One for all: Mating compatibility among various populations of olive fruit fly (Diptera: Tephritidae) for application of the sterile insect technique
By: Ahmad, Sohel, Ihsan ul Haq, Carlos Cáceres, Ulysses Sto Tomas, Thilakasiri Dammalage, Keke Gembinsky, Hannes Paulus, Marc JB Vreysen, and Polychronis Rempoulakis. PloS one 13, no. 11 (2018): e0206739. | Find with Google Scholar »
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Hi all,
This week we celebrated the ‘unofficial’ opening of the new Biosciences building in the Fauna Park with a casual lunch, cake and cutting of the ribbon by our Exec Dean Barbara Messerle. Staff and students have now moved into the office spaces while the setting up of lab spaces continues. It is a great new space for biology and we look forward to having our End-of-Year function there on December 4th. There will be an official building opening with industry and various VIPs invited early next year.
We also had some great news on the funding front with Glenn Brock receiving good news from the Swedish Research Council and two new MQ Research Fellows to join the department next year.
cheers,
Michelle
– click the images below to see a larger, full view –
Save the Date
This coming week 19th November – 23rd November
Mon 19th: Futures of Neurorobotics; 10.30am – 5.00pm; Senate Room (16 Wally’s Walk, room 310).
Mon 19th: Seminar and Hands-On Session on Nikon A1R HD Laser Scanning Confocal Microscope; 11.00am; 14EAR (E8A) 280 Biology Tea Room.
Tue 20th: Where to Next with Microbiomes? – BDDRC Symposium; The Epping Club, Rawson St, Epping.
Wed 21st: Department Morning Tea; 10.30am; 205b Culloden Rd, Dining Area (New Fauna Park Building).
Wed 21st: Department Seminar – Professor Martin Hermy, KU Leuven; 1.00pm – 2.00pm; 14EAR (E8A) 280 Biology Tea Room.
Following week 26th November – 30th November
Wed 28th: Department Morning Tea; 10.30am; 205b Culloden Rd, 14EAR (E8A) 280 Biology Tea Room.
Wed 28th: Pre-Registration – an Important Step in Open and Transparent Research; 10.30am – 1.00pm; PC Lab 118, 6 Eastern Road.
Wed – Thu 28/29th: Data Carpentry with R Workshop; 10.30am; 205b Culloden Rd, Room 149, 7 Wally’s Walk.
Future Events
Dec 4th: Exam Meeting; 11 am – 1 pm; 14EAR (E8A) 280 Biology Tea Room.
Dec 4th: EOY Lunch; 1 pm – 4 pm; Fauna Park, Biosciences building – 205b Dining Area – Register and nominate colleague for awards here – https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/LDP8PPV
Dec 10-11th: Department Retreat for academic staff; MQ city campus.
Want to know what Department seminars are coming up? You can check out the Dept webpage at any time!
General News and Announcements
Funding Success! Congratulations to A/Prof Glenn Brock (and EPS colleague Prof Simon George) for successful funding from the Swedish Research Council (in collaboration with Prof Lars Holmer – Uppsala University). Their collaborative VR project entitled “Reassessing the rise and phylogeny of Cambrian organophosphatic shelly lophotrochozoans using molecular fossils” received a total of A$489,000.00 over 4 years (2109-2022). This project will largely be completed here at MQU between the Palaeobiology and Organic Geochemistry Laboratories using new and existing pyrolysis facilities to retrieve biomolecules from the some of the earliest skeleton bearing animals.
MQ Research Fellowship for Biological Sciences – This year Biology had two successful applicants in the MQRF scheme! More congratulations to A/Prof Glenn Brock as Sponsor for a successful 2019 Macquarie University Research Fellowship to Dr. Zhiliang Zhang for a project entitled Integrating fossil shell ultrastructure and biomarkers to resolve the evolutionary roots of the lophotrochozoan tree of life. After Visa paperwork is completed, Dr. Zhang will have an office located in the Palaeobiology Lab.
Dr. Ben Ashton (pictured left) will be hosted by Martin Whiting. Ben Ashton did his PhD at UWA working with Mandy Ridley and was co-supervised by Alex Thornton (Exeter). His background is in cognitive ecology. Specifically, he is interested in how social and environmental factors influence cognitive ability and how this translates into fitness. His PhD focused on magpies and examined the social intelligence hypothesis—the idea that social connections or relationships influence the evolution of cognitive ability and brain size. This work was published earlier this year in Nature (volume 554, pages 364–367 doi:10.1038/nature25503). His MQRF will focus on social intelligence in family living lizards.
Book Launch – Simon Clulow, an MQRF in Martin Whiting’s lab, has just published a new field guide to Australia’s frogs. Australian Geographic is hosting a book launch at the Botanical Gardens (details on flyer, click to enlarge). Come and support Simon and be treated to a photographic tour of some of our most interesting and spectacular frogs, and hear about the process of putting together this amazing field guide.
Biological Sciences EOY Party – Come along and celebrate another of research and teaching success with your Biological Sciences Colleagues. There will be games, some beautiful food and staff awards. Register and nominate colleagues for staff awards now to go into the draw for a special prize! Registrations close – Tuesday, 27 November 2018 – no registration = no food! More info here – Biological Sciences EOY Poster
Tree Removal – Biology Garden, Science Road – In the next week 5 trees will be removed from the garden bed on Science Road – the one between the substation and the footpath. One of them, a cabbage palm, will be relocated. The tree removal is preparation for a trench being dug to connect power from the substation to buildings around F9. Once the work is finished new plants will be put into the space. The trees may be removed as early as this Saturday with trench work commencing around 27 November. Any questions, contact Samantha Newton <samantha.newton@mq.edu.au>.
Christmas Hamper Collection for North Ryde Community Aid – Macquarie University is collecting items for North Ryde Community Aid. Hampers are put together for frail and elderly residents of North Ryde who are living independently. Biology will have a collection box in the tearoom for donations. Suitable items include non-perishable food and drink, festive snacks and sweets, toiletries, puzzles and games and festive decorations. Items collected and packed 14 December. Hampers delivered 17/18 December – volunteers wanted. Email <samantha.newton@mq.edu.au> for more information.
Christmas Hamper Program – North Ryde Community Aid – Christmas is just around the corner and North Ryde Community Aid is now gearing up for their annual Christmas Hamper Program. Since 2016, MQ Uni has done a fantastic job to band together to contribute generously to this great cause. Once again, Sustainability will be helping to organise MQ staff participation in the North Ryde Community Aid Christmas Hamper collection, packing and delivery. Its a fantastic event, and a great way to give back this Christmas. 2018 Xmas Hamper suggestions
- Campaigning and collection from Monday 5th November (drop off locations to be confirmed).
- Packing Hampers on Friday 14th December.
- Delivery on Monday 17th and Tuesday 18th December (in groups of 2 or 3 take several hampers and deliver them to homes around Ryde. Volunteers would travel in their own car).
Vision for Sustainability – Biological Sciences (Draft for comment) – The Sustainability Working Group has developed the following draft vision to capture our intentions for achieving environmental and social sustainability in Biology. Please email <samantha.newton@mq.edu.au> to provide feedback.
We are a diverse, vibrant community, united by our interest and curiosity for living systems. We create a better future through collaboration, accountability and sharing of knowledge and resources.
We achieve this by:
- Embedding environmental sustainability in our curriculum
- Reducing waste and energy emissions from our operations
- Having a diverse, vibrant, engaged, integrated and caring community
Outreach T-Shirt Design Competition – Each year a huge number of you volunteer your time and expertise for outreach events on behalf of the Department, but many are denied official university t-shirts because you are not full time staff, or because you are students! So we are subverting the system and taking back control by designing our own Biology Outreach T-shirts! So, if you are a creative artistic person send us your artwork; a line drawing that captures the research we do as a department. The outreach committee will then send the best designs out to the department to vote, and the winner will have their design printed on the T-shirts that we will use for outreach. They will also receive a $50 gift voucher and a copy of the outreach t-shirt!
Full details and template – Biology Outreach T-Shirt Competition.
Join in the Super Spring Scoop with Scoop a Poop! – Do you have possums in your backyard or a nearby park? Do you own a smartphone or tablet? Then YOU can contribute to the Scoop a Poop project this Spring! Collect possum poop and we will screen it for antibiotic resistance genes.Pick up your Scoop a Poop kits in the foyer of 6 Wally’s Walk (E8B) – look near the Plant of the Week display. Please make sure you fill in your details on the sign-up sheet. Kits are available to pick up from 5-27 Nov. Please return kits (to the same point) by 30 Nov. You will also need the Scoop a Poop app – download it on the App Store or Google Play Any questions? Contact Koa Webster on ext. 6289 or <koa.webster@mq.edu.au>.
Gofundme, please donate what you can to help out a sick student – One of our PhD students, Muzahid Islam, has suffered a serious illness, requiring two urgent operations on a swollen kidney. Muzahid will not only be out of action for a while, but he and his family—they welcomed a baby daughter into the world in January—will be out of pocket for a large expense, over $10,000, because Muzahid’s health insurance only covers a minority of the medical expenses. As a result, we are rallying to raise some funds to defray Muzahid’s medical costs, via a gofundme page: https://www.gofundme.com/make-time-for-muzahid
High School Students Work Experience – Activities Needed – Last Chance – Do you have any field or lab activities happening 19-23 November? Do you want some free labour? We will be hosting 10 High School students for work experience, so if you are planning field work, field/lab work prep, or any lab activities and would like free help during this time, please read the information on the link below and contact Kath McClelland via email – <katherine.mcclellan@mq.edu.au>. Please click here for more information about work experience activities.
SEMINARS AND WORKSHOPS
Speaker: Professor Martin Hermy, KU Leuven. Title: Historic ecosystems inspiring the development of novel ecosystems – the example of extensive green roofs – BIO SCI Seminar Flyer – Professor Martin Hermy More information on these and all department seminars ON OUR WEBPAGE HERE
Molecular Sciences Seminars
Date/Time/Venue: Tuesday, 20th November 2018, 1.00pm – 2.00pm, 4WW (F7B) 322 Seminar Room.
Speaker: Associate Professor Ahindra Nag, Chemistry Department, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India.. Title: Greener Protocols for Synthesis of Biological and Pharmaceutical Compounds. https://goto.mq/7l
Date/Time/Venue: Thursday, 22nd November 2018, 11.00am – 12.00pm, 4WW (F7B) 322 Seminar Room.
Speaker: Professor Douglas R. MacFarlane, Australian Centre for Electromaterials Science, School of Chemistry, Monash University. Title: Materials Chemistry for Sustainable Energy Storage. https://goto.mq/7n
Date/Time/Venue: Thursday, 22nd November 2018, 1.00pm – 2.00pm, 4WW (F7B) 322 Seminar Room.
Speaker: Professor Jiří Barek, UNESCO Laboratory of Environmental Electrochemistry, Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Czech Republic. Title: New Electrode Materials and Arrangements for Large Scale Monitoring of Environmental Pollutants. https://goto.mq/6s
Date/Time/Venue: Thursday, 29th November 2018, 12.00pm – 1.00pm, 4WW (F7B) 322 Seminar Room.
Speaker: Dr Ross Cloney, Senior Editor, Nature Communications. Title: From Academia to Editorial (and Beyond). https://goto.mq/6q
Seminar and Hands-On Session on Nikon A1R HD Laser Scanning Confocal Microscope – 11am, 19th November, 14EAR (E8A) 280 Biology Tea Room. More information – A1R HD Macquarie Nov 2018
Where to Next with Microbiomes? – BDDRC Symposium 20 Nov – The Biomolecular Discovery and Design Research Centre (BDDRC) annual symposium will be held next week at The Epping Club (Rawson St, Epping) on Tues 20 Nov 2018. Our theme is “Where to next with microbiomes?” The day is shaping up to be very informative and inspiring, with a diverse range of guest speakers and collaborative workshop activities (see attached programme for details). Everyone is welcome, so if you have not registered yet and would like to come, please email <robyn.peterson@mq.edu.au>. The venue is within short walking distance from Epping Station and buses. Parking is very limited (only VIPs) but if you have a special need for parking please let Robyn know. BDDRC Microbiomes Epping Club 20Nov2018
Data Carpentry with R Workshop – scheduled on 28-29 November 2019 in Room 149, 7 Wally’s Walk.
Led by Dr Peter Humburg, the workshop is targeted primarily at higher degree research students and early career researchers but open to all. It will be the final training run by our team this year so if you haven’t completed a Data Carpentry workshop before, we encourage you to register ASAP. A nominal fee of $25 will cover lunch over the two days. Registration details are on the Eventbrite page. Refer to the workshop webpage for information on course schedule, syllabus and laptop instructions.
Futures of Neurorobotics
Date/Time/Venue: Monday, 19th November 2018, 10.30am – 5.00pm, Senate Room (16 Wally’s Walk, room 310).
The workshop explores how robotics and computer science can accelerate understanding the brain, how understanding the brain can accelerate robotics, and the futures of autonomous robotics. The workshop will consider the scientific, ethical and philosophical challenges posed by new developments in A.I. and autonomous machines. Click here to register for the ‘Futures of Neurorobotics’ workshop.
Pre-Registration – an Important Step in Open and Transparent Research – Wednesday 28th November (10am – 1pm) in PC Lab 118, 6 Eastern Road.
HDR OPPORTUNITIES
PhD Opportunity with ANSTO, CSIRO and Dr Chariton’s Environmental Genomics, Ecology and Ecotoxicology Lab (EGEEL) – Prospective PhD students in receipt of a Research Training Program (RTP) scholarship will be eligible for an ANSTO top-up scholarship ($7,500 per year). Supervision of the student will be shared between Macquarie University and Dr. Tom Cresswell’s lab at ANSTO. The research focus is on assessing the ecotoxicological and radiological effects of naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) scale on aquatic organisms. Such scale exists in many sub-sea oil and gas pipelines and an assessment of the potential effects to marine biota is important during the decommissioning of such infrastructure. It appears that there is a large gap in this type of assessment globally so the outcomes of this project have far-reaching consequences. It is envisaged that the project will provide for a more valid assessment of the risk posed by sub sea oil and gas scale to aquatic organisms as compared with current methods which rely on default/reference parameters which may greatly misinterpret the risk. It is intended that this will enable improved strategies to be developed and potentially implemented, creating large cost-saving for both industry and government, whilst demonstrating environmental protection (stakeholder acceptance). Specifically, the project will address a critical step in achieving this goal: developing a data set of bioaccumulation (transfer) and organ distribution of NORM scale within pipe to bottom-dwelling (benthic) organisms from oil and gas distribution lines under several scenarios of pipe usage. The project will also seek to assess the relative importance of the chemotoxicity and radiotoxicity of scales to colonising marine organisms. For more details please contact Anthony Chariton <anthony.chariton@mq.edu.au>.
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. Registrations are now open for individual consultation bookings. If you are interested, please go to book in for a 30-minute session with a PWA. If you have questions about the PWA program please email <hdrmentors@mq.edu.au>.
also…
Weekly Writing Workshops for HDR Students and Early Career Researchers – Convened by Ken Cheng – Running weekly for most of the year: Fridays 2-4pm in room E8B 111.
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. If you are interested in attending a session email Ken Cheng <ken.cheng@mq.edu.au> by Wednesday 12:00-noon, preferably with a draft attached of what you are working on and some indication of what you especially need help with.
ADMIN THINGS
Biosciences Building Meeting Room Bookings – A new calendar has been created to manage the new meeting rooms and dining areas in the 205B Building. Meeting rooms are G05 (4 people), G06 (4 people), G28 Boardroom (20 people boardroom style, has AV), G26 Dining area (book for functions). There is also a calendar for the meeting table in 205A. If you wish to use the room, please send an email to fse.bio-adm@mq.edu.au with your meeting details and one of the admin team will book it for you.
Travel Bookings Absence on Duty (AOD) Submissions – Due to the recent trend of last-minute AOD requests, any late submissions will not be approved. 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.
Not receiving general emails? – We have had some trouble with the email lists. If you or anyone you know seems to have dropped off the email lists to receive department seminar notices, Department Matters, etc, please email or drop in to see Jenny Ghabache in the admin office.
Last Photo Competition of the Year – NOVEMBER 2018 – go into the draw to win a $100 Gift Card this month and the theme is SPRING! 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 must have been taken in the last five years. Please follow the dropbox file request link to submit your images.
Submission close: 30 NOVEMBER 2018. You can enter as many photos as you like – one entry to the draw per photo with caption info, good luck!
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.
OPPORTUNITIES
Call for Students & Volunteers for Plant-Pollinator Research – Prof Graham H. Pyke, UTS, is looking for Students and Volunteers to be involved in Plant-Pollinator research, focusing on plants of the genus Blandfordia, also known as Christmas Bells. Field trip timings starting late November through to the end of Janurary, 2019. If this sounds interesting, please read the following documentation, and then contact contact Graham at <Graham.Pyke@uts.edu.au> for more information on trips.
Call for students & volunteers – Christmas Bells 2018-2019 #1 Sep 2018 General information re trips to Pt Macquarie #02 – Jan 2018 Photos re research at Pt Macquarie – Nov 2018
BLOGS AND OTHER THINGS OF INTEREST
Plant of the Week – click on thumbnail to enlarge the image
This week – Oyster Plant – Acanthus mollis
Acanthus mollis, the Oyster Plant, is an herbaceous perennial from the Mediterranean that has seen a strong resurgence in popularity in Sydney gardens in recent years. Acanthus mollis has strong links to ancient Greek and Roman architecture where stylised Acanthus leaves can be seen carved into the topmost sections (capitals)of stone columns.
Room available December/January in the Central Coast – Laura’s room will be available for rent in the months of December and January. Her three-bedroom house is located at Woy Woy, a nice 7 minutes bike ride from the train station. Rent is $135/week including services. If interested and/or for more details please send her an email to <laura.fernandez@hdr.mq.edu.au>.
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.
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New Publications
Dermatological conditions of farmed Crocodilians: A review of pathogenic agents and their proposed impact on skin quality
By: Lott, Matthew J., Rhiannon L. Moore, Natalie L. Milic, Michelle Power, Catherine M. Shilton, and Sally R. Isberg. Veterinary microbiology (2018). | Find with Google Scholar »Ocean warming, but not acidification, accelerates seagrass decomposition under near-future climate scenarios
By: Kelaher, Brendan P., Melinda A. Coleman, and Melanie J. Bishop. Marine Ecology Progress Series 605 (2018): 103-110. | Find with Google Scholar »Biogenic amine modulation of honey bee sociability and nestmate affiliation
By: Hewlett, Susie E., Jacqueline D. Delahunt Smoleniec, Deborah M. Wareham, Thomas M. Pyne, and Andrew B. Barron. PloS one 13, no. 10 (2018): e0205686. | Find with Google Scholar »Early Cambrian chronostratigraphy and geochronology of South Australia
By: Betts, M.J., Paterson, J.R., Jacquet, S.M., Andrew, A.S., Hall, P.A., Jago, J.B., Jagodzinski, E.A., Preiss, W.V., Crowley, J.L., Brougham, T. and Mathewson, C.P., 2018. Earth-Science Reviews. | Find with Google Scholar »Learning from others: an invasive lizard uses social information from both conspecifics and heterospecifics
By: Damas-Moreira, Isabel, Daniel Oliveira, Joana L. Santos, Julia L. Riley, D. James Harris, and Martin J. Whiting. Biology letters 14, no. 10 (2018): 20180532. | Find with Google Scholar »Climate and soils together regulate photosynthetic carbon isotope discrimination within C-3 plants worldwide
By: Cornwell, W.K., Wright, I.J., Turner, J., Maire, V., Barbour, M.M., Cernusak, L.A., Dawson, T., Ellsworth, D., Farquhar, G.D., Griffiths, H. and Keitel, C., 2018. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 27(9), pp.1056-1067. | Find with Google Scholar »Turning the threat into a solution: using roadways to survey cryptic species and to identify locations for conservation
By: Baxter-Gilbert, James H., Julia L. Riley, Sean P. Boyle, David Lesbarrères, and Jacqueline D. Litzgus. Australian Journal of Zoology 66, no. 1 (2017): 50-56. | Find with Google Scholar »In the Media
Vanessa Pirotta was featured in National Geographic
Vanessa Pirotta from the Department of Biological Sciences was featured in National Geographic in relation to using drones to collect whale snot.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com.au/australia/using-drones-to-collect-whale-snot.aspx
Lesley Hughes was interviewed on Radio National AM and ABC Newcastle Mornings
Distinguished Professor Lesley Hughes from the Department of Biological Sciences was interviewed on Radio National AM regarding weather extremes in Australia due to climate change, and ABC Newcastle Mornings regarding the impact of climate change on tourist destinations.
Jane Williamson was interviewed on ABC Radio Sydney Drive and ABC Radio National Drive
Associate Professor Jane Williamson from the Department of Biological Sciences was interviewed on ABC Radio Sydney Drive and ABC Radio National Drive on the recent cluster of shark bites in the Whitsundays.