Salvage of floral resources through re‑absorption before flower abscission
By: Pyke, Graham, Zong-Xin Ren, Judith Trunschke, Klaus Lunau, and Hong Wang. Nature Scientific Reports (2020) 10:15960 | Find with Google Scholar »
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Message from the HoD
Dear all,
Work on the new curriculum has begun in earnest with Program Directors busy formulating the revised structure of the retained Courses. We will be sharing more information about this with the Department soon. Once the structure of each Course/Major has been locked-in we will begin to coordinate the design and delivery of the remaining Units. We are working to some very short deadlines and will need to react quickly. This will inevitably mean multiple requests for information and assistance from the academic and professional staff over the coming weeks and months, and for this I am sorry. If anyone is feeling overwhelmed with work, especially staff that are teaching in S2 or have other unavoidable commitments, please reach out to me and we will look to assist where we can.
Cheers – Nathan
Save the Date
This Week
Tues 6th Oct: Department Meeting, 1pm – 2pm (see calendar invite from HoD for Zoom link)
September/October: Pride in Diversity online learning series, 12:30pm -2:00pm (more details below)
Future Events
October 14-15: MRes Y2 Seminars (from 10am on Zoom). Full schedule and link to follow soon.
Wed 9th December, 9am-5pm: SAVE THE DATE for the Biological Sciences Research Retreat; venue and further details to come soon.
Weekly Events
Tues 6th Oct: Department of Molecular Sciences seminar; see details below.
Wed: Department Seminars ARE BACK via Zoom
Wed: Shut Up and Write sessions – now online!
General News and Announcements
Department Vehicles – New contact
Josh Griffiths has now taken over managing all department vehicles from Tarun. Any vehicle related inquiries, induction requests, or key safe access please contact Josh via josh.griffiths@mq.edu.au, or 9850 7484.
Have you Signed up for Biketober 2020?
When: 1 – 31 October
Biketober Business Challenge is a fun, free cycling challenge to encourage your workplace and colleagues to experience the joys and benefits of riding a bike. It is open to everyone who lives or works in NSW. Simply ride a bike for as little as 10 minutes or more during October. There are lots of prizes on offer to motivate everyone to get involved. Find out more and register: https://www.lovetoride.net/nsw?locale=en-GB
ARC Discovery, Linkage and Future Fellowship pitching sessions Mon 12 Oct
The Faculty Research Office has organise ARC pitching sessions (see below) to help FSE applicants prepare for, and fine-tune, their next ARC proposal. A pitch is a very short presentation – see suggested Grant Pitch Template 2020.
The currently scheduled face-to-face sessions are:
ARC Pitching Session #1 – Biology, EES and Chiro – Monday 12th October 2020, 9am – 12pm
ARC Pitching Session #2 – Applied BioSciences and Molecular Sciences – Monday 12th October 2020, 2pm – 4.30pm
The venue for all of these will be: Briefing Room 149, 7 Wally’s Walk.
Please contact our Dept Director of Research andrew.barron@mq.edu.au to book in to pitch (regardless of which session you wish to attend), or note if you would like to hear the pitches and perhaps offer some feedback. There to hear your pitches and offer advice will be FSE Associate Dean of Research, Professor David Coutts, Faculty Research Manager Irina Zakoshanski, some current and previous ARC college members and a selection of Departmental Directors of Research.
Should you not be able to attend an on campus session and would prefer to use Zoom, please contact sci.research@mq.edu.au ASAP and let them know so that they can schedule a Zoom session.
HDR Domestic Applications (scholarship) close 31st October 2020
Supervisors, please be reminded that new Domestic candidature and SCHOLARSHIP applications (PhD, MRes year 2 direct entry) are due 31st October 2020 by 11 pm, for programs starting 2021.
Please contact culum.brown@mq.edu.au if you have potential students, to make a preliminary assessment of their eligibility.
Program info and the submission link are on the HDR How to Apply webpage.
Program info and the submission link are on the HDR How to Apply webpage.
Permanent closure of the on-campus cashier’s office
Following consultation with staff and key stakeholders (including the Executive Director, Student & Registrar and others) the University will be permanently closing the physical Cashier’s Office (located MUSE @ Level 2, 18 Wally’s Walk) effective Friday 30 October 2020.
Please refer to the admin team for advice – fse.bio-adm@mq.edu.au
Purchasing: OneHelp approval required for anything IT-related
This covers: computers (and notebooks, laptops, phones), cameras, hard drives, software, services (including subscriptions), and all computer peripherals (keyboard, mouse, dock, webcam, headset, etc.).
1x. If unsure, just submit a OneHelp ticket with a description/links/attachments of what you want to buy; FSE IT can give you a quote.
1a. If ordering from a preferred supplier, submit a OneHelp ticket and FSE IT will help you.
1b. If ordering from outside standard options/suppliers (including custom computers or services), then you will need to submit a OneHelp ticket for CIO approval – this is a fast process.
2a. [Admin purchase – hardware] When you receive approval, forward emails with OneHelp approval + any quotes to fse.bio-adm@mq.edu.au, and admin can assist with making the purchase.
2b. [Credit card purchase – some software and services] IF you are able to buy the product (e.g. software licence) on a corporate credit card, then you will need to attach a copy of the OneHelp approval to your card reconciliation.
3. If you are given a purchase order number from admin for a computer/IT hardware, attach this number to the OneHelp ticket; this allows FSE IT to match-up your ticket with the item when it is delivered.
New purchasing system and raising orders for items >$5k
As we prepare for the transition to Purchase to Pay there is a need to ensure purchase orders for items >$5k are raised before orders are placed or invoices issued by suppliers/vendors.
This applies to all purchases regardless of funding source and in the future, all vendors transacting with the university be asked to quote a PO on invoices they submit to MQ for payment. It is also an ongoing audit issue that is being monitored by the University’s Audit Committee.
Pride in Diversity online learning series, October – limited places!
Trans Pride in a Pandemic
This is a four-part online forum series with two remaining dates for trans and gender diverse people and allies, developed in partnership by ACON and Trans Pride Australia with funding support by the City of Sydney. Every forum is free and all speakers are paid. Register for one, some, or all forums.
Forums will take place on Thursdays 6-7pm:
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Femme Queen, Faafafine, Bakla :: Decolonising the T with Bhenji Ra – 8 October
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Gender Euphoria :: A New Narrative – 29 October
Be COVID Safe – clean meeting rooms after use
Please be reminded to clean meeting rooms, such as the Tearooms after use. This includes wiping down surfaces and used equipment like computers and keyboard.
Please do your part to look after the health of the University.
Plant of the Week
Foxtail Agave – Agave attenuata
The Foxtail Agave is so common in gardens round Sydney that it comes as quite a surprise to find that it isn’t common, and even possibly quite rare, in its natural habitat on the Central Mexican Platea. Many species of Agave are bat pollinated, the Foxtail Agave is an exception.
Some relatives of the Foxtail Agave are of significant economic importance, including Sisal production (Agave sisalana), and Tequila (Agave tequilana).
OPPORTUNITIES
MURI 1MT competition
6th October 6pm – Macquarie University’s Undergraduate Research Internship (MURI) One-Minute Thesis (1MT) Competition.
MURI offers undergraduate students a paid research and collaborative opportunity with Macquarie University academics. This highly sought-after research program also facilitates the 1-Minute Thesis (1MT) Competition, inspired by the international 3MT Competition, an Australian initiative that became an international phenomenon in Academia.
Registration is essential for online or on-campus attendance: https://forms.gle/5KwdoQ5XHei1SKxn9
COVID-19 restrictions cap our capacity to 50 in-person attendees, but a Zoom Link will be emailed to those unable to attend.
Recruiting Mentors for the BioTech Future Challenge
The BIOTech Futures team are seeking academics to mentor high school students under the BIOTech Futures Challenge 2020, a large outreach event hosted by the Australian Research Council (ARC) Training Centre for Innovative BioEngineering (Director: Prof Hala Zreiqat), in conjunction with our many partner institutes and centres.
This is a fantastic opportunity for academics, postdocs and research students (all can be mentors) to work together with high school students and inspire the next generation of young scientists. As an academic mentor, you will be guiding one to several teams of high school students on an innovative project in science, engineering, medicine, etc. that is related to your research area. The teams will conduct their research and design for the project, and present their ideas and findings in a short presentation at our end-of-year symposium.
Please find some additional information regarding the event below. For more detailed information about our expectations for mentor commitment, please see the attached “Final Statement of commitment” document. More information can be found on the website https://biotechfutures.org/ or contact biotech.futures@sydney.edu.au.
Please register as a mentor through our Google form. Mentors have the choice of submitting possible projects or to work with students who develop their own project. https://forms.gle/q5wRkHzeCca8gn7p9
Working With Children Check (WWCC). This is not required for registration – we will ask you to update when we’re allocating projects. You can apply or renew at https://www.kidsguardian.nsw.gov.au/child-safe-organisations/working-with-children-check (free for volunteers).
SEMINARS AND WORKSHOPS
Molecular Sciences Seminar
Date/Time: Tuesday, 6th October; 11am – 12pm.
Speaker: Dr Eden Tanner
Title: Ionic Solvents for Biomedical Applications
Venue: via Zoom
Mock Interviews
Mock Interviews: Interviewing for jobs can be challenging. Over the last few years, we have been offering mock-interviews for Students, Postdocs and Casual staff who have been shortlisted for one. If you are shortlisted for an interview and would like to do a mock before the real deal, please email Ajay [ajay.narendra@mq.edu.au] with relevant information [job description, application, mode of the interview – online or in person]. We will put together a relevant panel to help you prepare for your interview.
Online Statistics Workshops
Insight Research Services Associated is proud to be presenting three workshops online in October/November 2020. 2020.11 Insight Online
* October 24/25: A Gentle Introduction to Statistics in SPSS and R
* October 28/29: Introduction to Linear and Logistic Regression
* November 4/5: Introduction to Longitudinal Data Analysis
These workshops are aimed at non-statisticians as well as statisticians new to these fields. Please read the attached flyer for more information, or visit our website at <https://insightrsa.com/workshops/upcoming>. For questions please contact Mark Griffin at m.griffin@insightrsa.com or by phone on 0448 176 926.
To keep up to date with the training programs being delivered by Insight please consider joining our email list at <https://insightrsa.com/connect-with-us>.
Ally Network Training
After a long time with no Ally training, we are happy to announce that two online sessions have been scheduled on the following dates and are open to all staff and students. Registrations are essential as spots are limited:
• Wednesday 7th October – 2pm to 3.30pm
Registration link: https://events.humanitix.com/macquarie-ally-training
The online training session will be delivered by our new Pride in Diversity relationship manager Brett Atkinson. The session will be followed by information on specific resources and support available at Macquarie University. Izzy de Allende (workplacediversityinclusion@mq.edu.au) will be in touch with everyone that completes the online module.
Venture Café – will be convening their community online, via Zoom, and offering the #ThursdayGathering programming in a Virtual format.
For more information visit: https://venturecafesydney.org/whats-on-this-week
HDR NEWS AND OPPORTUNITIES
Graham Pyke is looking for students, volunteers and colleagues to join his research on floral nectar.
Prof Pyke has published this year a series of five articles with floral nectar as a theme, including two that have resulted from his ongoing research in Oz and three that have arisen from his 9-week research trip to China in 2019, one of which was published online just a few days ago (see Publications at the end of this newsletter, and Pyke_et_al-2020-Scientific_Reports).
If you are interested in being involved in this research, please contact Graham at Graham.Pyke@mq.edu.au or 0408 474 021. Field work is planned for first half of Dec 2020 and last half of Jan 2021 (subject to covid-related constraints)
CSIRO Postgraduate scholarships
CSIRO PhD Top-up Scholarships are worth AUD 7,000 per year, plus an operating budget of up to AUD 10,000 per year. Projects offered:
Health and Biosecurity
– Self-limiting genetic control of invasive vertebrate pests (zebrafish)
Agriculture and Food
– Various, including sustainable production and genome “bioprediction”
Land and Water
– Fire, termites and tree hollows: is there a trade-off between habitat condition and carbon storage in tropical savannas? (based in Darwin)
– Spaceborne LiDAR as a vegetation biomass scaling tool
– River flows and aquatic predator ecology in tropical river-floodplains of northern Australia
Oceans and Atmosphere
– Coral characteristics and processes for modelling and restoration
– Image capture and deep-learning applications to fisheries research
Applicants must already have University PhD admission and a stipend, and an university supervisor who is willing and able to supervise. Applicants who already commenced their PhD studies must be less than 12 months into their PhD as of 1 January 2021. Recipients should generally be Australian citizens or permanent residents; tnternational applicants must have the appropriate immigration approvals to allow them to take up the scholarship.
Applications close 31st October 2020; see: https://www.csiro.au/en/Careers/Studentships/Postgraduate-scholarships
Attention all Unit Convenors
Now is the time to mention the Master of Research program to your students. Students at all levels will benefit from knowing about post-bachelor options, and many of our best MRes students have started out volunteering with research groups very early in their bachelor degree program.
We encourage all unit convenors to carve out 2-3 minutes to talk about:
– We are a very research active department.
– We encourage students to volunteer and participate.
– The cool things that you are doing in your research!
– For a 2021 S1 start applications are due at the end of October.
Attached here: – 2021 MRes-Recruitment is some AV which you may find useful. Any student with questions about the Biology MRes program are encouraged to contact the BPhil/MRes Yr. 1 advisor: Matthew Kosnik <Matthew.Kosnik@mq.edu.au>.
THIS AND THAT
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
Call out for Social Media Content
We are looking to feature a different student each week on the Biology Social Media accounts. If you would like to share your research or fieldwork with the public, please send photos and a short blurb about your work to Jenny Ghabache: <jenny.ghabache@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>
Have You Missed Out on an Issue of Department Matters? Back issues can be found at this newsletter archive link for your reading pleasure.
New Publications
Operational Protocols for the Use of Drones in Marine Animal Research
By: Raoult, Vincent, Andrew P. Colefax, Blake M. Allan, Daniele Cagnazzi, Nataly Castelblanco-Martínez, Daniel Ierodiaconou, David W. Johnston, Sarah Landeo-Yauri, Mitchell Lyons, Vanessa Pirotta et al. Drones 4, no. 4 (2020): 64. | Find with Google Scholar »An update on the indigenous vascular flora of sub-Antarctic Marion Island: taxonomic changes, sequences for DNA barcode loci, and genome size data
By: Chau, John H., Nasipi IS Mtsi, Zuzana Münbergová, Michelle Greve, Peter C. le Roux, Mario Mairal, Johannes J. Le Roux, Rosemary A. Dorrington, and Bettine Jansen van Vuuren. Polar Biology (2020): 1-12. | Find with Google Scholar »The Sawshark Redemption: Current knowledge and future directions for sawsharks (Pristiophoridae)
By: Nevatte, Ryan J., and Jane E. Williamson. Fish and Fisheries. | Find with Google Scholar »A new dataset on plant occurrences on small islands, including species abundances and functional traits across different spatial scales
By: Schrader, Julian, Soetjipto Moeljono, Junus Tambing, Cornelia Sattler, and Holger Kreft. Biodiversity Data Journal 8 (2020). | Find with Google Scholar »Global root traits (GRooT) database
By: Guerrero-Ramirez, Nathaly, Liesje Mommer, Grégoire T. Freschet, Colleen M. Iversen, M. Luke McCormack, Jens Kattge, Hendrik Poorter et al. bioRxiv (2020). | Find with Google Scholar »Pest control by the public: Impact of hand-collecting on the abundance and demography of cane toads (Rhinella marina) at their southern invasion front in Australia
By: Greenlees, Matthew, Gregory P. Brown, and Richard Shine. Global Ecology and Conservation (2020): e01120. | Find with Google Scholar »Using stable isotope analysis to answer fundamental questions in invasion ecology: Progress and prospects
By: McCue, Marshall D., Marion Javal, Susana Clusella‐Trullas, Johannes J. Le Roux, Michelle C. Jackson, Allan G. Ellis, David M. Richardson, Alex J. Valentine, and John S. Terblanche. Methods in Ecology and Evolution 11, no. 2 (2020): 196-214. | Find with Google Scholar »In the Media
David Mabberley was interviewed by Robyn Williams on the Science Show, ABC Radio National, last Saturday, 26th September, 2020, talking about the work and art of Ferdinand Bauer.
Read more »
Professor Robert Harcourt provided comment to Nine News regarding dolphins spotted hunting salmon off Maroubra beach due to a shift in ocean temperatures.
Read more »
Dr Alessandro Ossola was interviewed on ABC Radio Sydney Focus about the Global Urban Tree Inventory and the role that the urban areas and horticulture can have for plant species conservation and biosafety.
Read more »
Dr Vanessa Pirotta was interviewed on ABC Radio Sydney Drive about sea snakes.
Read more »
Dr Vanessa Pirotta provided comment to the Hobart Mercury regarding the mass pilot whale beaching in Tasmania.
Read more »
Dr Vanessa Pirotta provided comment to ABC News regarding a beached whale on Western Cape York.
Read more »
Dr Vanessa Pirotta was interviewed on ABC Radio Canberra Breakfast regarding a humpback whale found in the East Alligator River in the Northern Territory.
Read more »
Dr Alessandro Ossola has been interviewed by Cosmos Magazine about the Global Urban Tree Inventory and the role that the world’s cities can have for plant species conservation.
Read more »