Temporal variations of fish assemblage in the surf zone of the Nakdong River Estuary, southeastern Korea
Park, J. M., S.-H. Huh, and G. W. Baeck. 2015. Temporal variations of fish assemblage in the surf zone of the Nakdong River Estuary, southeastern Korea. Animal Cells and Systems 19:350-358. | Find with Google Scholar »
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Dear all,
Well the new MQ website is here and you will notice that if you look for the biological sciences homepage via the new website, you will find only a stripped down and not very interesting site. Don’t worry! The old site is still available at www.bio.mq.edu.au and we will work with the MQ web people to make sure we don’t lose all our personality and functionality. The staff and student parts of the MQ website are still under development also.
There have been emails sent out this week about care and responsibility of department vehicles (cars and boats). If you or your students use these facilities, please ensure that they are returned clean, with a full tank of fuel and the logbook completed. If you found any problems, report them straight away. Sorry to use a big stick approach, but if the vehicle isn’t returned clean or if any equipment is damaged, the cost will be passed on to you.
Reminder – HDR Supervisor workshop next Monday 1pm in the tearoom. Mariella is leading discussions on responding to examiners’ comments, Glenn on ‘what constitutes a PhD thesis’
We’ve had a busy few weeks with the budget process – next week all academic staff will be invited to a meeting to discuss the outcomes for 2016.
Sharyon is away for the next 2 weeks, enjoying a well deserved break so please be especially nice to our admin people in her absence!
cheerio
Michelle
General News and Announcements
The Great Biology Bakeoff Fundraiser for Syrian Refugees
Bake your little socks off to support Syrian refugees (all proceeds go to UNHCR)
November 5th @ 10:30 in the Biology Tearoom E8A280
Bring money & baked goods!
See the flyer here.
Using Active Learning Spaces in the FSE
What is ‘active learning’ in a science and engineering context? How this is used in the Faculty of Science and Engineering today?
The Learning and Teaching Strategic Framework emphasises the use of ‘active learning’ techniques in all levels of teaching within the university… but what exactly is it and and how can you apply these engagement-building techniques in your teaching?
During this informal FSE-only session we will look at some interesting and innovative examples of active learning that are happening within our own faculty – from fun and engaging single lesson activities, through to remarkable whole-unit transformations. This is a great way to see what is happening in the faculty now, and to collect some ideas on how to build new active learning activities into your teaching.The session will run as a series of short presentations with time for discussion between.
Time: Wednesday October 14, 10am – 12pm (morning tea will be provided)
Place: E6A 116
If possible please RSVP to james.downes@mq.edu.au by Monday Oct 12 for catering purposes.
Attention microbiologists and micropalaeontologists – opportunities for you or your HDR students on IODP mission
We have received a call for applications for scientific participation for the JOIDES Resolution Mariana Convergent Margin Expedition (366). The expedition will be two months long, in the period 30 November 2016 to end of January 2017. Opportunities exist for researchers (including graduate students) in all specialties – including but not limited to sedimentologists, structural geologists, paleontologists, biostratigraphers, petrologists, paleomagnetists, petrophysicists, borehole geophysicists, microbiologists, and inorganic/organic geochemists.
The expedition schedule (http://iodp.tamu.edu/scienceops/expeditions/mariana_convergent_margin.html) includes links to the original IODP proposal and expedition planning information, including a map showing the proposed sites.
For ANZIC scientists all travel costs should be covered. In addition the ANZIC IODP Office may provide up to $A40,000 for post-cruise activities (mainly analytical costs) for Australian and New Zealand university and research institution scientists and post-graduate students, if funding cannot be obtained in any other way. Applications for such funding can only be made after expeditions are completed and samples are in hand.
The deadline for scientists to submit applications to ANZIC is Thursday, 15 October. We are calling for applications so early to allow people to consider their long term plans. We know that students will have trouble with the long lead time, but keeping this call open until mid October will help somewhat. There will be further calls later in the year. This is an excellent opportunity for scientists, doctoral students or post docs to collaborate with an international team of scientists.
Australians should visit www.iodp.org.au for a link to the application form, a completed version of which should be sent to Neville Exon (Neville.Exon@anu.edu.au) and Rob McKay (robert.mckay@vuw.ac.nz). New Zealanders should contact Giuseppe Cortese (NZODP@gns.cri.nz).
PhD Positions to Study Insects Across the World
There are seven positions available:
1) Two PhD projects: Sexual conflict & DNA methylation in SocialInsects, Melbourne
2) Post-doctoral Research Assistant, Viral transmission among bees, Royal Holloway
3) Post-doctoral Research Assistant, disease transmission among pollinators, Exeter
4) PhD fellowships at the University of Lausanne (Switzerland)
5) Graduate studentships, social behaviour of bees, Utah State
6) PhD Graduate Student Assistantship, mimetic color variation in honeybees, Penn State
See here for more detailed information on these opportunities.
Plant of the Week: Blue Flax-lily – Dianella caerulea
Sea Life Trust Student Award Night
Come along and join us on a very special Awards evening at the Sydney Aquarium with thanks to the Sea Life Trust for their support of AMSA.
This Award supports conservation-based research in marine ecosystems by an outstanding postgraduate student and has the objective of enabling positive change to help protect aquatic environments and wild species.
The evening will start with an invided plenary talk by Professor Rob Harcourt, who will be telling us about his research on marine predators.
Next up, last year’s winner of the Sea Life Trust Award, Suzy Evans, will be sharing her research on the conservation of precious and endangered seagrass meadows in NSW.
Finally, 2015 winner of the Sea Life Trust Award, Natasha Hardy, will tell us about her current research on the feeding ecology of Australian fur seals and how she has planned to use the funds of the award.
Tuesday, 27 October 2015 from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM (AEDT)
SEA LIFE Sydney Aquarium
1-5 Wheat Road
Sydney, NSW 2000
Australia
Big History Anthropocene Conference: A Transdisciplinary Exploration in Sydney, Australia
The human race has had such a profound impact on the climate and environment of the Earth that some have proposed we have entered a new geological era – the Anthropocene. Explore Big Issues with Global Impact. Examine critical challenges facing humanity from different disciplinary perspectives. Sessions include:
- Defining the Anthropocene
- Ecosystems, Boundaries, and Species
- Economics for the Anthropocene
- Law and Governance for the Anthropocene
- Reflections on Paris COP21
- Climate Change, Health, and Population
- Humanity’s Long Term Prospects
Ask International Experts the Big Questions. Each session brings together speakers from different disciplinary backgrounds, and culminates in a Q&A panel discussion. Speakers include:
- Will Steffen – Australian National University, Climate Change
- Sylvester James Gates Jr. – University of Maryland, Physicist and US President’s Council of Advisors on Science & Technology
- Jan Zalasiewicz – University of Leicester, Paleobiologist
- Klaus Bosselmann – University of Auckland, Environmental Law
- David Christian – Macquarie University, Historian
- David Grinspoon – Senior Scientist at the Planetary Science Institute
- Peter Brown – McGill University, Environmental Economist
- David Karoly – University Melbourne, Atmospheric Scientist
- Jon Erickson – University of Vermont, Ecological Economist
Join some of the finest Australian and international academics from a diverse range of disciplines in the natural and social sciences to discuss how we shape the future of our world.
| When | Wednesday 9 December – Friday 11 December 9am – 6pm |
| Where | Macquarie Theatre, Building W2.4A Macquarie University |
| More Information | here |
| RSVP | by Monday 30 November 2015 |
Free Cycle Nook
The Biology Tearoom hosts our own little library and free cycle spot.
Get in quick to snaffle the good stuff.
Current highlights:
- A funky set of computer/ipod speakers for your work or home office.
- Various travel guides – Australia (including Tasmania) and India
- The complete guide to sea fishing (volume VII) circa 1956
- Cloudstreet by Tim Winton
- Loser Palooza graphic novel
- And many more gems – you never know what you might find
Please don’t used the nook, for broken or dirty items, or clothes.
And if anyone knows the purpose of the curved, felt-covered, board-thing please put a note on it, or take it away.
Questions That Matter
This Week’s Lunchtime Seminar
If you would like to speak with Justin before or after his talk please contact Jessica Wilks <jessica.wilks@students.mq.edu.au>
| When | 1Pm Wednesday October 21st |
| Where | Biology tea room E8A 280 |
| Speaker | Justin Seymour |
| Title | Marine microbial ecology: From drops of seawater to ocean basins |
| Abstract | Microorganisms form the foundation of the marine food-web and are the engine-room for the ocean’s major biogeochemical cycles. Consequently, the composition and function of these microbial communities strongly influence the productivity of fisheries and governs the ocean to atmosphere exchange of climatically important gases. The ecological and biogeographical dynamics of these important marine microbial populations are controlled by diverse biotic and abiotic process operating over a continuum of spatiotemporal scales. Our work has shown that large-scale oceanographic features including currents, eddies and up-welling events determine the composition and functional capacity of microbial assemblages across regional scales. At these large-scales, recurring biogeographic trends in community-level characteristics are linked to specific physical and biological characteristics of the environment. However, from the perspective of an individual microbe, large-scale environmental gradients and seasonal cycles are inconsequential. The world of a microbial cell is defined within a fraction a single drop of seawater, over time-frames of seconds to hours. Surprisingly, at this microbial scale physical and chemical gradients are often more pronounced than over regional scales. This results in a markedly patchy microbial seascape, which with the aid of microfluidic-based experimental platforms, we have been able to demonstrate is efficiently exploited by foraging microbes. Within this microscale world, marine microbes use foraging behaviours that sometimes mirror those of macroorganisms, and ultimately influence marine chemical cycling processes. I argue that processes occurring at this microscale represent true microbial ecology, while the study of microbial patterns over larger oceanographic scales represents microbial biogeography, rather than ecology. A comprehension of how the composition and functional capacity of important marine microbial assemblages are affected by and affect biotic and physicochemial features of the environment at both the ocean-scale and the microscale is fundamentally important for understanding the function of the ocean, both now and in a climate change influenced future. |
| Meeting the Speaker |
If you would like to speak with Justin before or after his talk please contact Jessica Wilks <jessica.wilks@students.mq.edu.au> |
Special Seminar
Professor Lin Chen of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (more info here) is delivering a talk at Macquarie University in the coming week, entitled: Defining the primitives of visual cognition: the global-first topological definition of perceptual objects, 3:30, Thursday 22 October, Australian Hearing Hub, Level 3 meeting room.
Ken Cheng is arranging Professor Chen’s visit. Please let Ken <ken.cheng@mq.edu.au> know if you are interested in chatting.
Logo Contest for BIOL122 (with prize!)
If you’d like to participate there’s more info here.
Exam Timetable Now Available
Final exam timetables have been released so S2 conveners can check when the exam for their unit has been scheduled here.
New Publications
Chemical fingerprints reveal clues to identity, heterozygosity, and relatedness
Waldron, L. S., and M. R. Gillings. 2015. Screening Foodstuffs for Class 1 Integrons and Gene Cassettes. Jove-Journal of Visualized Experiments. | Find with Google Scholar »Social Learning: Parents May Not Always Know Best
Griffith, S. C., and C. Brown. 2015. Social Learning: Parents May Not Always Know Best. Current Biology 25:R802-R804. | Find with Google Scholar »Tracking the fidelity of Atlantic bluefin tuna released in Canadian waters to the Gulf of Mexico spawning grounds
Wilson S, Jonsen ID, Schallert RJ, Ganong JE, Castleton MR, Spares AD, Boustany AM, Stokesbury MJW, Block BA (2015) Tracking the fidelity of Atlantic bluefin tuna released in Canadian waters to the Gulf of Mexico spawning grounds. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences doi:10.1139/cjfas-2015-0110 | Find with Google Scholar »In the Media
Robert Harcourt made the Daily Telegraph for the Shark Summit
John Alroy was featured in Scientific American regarding his research showing hundreds of species of frogs have been lost over three decades due to factors such as pollution and habitat destruction.
Read more »
Rob Harcourt was featured on the Australian Government’s Australian Antarctic Division webpage with a continuing story of seal tags
Read more »
Recent Completions
PhD – Paolo Momigliano: The Influence of Habitat and Local Selection on Patterns of Genetic Variation in Reef Sharks: implications for conservation
Supervised by Adam Stow
MPhil – Jessica Evans: Environmental Influences and Early Life Experiences on Immune Function something of the Zebra Finch (Taeniopygia guttata)
Supervised by Simon Griffith