edu.au>, through your Research Librarian, or in the mail to “Acquisitions, Library”

Department Knitting Group

Come and join the fun of knitting for the charity Wrap With Love

Where: E8A Tearoom & W19F Foyer

When: Wednesdays 10:30 (department morning teas)

How: Instructions here and will be available with the knitting.

Knitting yarn will be supplied in the E8A Tearoom and the W19F foyer.

Some knitting needles will be provided, but please bring your own if you have them.

Terrestrial Fieldwork Coverage (3 weeks)

From 19th April – 11th May, Sarah Collison will not be at work and terrestrial fieldwork approvals will be done by another member of the fieldwork management team. Please ensure during this period that you give more than 3 days notice for fieldwork. Also during this period no fieldwork inductions or planning meetings for new fieldwork will take place. Only ongoing Trip approvals will be happening just for these two weeks.

Thank you for your understanding.

Do You Want Help to Improve Your Writing? 

Ken Cheng and Jennifer Hallinan run weekly writing workshops, Thursdays 2:30-4:30pm E8B-215.

These writing workshops are meant for HDR students and early-career researchers. Writing at any stage of any genre is welcome in these face-to-face encounters, from first draft to final polish, from empirical paper to literature review to popular news story. The sessions will involve personal feedback linked with rounds of revisions on selected passages, but will vary depending on the needs of participants. The aim is not just to get stuff written, but to write everything well.

Those interested in attending a session should email both Ken Cheng <ken.cheng@mq.edu.au> and Jennifer Hallinan <jennifer.hallinan@mq.edu.au> by Wednesday 12:00, preferably with a draft attached of what they are working on and some indication of what they especially need help with.

Plant of the Week

This week – Taxodium distichum – The Swamp or Bald Cypress – and iconic tree of swamps and seasonally inundated lowlands of south-eastern USA.

New Student: Muhazid Islam, Working with Ken Cheng, Co-supervised by Ajay Narendra and Franne Kamhi

“I am primarily interested in how to generate behaviour by the interaction of brain, body, and environment. My interests lie in constructing biologically feasible interlink to understand the role of neural architecture in supporting behaviour. In nature, central place foragers use two navigational strategies, path integration and landmark guidance, to move their nest and foraging sites. The brain has general sensory, motor, and information processing circuits to support specific navigational task. I am working with Professor Ken Cheng. My current research on the interaction between neural architecture and navigational behaviour of ant. Specifically, we will investigate learning walks and how this behaviour contributes to the future navigation and roles of the central complex about this behaviour. Our project will also investigate the visual scanning behaviour of two separate ant species.”

Muhazid will be based on the hill. Please make him feel welcome!

Do You Offset Your Flights?

One question arising from the Sustainability Working Group was around the effectiveness of carbon offsets for flights. Where does the money go? Are the schemes and funded projects reputable? Accredited? In researching the carbon offset programs of airlines such as Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin, which do have Fly Carbon Neutral programs, I came across this article by Choice. It explores the questions most people ask, and provides some answers.

https://www.choice.com.au/travel/on-holidays/airlines/articles/should-you-buy-carbon-offsets-for-flights

If you have an opinion on whether we should ‘Fly Carbon Neutral’, or an alternative suggestion for offsetting our flight emissions, please email <samantha.newton@mq.edu.au>.

Donate Your Old Mobile Phones and Tablets to a Good Cause

During weeks 10 and 11 (May 15-26) the Jane Goodall Institute Australia, in conjunction with Phonecycle and Mobile Muster, will be collecting working mobile phones and tablets for rehoming.

Australians buy new phones and tablets on average every 18 to 24 months and e-waste is the fastest growing type of waste in Australian landfills. By recycling the devices, we reduce waste and the need to extract new minerals.  The money from the old devices is used by JGIA for conservation and education programs here in Australia and elsewhere in the world.

All phones are data-wiped and factory reset before reuse so there’s no risk of data loss. Before donating, people can use the factory reset option to delete all of their data (it’s device specific but the product webpage will have instructions) and should remove the devices from their iCloud accounts (in the case of iPhones).

http://support.apple.com/en-us/ts4515

A collection box will be placed in the Biology administration office. If you have any questions about the program contact K-lynn Smith <klynn.smith@mq.edu.au> or Samantha Newton <Samantha.newton@mq.edu.au>.

Are You Interested in What it Takes to be a Research Leader?

Then you might be interested in an upcoming seminar:

Prof Sakkie Pretorius: ‘Forging a path to Leadership’ 18 May, 3-4pm, in room E7A 801 (just turn up, no registration is required).

In this seminar – aimed specifically at masters, HDR students and ECRs – Prof Sakkie Pretorius (MQ Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Research) will outline his thoughts around what it takes to be a successful leader in research. Prof Pretorius will describe the qualities and attributes of successful research leaders and provide the secrets around tracking your own path to becoming a research leader – particularly in a science context.

This seminar is part of the FOSC804 – Leadership in Science Research and Innovation guest seminar series run by Dr Abidali Mohamedali. Supported by the Research Enrichment Program (REP).

HSC Chemistry Enrichment Day July 12

Do you know of any student studying for their chemistry HSC Exam?  If so, please let them know about our great Chemistry HSC Enrichment Program by passing on the following message and/or providing them with the flyer attached.

GET PREPARED – GET INTO HSC CHEMISTRY ENRICHMENT

Macquarie University will be holding a Higher School Certificate (HSC) Chemistry Enrichment Day to assist high school students in preparing for their HSC Chemistry exam. This exciting one-day program will be for Year 12 students sitting their HSC in NSW and the ACT in 2017.  The HSC Enrichment Program will be presented by Macquarie University chemistry academics on core subject areas of the HSC Chemistry syllabus.

When:  Wednesday July 12

Where:  E7B Mason Theatre, Macquarie University

For more details please see http://science.mq.edu.au/hsc-enrichment-day/ and

HSC Enrichment 2017 flyer

Sydney Chapter for Society for Conservation Biology: Global Big Day Bird Walk

Sydney SCB wants to help you participate in a global citizen science event to observe your local birds. The Global Big Day on Saturday May 13 is run by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and encourages observers to log bird observations on the online database eBird.

To celebrate and introduce bird watching, SCB have organised a bird walk at one of Sydney’s premier urban bird watching destinations: Sydney Olympic Park.

In this FREE event, local experts Dr Stanley Tang and Peri Bolton will guide you through a variety of bird species and habitats.

When: Saturday May 13th @ 9am-11am

Where: Sydney Olympic Park

RSVP and More Information:

 https://birdbigday2017.eventbrite.com.au

Australian French PhD entrepreneurship challenge – ADELAIDE 11-12 July 2017

Following on from the success of the last years Australian French Entrepreneurship Challenge, a second challenge is being organised in Adelaide on 11 & 12 July 2017. The event will be run by the three Adelaide based universities with support from the South Australian Government and the Embassy of France in Australia.

Teams of PhD students will compete to design an innovative and profitable start-up concept.

The call for application to select PhD students from all Australian Universities has been published on the website of the Australian Academy of Science :

https://www.science.org.au/opportunities/travel/grants-and-exchange/australian-french-entrepreneurship-challenge

Further information can be found in the attached prospectus.

2017 Australian-French Entrepreneurship Challenge Sponsorship Prospectus…

Univative 2017 is Now Open for Student Applications

About Univative:

• A NSW government funded inter-university competition between MQ, UNSW, USyd, UTS, WSU, ACU, CQU and UOW.
• A great opportunity for STEM students who are seeking interdisciplinary challenges and collaboration in the month of July.

Please see text below and the attachments for further info and application.

Univative Slide

Available for Work

If anyone is in need of extra help, Lesley Nearn-Cavanagh has recently finished one of her contracts and is now available for an extra three days work. Lesley graduated from Macquarie University in 2012 with a BSc (Env). She has worked  casually at Macquarie since December 2013 in Research Assistant and Scientific Officer roles, including work in the PGF, Microscopy Unit ( approximately 2.5 years part-time), in first year chemistry  and biology labs. For more information please contact Lesley by email at <lesley.nearn-cavanagh@mq.edu.au>.

Position Vacant

Are you, or someone you know a dedicated Ichthyologist looking for a Scientific Officer position? Then check out the attached job opportunity.

Scientific Officer – Curator, Ichthyology

Inside The Minds of Scientists

Scientists’ pet peeves.  You all might be nodding along to at least some of these!

Scientists share their lab pet peeves

New Publications

In the Media

Recent Completions

Congratulations to Lori Hurley for submitting her PhD entitled: Sperm production, quality, and post-copulatory performance in Australian Estrildid finches

Supervised by Professor Simon Griffith, Professor Kate Buchanan and Dr Melissah Rowe

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