Embryonic heart rate predicts prenatal development rate, but is not related to post-natal growth rate or activity level in the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata)
By: Sheldon, Elizabeth L., and Simon C. Griffith. Ethology 124, no. 11 (2018): 829-837. | Find with Google Scholar »
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Hi all,
Lots of congratulations this week – firstly for the award winners at the Faculty’s End of Year event and secondly to those who received good news in this year’s academic promotion round for Level D and Level E – well done to all!
It may be a bit quiet this week with lots of marking going on and some of the ecologists in the department (including myself) at the Ecological Society of Australia’s annual conference in Brisbane all week. Please see the admin team or Grant Hose if you need HoD attention!
cheers,
Michelle
Save the Date
This coming week 26th – 30th November
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.
Thu 29th: R Users Group – Data manipulation and random thoughts in base R with Matt Kosnik; 3.00pm – 5.00pm; 14EAR (E8A) 280 Biology Tea Room.
Thu 29th: Biology Social Club Drinks; 5.00pm – 7.00pm; Biology Courtyard.
Following week 3rd – 7th December
Tue 4th: Exam Meeting; 11 am – 1 pm; 14EAR (E8A) 280 Biology Tea Room.
Tue 4th: EOY Lunch; 1 pm – 4 pm; Fauna Park, Biosciences building – 205b Dining Area – Registrations close Tuesday 27/11/18 and nominate colleague for awards here – https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/LDP8PPV
Wed 5th: Department Morning Tea; 10.30am; 14EAR (E8A) 280 Biology Tea Room.
Future Events
Dec 10-11th: Department Retreat for academic staff; MQ city campus.
Dec 12th: Sustainability Silver Accreditation Morning Tea; 10.30am; 14EAR (E8A) 280 Biology Tea Room.
General News and Announcements
Faculty Staff Awards – Congratulations to all of the Biological Sciences staff and students that received an award at this year’s Faculty end of year lunch, it was well deserved. – click for larger image –
Winners
- Excellence in Research – A/Prof Nathan Hart.
- Award for Teaching Excellence: Approaches to teaching that influence, motivate and inspire students to learn: Biology Capstone Team (Dr Matthew Bulbert, Serene Lin-Stephens, Fiona Jones, A/Professor Martin Whiting)
- Awards for Excellence in Sessional Teaching – Dr Susie Hewlett, Belinda Fabian & Dr Kathryn Korbel.
- Professional Staff – Victoria Graham
Highly Commended
- Research – Early Career Researcher – Dr Alexandra Carthey
- Research – Higher Degree Research – Timothy Michael Ghaly
Promotion news
Congratulations to our newest Associate Professor – Linda Beaumont, and newest Professors Grant Hose and Culum Brown. Well done to all!
Sustainability Silver Accreditation Morning Tea – With thanks to the hard work of the Sustainability Working Group, and input from many people across the department, Biology has been successful in achieving Silver accreditation for Sustainability and it the first academic department in the university to achieve this status. We will celebrate this achievement at the department morning tea on Wednesday 12th December at 10:30am, in the Biology Tearoom. Please join us for cake and presentation.
Baby News – Melanie Bishop and husband Alex are pleased to announce the birth of their son Alexander Maxwell Edwards (to be known as Max), born on 17 Nov, and sharing his Daddy’s birthday. 3.69 kg, 52 cm. All doing well. Avi is a proud big sister. – click for larger image –
Outreach Highlight – This week we hosted students from St Ives High School and Narrabeen Sports High School. They were in our teaching labs doing DNA depth study activities delivered by Jessica Thompson and Rachael Woods, with support from our excellent Technical Staff.
– click for larger image –
– click for larger image –
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
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
While we organise the logistics & advertising materials of the drive, please save the following dates:
- 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).
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>.
SEMINARS AND WORKSHOPS
R Users Group : Thursday, 29th November 2018, 3 – 5pm, 14EAR (E8A) 280 Biology Tea Room.
Speaker: Dr Matt Kosnik. Title: Data manipulation and random thoughts in base R
Speaker: Dr Matt Kosnik. Title: Data manipulation and random thoughts in base R
Next Thursday’s workshop will be taught by Matt Kosnik. Dr. Kosnik is a Senior Lecturer who works in conservation paleontology. He is an experienced R programmer with many cool tricks up his sleeve.
Data manipulation and random thoughts in base R. “Base R has a lot going for it, so I’ll share my personal options about some of the reasons to use base R instead of loading tons of random packages. I’ll try to balance the practical “how to do things” against trying to offer some explanations as why somethings work and others don’t in certain situations. This is aimed at a very introductory level, but I suspect most people might pick up a thing or two. I hope for an interactive session, so feel free to bring questions – especially ones I don’t know the answer to.”
Molecular Sciences Seminars
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
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.
Pre-Registration – an Important Step in Open and Transparent Research – Wednesday 28th November (10am – 1pm) in PC Lab 118, 6 Eastern Road.
Convened by Simon Griffith (Biological Sciences, FSE) and Regine Zopf (Cognitive Science, FHS). This workshop is an introduction to the pre-registration process. It will be useful for all researchers who collect, analyse, collaborate and publish data, particularly those who are unfamiliar with the pre-registration process. Across the first-half of the workshop, Simon and Regine will introduce the rationale underlying the move to pre-registration of studies and the Open Science Framework.The second-half of the workshop will involve all participants being led through the pre-registration process. Participants will have a pre-registered project at the end of the workshop. Please click here to register for the workshop ‘Pre-registration – an important step in open and transparent research’
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
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
Title: BirdLife Australia Volunteering – The BirdLife Discovery Centre in Newington Armory, Sydney Olympic Park, is looking for volunteers. The Discovery Centre is open on the weekends from 10.00 am until 4.00 pm. There are no live birds but plenty of displays of stuffed ones; lots of things for kids to do and short videos to watch. There is also live streaming on the internet of the White-bellied Sea Eagles’ nest in the forest behind the Discovery Centre. There is also a free guided bird walk the last Sunday of each month (except December which, this year, will be on Sunday 16th) commencing at the Visitors Centre next to the bicycle hire at the wharf. Some knowledge of the common, local Australian birds would be required.
If interested please contact the volunteer coordinator Deborah Harris via email <daisyproctor@yahoo.co.uk>.
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 – Aloe vera – True or False? Does Aloe vera have wound-healing properties? (Compiled and researched by Monika King)
Aloe verais a succulent evergreen perennial of the genusAloe. It was first described by the originator of the binomial system of naming plants, Carl Linnaeus, in 1753 as Aloe perfoliata var. veraand is one of the few plant species that shares its scientific name with its common name.Aloe vera originates from the south-west of the Arabian Peninsula, and was introduced to Sudan then Africa, China and Southern Europe in the 17thcentury. Aloe vera is prized for its agricultural and medicinal uses as well as for its ornamental uses.
If you would like to get the answer to the True or False question, you will need to come and visit the plant display in E8C(6WW) foyer this week…
The Truth About Time Management: how I went from chaos to punctual calm in one week https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/nov/14/time-management-productivity-julie-morgenstern
Mindfulness Meditation Practice Group, for HDR students and staff Mindfulness Meditation Practice Group flyer
There are still places available in the mindfulness meditation practice group. If you’re interested in learning mindfulness meditation, or would like a little time out to break up your work day, please come along.
When and where:
Monday 26 November, 12:30-1:30pm, 12SW 435
Tuesday 11 December, 11am-12pm, 12SW 435
Registration: https://myrdc.mq.edu.au Enquiries: <michelle.jamieson@mq.edu.au>
When and where:
Monday 26 November, 12:30-1:30pm, 12SW 435
Tuesday 11 December, 11am-12pm, 12SW 435
Registration: https://myrdc.mq.edu.au Enquiries: <michelle.jamieson@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.
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- 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
Social and private information influence the decision making of Australian meat ants (Iridomyrmex purpureus)
By: Middleton, E. J. T., C. R. Reid, R. P. Mann, and T. Latty. Insectes Sociaux 65, no. 4 (2018): 649-656. | Find with Google Scholar »Does size affect orientation using celestial cues?
By: Palavalli-Nettimi, R., and A. Narendra. Insectes Sociaux 65, no. 4 (2018): 657-662. | Find with Google Scholar »Landmark Learning, Cue Conflict, and Outbound View Sequence in Navigating Desert Ants
By: Freas, Cody A., and Ken Cheng. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Learning and Cognition 44, no. 4 (2018): 409. | Find with Google Scholar »Evolution of Human Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) over Multiple Seasons in New South Wales, Australia
By: Di Giallonardo, Francesca, Jen Kok, Marian Fernandez, Ian Carter, Jemma Geoghegan, Dominic Dwyer, Edward Holmes, and John-Sebastian Eden. Viruses 10, no. 9 (2018): 476. | Find with Google Scholar »Domestication modifies the volatile emissions produced by male Queensland fruit flies during sexual advertisement
Pérez, Jeanneth, Soo Jean Park, and Phillip W. Taylor. Scientific reports 8, no. 1 (2018): 16503. | Find with Google Scholar »In the Media
Nathan Hart provided comment to News.com.au
Associate Professor Nathan Hart from the Department of Biological Sciences provided comment to News.com.au about using nets to prevent shark attacks.
Vanessa Pirotta was featured in theHerald Sun and the Brisbane Courier-Mail
Vanessa Pirotta from the Department of Biological Sciences was featured in theHerald Sun and the Brisbane Courier-Mail in relation to using drones to collect whale snot.
Culum Brown was featured on Channel 10 The Project
Associate Professor Culum Brown from the Department of Biological Sciences was featured on Channel 10 The Project regarding methods of preventing shark attacks.