BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES DEPARTMENT MATTERS | November 4, 2016

Dear all,

Congratulations to those who were successful in gaining ARC funding – well done! and commiserations to those who missed out. Thanks to those who attended this week’s department meeting – the slides can be found here. We had a useful discussion on HDR support and we can follow up on research support more generally at the retreat.

Any group wanting to organise games or activities for this year’s Christmas Party please let me know!

cheerio

Michelle

Save the Date

This coming week 7th – 11th November

Tue 8th: Biology programs information session for students; 1 – 2pm; E8A-280 (Biology Tea Room).

Wed 9th: Morning Tea with HoD; 10:30am – 11am; E8A-280 (Biology Tea Room).

Wed 9th: Engineering Colloquium; 2pm – 4pm; E6B-149.

Following week 14th – 18th November

Mon-Tues 14-15th: Department Retreat at Mt Victoria.

Wed 16th: Morning Tea with HoD; 10:30am – 11am; The Hill.

Wed 16th: Town Hall on Research Commercialisation, Innovation and Impact; 12pm to 1pm; Macquarie Theatre.

Coming up

Nov 28th – Dec 2nd: HDR writing boot camp at Pearl Beach

Dec 1st: PhD completion seminars – Sarah Jacquet and Marissa Betts, followed by drinks; E8A-280 (Biology Tea Room).

Dec 6th: Department Formal Exam Meeting for Semester 2 2016; 11am; E8A-280 (Tea Room). Followed by…

Dec 6th: Department Christmas Party; from 12.30pm Biology courtyard

Dec 9th: Faculty of Science & Engineering Xmas BBQ

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

and the MELBOURNE CUP WINNERS are:

$5 Sweepstakes

1. ALMANDIN – Laura McMillan

2. HEARTBREAK CITY – Monika King

3. HARTNELL – Jenny Donald

and the Wooden Spoon goes to ROSE OF VIRGINIA – Jenna Clark

$2 Sweepstakes

1. Ray Duell

2. Nathan Hart

3. Grant Hose

Wooden Spoon – Michelle Power

CONGRATULATIONS Winners are Grinners!!!!!!

Admin Office Hours

End of year financial workload is high for the admin staff, so office hours are changing.

Admin Offices Open: Monday, Wednesday and Friday

Admin Offices Closed: Tuesday and Thursday

Offices Affected: Sharyon O’Donnell – E8B203

Laura McMillan and Veronica Peralta’s – E8B206

Hannah Woodrow Clark and Lara Ainley’s – E8B207

Effective Date: Monday 7 November 2016

If your matter is urgent, please see Rosie Neville and/or Jennifer Rowland – E8B206 who will arrange an appointment with the appropriate person.

Alternatively, please pick up the phone & call, to avoid increasing the email load.

We need your co-operation with this, to ensure the admin staff survive this stressful time.

HDR Students & Your Leave

Taking leave as a PhD student?

You must remember to complete the relevant leave form (HDR iLearn Taking leave)

If you don’t you may be at risk of your scholarship ending before you thought it would.

Casual Associate Lecturer (Level A) in Marine Biology

We are presently seeking expressions of interest in a casual Associate Lecturer position to teach BIOL242 Marine Environmental Issues in Semester 1 2017. For more information, including selection criteria, please see attached. EOIs close 5 pm on Friday 18 November and should be forwarded to Melanie Bishop <melanie.bishop@mq.edu.au>.

level-a-position-marine-environmental-issues

Interested in improving the teaching of biology in schools?

The department is working with the Faculty of Human Sciences on the development of professional development courses for biology teachers. This will involve ~200 hours to liaise with partnership schools and the FHS to develop content for these modules. If you or someone you know is interested in this opportunity please contact Michelle (michelle.leishman@mq.edu.au). This could be done in 2016 or early 2017.

Dominic McAfee Speaking @ City of Sydney Library on Oyster Research

Dominic McAfee will be presenting at an “Inspiring Science” evening hosted by the City of Sydney Library at Ultimo Library, Wednesday November 9th. His talk, “Oysters – Ecological Superheros”, will discuss his PhD research and the benefits of oyster restoration.

Free tickets at:
https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/inspiring-science-oysters-ecological-superheroes-tickets-27319023936

Do you want Kath to teach you some iLearn stuff?

What: iLearn workshop
Where: E8C 212
When: 1-2pm on Friday November 11th
RSVP to: Kath <katherine.mcclellan@mq.edu.au> by Monday 7th November – we will provide lunch for those who RSVP!
Bring: Your laptop and questions / problems!
Proposed topics:
(1) How to set up and share quickmarks in Turnitin to provide faster, consistent and comprehensive feedback from markers
(2) How to set up marking rubrics in Turnitin
(3) How to bulk import quiz questions, and have quizzes pull random questions from question banks for weekly quizzes etc…
(4) How do I get started when I know nothing?

Nagoya Protocol

At the MAHC (Managers of Australasian Herbaria Committee) meeting last week in Brisbane, the Nagoya Protocol came up and was discussed.  As you may well know, Australia is a signatory, but has not yet ratified the protocol.

This Protocol will have implications for the University in future.  In short it means that collecting permits and mutual agreements (if applicable) will have to be in place before studies are undertaken where samples of animals, plants and/or microorganisms are to be collected (samples for pure taxonomic purposes are exempt, apparently).  This is of particular importance to studies that may lead to speciality enzymes, genes or molecules that may lead to enhancements in agriculture, drug development etc.  Without proof of permits and mutual agreements, commercial production or registering a patent will not be possible.  There is more information on the attached fact sheet.

nagoya-factsheet

Learning and Teaching – Upcoming Conference in Canberra

Biosciences Education forum “BEAN16” at ANU on 12-13 December 2016 (flyer attached)

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT:Through her Fellowship, Pauline Ross can subsidise registrations and travel this year for delegates who attend and contribute on the afternoon of day 2 on the changing nature of the academic role. Please submit your expression of interest (brief paragraph) about what you can contribute, and how your institution will benefit upon your return – to <biosciencesau@gmail.com> by Monday, 14 November. You will be notified if accepted by Friday, 18 November.

Registration and program information is online at: https://aas.eventsair.com/bean16/home

bean-2016-flyer-special-announcement

Engineering Colloquium: Introducing the Research of our New Academic Staff and Fostering Linkages

9^th November (Wednesday)

Time: 2-4pm

Venue: E6B 149

Please join us for an introduction to eight new academic staff who have recently joined the Engineering Department.

We’re keen to explore common interests across the Faculty and University, and to foster linkages.

The Head of Department will give a brief overview of Engineering’s strategic Research Groups, followed by a series of short (15 minute) talks from the eight new staff:

1. Prof Subhas Mukhopadhyay: “Sensors for Life”
2. Dr Mohsen Asadnia: “Advanced microfabrication for sensing”
3. Dr Nikos Kopidakis: “Science and Engineering of Solution-Processed Photovoltaics”
4. Assoc Prof Jahangir Hossain: “Self-healing Energy-Efficient Power Grids”
5. Dr Wei Xu: “Metal additive manufacturing: changing the future of manufacturing”
6. Dr Agi Kourmatzis: “Turbulent multiphase flows: from fuel sprays to asthma”
7. Dr Ann Lee: “Fluid flow and heat transfer characteristics in 21st century devices and beyond
8. Dr Raheel Hashmi: “Next-Generation Compact Antennas: Quenching the Ever-Thirsty Wireless Systems”

Research Impact Summit

This is a free, online event that delivers 20 speaker sessions over 3 days covering Knowledge Translation, Implementation Science, Collaboration & Engagement, Dissemination, and Research Impact. Previous experiences have been very good.

Unfortunately it falls on our Department Retreat dates!

http://researchimpactsummit.com/

Academic capitalism From Andy Beattie

The business model adopted by Australian and UK universities now has a name, coined in Nature: ‘Academic Capitalism’:

http://www.nature.com/news/corporate-culture-has-no-place-in-academia-1.20724

“Academic capitalism………….subsumes achievement in research and teaching to attainment of economic goals and quantitatively oriented (and shallow) performance assessments and rankings. (Olof Hallonsten, Lund University).

Plant of the Week!

This week – Leptospermum – Tea Tree.

Attention Terrestrial fieldworkers

Sarah (terrestrial fieldwork manager) will be on leave from 18th November until 3rd January so there will be no terrestrial fieldwork inductions at this time. If you or your students expect to need an induction at this time please organise as soon as possible before this date. In her absence approvals will be done by Amanda Sordes via Field Friendly as usual. Please allow at least 5 working days for approvals as Amanda will be responsible for all terrestrial and marine (non-boating) approvals during this busy period.  In cases of accidents or emergencies or to collect or return equipment please see Amanda or Tarun Rajan.

Acting Vehicle Manager

Sarah Collison will be the acting vehicle manager from the 4th October till the 31st October 2016 as Tarun will be away on a course. Sarah will be able to provide vehicle inductions, but may not be able to conduct one on short notice. Please endeavour to provide her with sufficient notice to schedule any inductions.

Sorry about the inconvenience and we 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.

WHS Minutes (Department and Faculty) for October 2016

fse-whs-minutes-20-october-2016

biology-whs-committee-minutes-11th-october-2016

Turtle Research!

Anyone interested in turtle research see attached flyer for event at Field of Mars 19th November at 3pm.

tt_flyer_print_bleed

Sydney Chapter for Society for Conservation Biology: Upcoming Events:
Saturday 12th November 10am Conservation Cafe: Dr Rachael Gallagher

Conservation Café is a monthly event open to anyone! Hosted by the Sydney Society for Conservation Biology, the event aims to celebrate the incredible work being done by conservation professionals in an informal setting.

Dr Rachael Gallagher is a plant ecologist who studies resilience of vegetation to rapid environmental change. In particular, she is interested in how global climate change might increase the risk of extinction in our plants and how the composition of plant communities is likely to change in coming decades. In this talk, Dr Gallagher will share her research into lianas (woody vines) and how they are becoming more dominant in the tropical forests of the world. Is it elevated carbon dioxide, or greater forest disturbance which is driving an increase in lianas globally? And why does it matter if forest trees become increasingly ‘crowded out’ by their climbing cousins? Dr Gallagher will show how we can use basic data on the distribution of climbing plants to answer these important questions in conservation.

This is a FREE event, but please RSVP on EventBrite (https://conservationcafenovember16.eventbrite.com.au)

Complimentary tea, coffee and snacks provided by Sydney-SCB with re-usable cups available for purchase towards our conservation projects.

Saturday 19th November 1pm Creative Conservation: Knit for Wildlife

The Sydney Society for Conservation Biology run an exciting workshop series called “Creative Conservation”.
This November we will KNIT FOR WILDLIFE!
Join us for a knitting workshop to create wool pouches for orphaned marsupials in the care of WIRES for the busy summer season ahead. NO EXPERIENCE NEEDED!

This FREE WORKSHOP is open to all comers, experienced and novice knitters alike – there will be experienced volunteers available to teach newbies how to knit, and wildlife pouches are a great way to learn basic knitting skills. We will also sew cotton linings for the knitted pouches, so you can even acquire some new sewing skills as well.
MATERIALS ARE PROVIDED, but feel free to bring your own knitting needles (4mm), any leftover wool you’ve got lying around at home (100% wool), or some old cotton t-shirts (100% cotton) that need a new purpose.
WIRES will come along to tell us a bit about their marsupial rescue adventures and what role our pouches play in the survival of orphaned marsupials. Cute pictures guaranteed 🙂

For more information and to RSVP please go to our EventBrite (https://sscbpouchknitting.eventbrite.com.au)

Tea, coffee and snacks will be provided.

Accommodation for Visitor Needed

Amy Martin is a PhD student from the University of Auckland studying sexually deceptive orchids. She is visiting MQ from the 30th of November until the 1st of February and needs accommodation near MQ for all or part of this. If anyone has a spare room and is willing to host her we would be eternally grateful. She will have a car and is happy to house sit pets if necessary!

If you can help out please contact James O’Hanlon at <james.ohanlon@mq.edu.au> or on 0422460098.

New Publications

In the Media

Recent Completions