Defining the Nutritional and Metabolic Context of FGF21 Using the Geometric Framework
By: Solon-Biet, S.M., Cogger, V.C., Pulpitel, T., Heblinski, M., Wahl, D., McMahon, A.C., Warren, A., Durrant-Whyte, J., Walters, K.A., Krycer, J.R. and Ponton, F., 2016. Cell Metabolism, 24(4), pp.555-565. | Find with Google Scholar »
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Dear all,
Thanks to all who have been attending the seminars by the candidates for the Lectureship in Genetics & Bioinformatics – everyone is welcome to provide feedback to the selection committee. Otherwise a quiet week around the department while a flurry of marking happens!
cheerio
Michelle
Save the Date
This coming week 28th November – 2nd December
Mon Nov 28th – Fri Dec 2nd: HDR writing boot camp; at Pearl Beach.
Tue 29th Nov: R-Users Group – Handle Phylogenetic Trees in R; 3pm – 5pm; E8A-280 (Biology Tea Room).
Wed 30th Nov: Department Morning Tea; 10:30am – 11am; The Hill.
Thu 1st Dec: Special seminar Lectureship in Genetics and Bioinformatics Dr Alyson Ashe 10:30am – 11.30am (Tea room)
Thu 1st Dec: PhD completion seminars – Sarah Jacquet and Marissa Betts; 3-4 pm E8A-280 (Biology Tea Room), followed by drinks.
Fri 2nd: ECR Early Career Development Workshop 2016 (see details in last week’s Dept Matters).
Following week 5th – 9th December
Mon 5th: Special seminar Lectureship in Genetics and Bioinformatics Dr Karl Hassan; 11am – 12pm; E8A-280 (Tea Room).
Mon 5th: MRes Poster Session; 10-11am; E8A-280 (Tea Room).
Wed 6th: Department Morning Tea; 10:30am – 11am; E8A-280 (Tea Room).
Wed 6th: Department Formal Exam Meeting for Semester 2 2016; 11am; E8A-280 (Tea Room). Followed by…
Wed 6th: Department Christmas Party; from 12.30pm Biology courtyard.
Coming up
Dec 9th: Faculty of Science & Engineering Xmas BBQ.
Dec 13-14th: Macquarie Minds showcase; Macquarie University.
2017
Feb 21st: E8A Digital Teaching Lab Induction; 9am – 12:30pm; E8A-120 (Red Lab).
Feb 23rd: E8C Digital Teaching Lab Induction; 9am – 12:00pm; E8C-106.
Feb 24th: F7B Digital Teaching Lab Induction; 9:30am – 11:00am; F7B-108 (and 105).
General News and Announcements
Sad News in Ecology
Very sadly Professor Mike Bull died yesterday of a heart attack while doing his morning exercise walk. Mike has been a pillar of the Ecological Society of Australia, particularly in his role as Editor of Austral Ecology, and is extremely well known for his long term studies of the behavioural and social ecology of Australian lizards. No doubt there will be many fond stories of Mike at the Ecological Society’s meeting next week in Fremantle.
Donate or Volunteer some Christmas Cheer!
Give the gift of giving this holiday season to those in our local community who are isolated, or less well off so they may have a joyous “silly season”. Each year, North Ryde Community Aid (NCRA) co-ordinate “Christmas Cheer” hampers for those in need of some cheer.
You can help by volunteering to pack and deliver the hampers, or by making food and gift donations to the Office of the Vice – Chancellor’s Reception on Level 2 of The Chancellery, 19 Eastern Road (E11A) by Friday 9 December.
See attached poster for more information.
Sustainable Christmas Party Decorating
With sustainability in mind, the department would like to ask all of you to kindly consider donating any extra/unwanted Christmas decorations you may have lying around. They will be used to increase the festive cheer around the department and to help us decorate for the Christmas party.
All donations can be dropped off to me in room E8B 206 (HOD Office). Rosie is there every day so please drop by any time.
Next R Users Meeting and Sydney ResBaz 2017
Next Tuesday, 29.11.2016, will be our last meeting in 2016 and we will celebrate it with a special and highly demanded topic: Handling phylogenetic trees in R!
David Nipperess will introduce us to how phylogenetic trees are coded as text files, how to get them into R, how they are stored in R, and how to do some basic plotting and manipulations. We will use the “ape” package, although he will briefly discuss other packages that people might want to use. He will be speaking from the perspective of someone who uses phylogenetic trees as a data resource, and thus will not be talking about the generation of trees from raw molecular or morphological data.
Also, the Sydney Research Bazaar 2017 (ResBaz) is coming up at the beginning of next year and if you want to volunteer or would like to be an instructor please email to <emily.brennan@mq.edu.au>.
Want to Book a Temperature Controlled Research Space?
The department has a number of temperature controlled rooms that are available for all staff and students to access for research. We have established a new booking system that operates independently of the department vehicle booking system but uses the same platform. See…
https://bio.mq.edu.au/rbs-labs
Choose the link to ‘Controlled temperature room’ bookings on the left and the various rooms available are listed. Please note that this does not include cold rooms.
When booking, please provide details of the temperature and lighting conditions you are using. Booking requests are subject to an approval process so may initially appear as a pending booking.
New users will have to be added to the system database so if you want to book a room but have not been added yet, please let me know <grant.hose@mq.edu.au>.
In time there will be an induction process for using these rooms and booking approval will be dependent on completing an induction.
Education for Sustainability Initiative Luncheon
We warmly invite you and your department to attend the Education for Sustainability Initiative Luncheon.
The luncheon will be an opportunity to gain a better understanding of the EfSi, and to hear from colleagues about their experience of embedding sustainability into the curriculum.
Light refreshments will be provided. To join us, please follow the link below.
Helpful Strategies for Changing Research Direction
This is a fascinating couple of pages from Nature on helpful strategies for changing research direction. While pointing out the flaws in making decisions based on track records and bibliometrics, the authors have some good ideas about individual research planning.
http://www.nature.com/news/let-researchers-try-new-paths-1.20857
Please Be Aware
Tarun Rajan (Vehicle Manager) and Sarah Collison (Terrestrial Fieldwork Manager) have both been on leave from the 17th November onwards. There will be no vehicle inductions till the 12th December 2016. Amanda Sordes <amanda.sordes@mq.edu.au> (or 0479 101 272) will be able to help out only with any accidents or emergencies. We apologise for any inconvenience and appreciate your co-operation.
Boating Officer
Josh Aldridge will provide interim support for boating in the department until a replacement for Andrew Irvine has been appointed. Josh will do boating activity risk assessments and inductions when required. Please contact Josh if you plan any boating activities.
Plant of the Week
This week – Shrimp Plant – popular as a garden plant in North America to attract hummingbirds to urban gardens.
New Student
Anika Immer in in W19F-135, x 1302.
“My research project is:
Ecology of Fear in the Zebra Finch
Fear drives a lot of decision along the whole life. Foraging is the decision made when the risk of starvation is higher than the predation risk. Zebra finches are extremely well studied in captivity and are commonly described as colonial birds. Little is known about zebra finches’ foraging activity in captivity and even less in the wild. In the wild, we see that foraging takes place in a wide range of group size. I am interested in what drives zebra finches’ foraging decisions. Two main factors are thought to be important for a zebra finch to feel safe: 1) the spacial location of a food patch and 2) the number of birds feeding in a same patch. Series of experiments will be done in cages, aviaries and in the wild. I am also interested in what drives and maintains variation among individual organisms in a population. Zebra finches will be individually followed through repeated challenges. This will allow me to test if individual birds use different strategies which are consistent over time and situations. I will also build mathematical models of growth and resource acquisition under predation risk to interpret the data we collect.”
Chemical Safety Inductions
Information on the new procedure for chemical safety inductions can be found on the wiki at:
https://wiki.mq.edu.au/display/healthandsafety/Chemicals
After completing the initial setup outlined on the wiki, new inductees will need to complete both components of the chemical induction, an online and a practical component that consists of a two-way observational record between the inductee and their supervisor.
When both components have been completed the documents should be emailed to ohs@mq.edu.au.
It is the Lab Supervisors responsibility to ensure that new staff and students working in the lab have completed both components of the chemical induction.
Interested Volunteer
Katalina Bobowik is a former Macquarie student interested in volunteering within the Department of Biology.She is mainly interested in human molecular genetics and evolution, however she is open to positions that are not related to these topics and would really like to get involved in the science community. She will be starting her PhD in the beginning of January so would be able to conduct volunteer work anywhere from now until the end of December.
If you there any opportunities available for this, please let her know <katalina.bobowik@gmail.com> and she’d be very keen on learning how to start.
New Publications
Inaccuracies in the history of a well-known introduction: a case study of the Australian House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)
By: Andrew, Samuel C., and Simon C. Griffith. Avian Research 7, no. 1 (2016): 1. | Find with Google Scholar »In the Media
Culum Brown’s interview on the behavioural ecology of fish was replayed on ABC Classic FM
An interview with Associate Professor Culum Brown from the Department of Biological Sciences on the behavioural ecology of fish was replayed on the Midday program on ABC Classic FM.
Rob Harcourt featured in Adelaide’s Sunday Mail
Professor Rob Harcourt from the Department of Biological Sciences featured in Adelaide’s Sunday Mail on shark nets and the rate of shark attacks in South Australia. See page 14 of the report.