DNA as a pollutant – The clinical class 1 integron
By: Gillings, Michael R. Current Pollution Reports 4.1 (2018): 49-55. | Find with Google Scholar »
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Hi all,
It’s been a huge week with all the Fauna Park people moving into the new building on Thursday. A huge thank you to Marita and Josh for all their hard work to get it all sorted! Next week we will have the first Department morning tea in the new building – come along and check it out, with cakes of course.
Here are Bishwo Mainali, Jess Inskeep and Maurizio Benelli having the first coffee in the new Bioscience building.
cheers,
Michelle
Save the Date
This coming week 29th – 2nd November
Mon Oct 23rd – Nov 1st: Staff Wellbeing Week (2nd half!); MQ Campus events; registrations open now!
Tue 30th: Faculty of Science & Engineering Town Hall meeting (Research Pipeline and an update on Curriculum Architecture); 1-2pm; W2.4A Macquarie Theatre – 21 Wally’s Walk
Wed 31st: Department Morning Tea; 10.30am; Biosciences building – Fauna Park
Wed 31st: Department Seminar; 1.00pm – 2.00pm; 14EAR (E8A) 280 Biology Tea Room.
Wed 31st: Mental Health Seminar – Toolkit for leaders and staff, Dr Ben Wilkes; 1pm – 2pm; Room A, Level 3, MUSE 18 Wally’s Walk.
Thu 1st: Biology Social Club Drinks; 5.00pm – 7.00pm; Biology Courtyard.
Following week 5th November – 9th November
Mon 5th: Supplementary HDR Conference; 9am – 1pm; 14EAR (E8A) 280 Biology Tea Room. Interviews: 2pm – 5pm.
Tue 6th: One Health Antibiotic Resistance Science Fair; 12pm – 2pm; Biology Courtyard – register for the light lunch here.
Tue 6th: Monthly Department Meeting; 1pm – 2pm; 14EAR (E8A) 280 Biology Tea Room.
Wed 7th: Department Morning Tea; 10.30am; Biosciences building – Fauna Park
Wed 7th: Volunteers Thank You Lunch; 12pm – 1pm; Biology Courtyard – register here.
Wed 7th: Department Seminar; 1.00pm – 2.00pm; 14EAR (E8A) 280 Biology Tea Room.
Future Events
Dec 4th: Exam Meeting followed by Dept EOY party – more details soon.
Dec 10-11th: Department Retreat for academic staff; MQ city campus.
Want to know what Department seminars are coming up? You can check out the Dept webpage at any time!
General News and Announcements
New Bioscience Building, 205b Culloden Rd is now open and Morning Tea Wednesday, 31st Oct 2018 – 10.30am – Our staff and students starting moving in on Thursday this week and Jenny was up there taking photos of the new space. To celebrate (with cakes), we will be holding our first morning tea in the Biosciences building on Wednesday, 31st October 2018 at 10.30am. Click on the thumbnails to enlarge the images.
Biology Bake Off – Check out the excellent baking of our talented Biology staff and MRes students at this week’s morning tea. We raised $110.00 for Mental Health Awareness Month going to Beyond Blue. Thank you to everyone that participated by baking and by donating. Click on the thumbnails to enlarge the images and pick out your favourite treat.
Faculty of Science & Engineering Excellence Awards close on 2 November
The Faculty’s Excellence awards for Research, Teaching and Services (Technical and Professional) close next Friday. If you would like to nominate someone (or be nominated!), you will find all the information you need here.
One Health Antibiotic Resistance Science Fair Tuesday 6 November – Register for the lunch! Come along to the BIOL364 Symbiosis in Health and Disease and participate in activities developed by the students to showcase the issue of antibiotic resistance. The students have some great ideas, so it would be awesome to see strong participation from the Department. A light lunch will be provided. Register now here – http://events.mq.edu.au/antibiotic-resistance-2018
Online Survey: How do you feel about insects and spiders in your house and garden? – With summer just around the corner you may start noticing more insects and spiders around your house and garden. Everybody feels differently about these creepy crawly house guests; they may not bother you or you might hate the sight of them! By taking part in their survey, you will help them develop guidelines for people to effectively and safely manage insects and spiders around their homes. You will also have the chance to win one of five $100 Coles Myer group gift vouchers!
If you are curious about the insects and spiders living around your house, you will also have the opportunity to volunteer your household for a biodiversity survey conducted by researchers from Macquarie University. For more information and to complete the survey please follow this link https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/insects_in_houses or contact the research leader Dr Lizzy Lowe
High School Students Work Experience – Activities Needed – Do you have any field or lab activities happening 19-23 November? Do you want some free labour? We will be hosting 10 High School students for work experience, so if you are planning field work, field/lab work prep, or any lab activities and would like free help during this time, please read the information on the link below and contact Kath McClelland via email – katherine.mcclellan@mq.edu.au. Please click here for more information about work experience activities.
Hanna instruments morning tea – 7/11/18 – 10.30am to 12.30pm – Room 322, 4 Wally’s Walk – Click here for the flyer.
SEMINARS AND WORKSHOPS
Biological Sciences Weekly Seminar – Date/Time/Venue: Wednesday, 24th October 2018, 1 – 2pm, 14EAR (E8A) 280 Biology Tea Room.
Speaker: Lee Ann Rollins, UNSW. Title: Mechanisms underlying rapid evolution during invasion. More information on this and all department seminars ON OUR WEBPAGE HERE
Transparent data practice for reliable and reproducible research
Date/Time/Venue: Wednesday, 7th November 2018, 10 am – 1.30pm, Library Room M4.02
Facilitators: Shawn Ross (Data Science and eResearch) and Susan Shrubb (Research Skills Librarian). Details: This workshop will focus on the importance of transparent data practices. It will involve a mix of presentation and hands-on activities and is relevant for all researchers who collect, analyse, collaborate and publish data. Topics covered will include, making data Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable (FAIR), the use of code for analysis, open-source software, reproducible analytical environments and will be given the training necessary to implement these approaches. Everyone welcome, please register now here!
The Cultural History of Australian Rivers Workshop Invitation 12 Nov 2018 – The idea behind the workshop is to build capacity and create a potential working group tasked with increasing the use of archaeological, historical and anthropological narratives and perspectives in the infrastructure, development and management of riverine and cultural landscapes in NSW and beyond. Our aim is to, ultimately, invite industry, governmental partners and stakeholders to collaborate on ARC funding application (such as Linkage). This proposed project will be focused on developing a methodological approach to the study of human interactions with cultural riverine landscapes and their environmental and climatic changes throughout the human past. https://bio.mq.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Oaks-Weekend-Flyer.pdf
Futures of Neurorobotics
Date/Time/Venue: Monday, 19th November 2018, 11am – 4:30pm, Senate room (16 Wally’s Walk, room 310)
This workshop explores how robotics and computer science can accelerate understanding the brain, how understanding the brain can accelerate robotics, and the future of brain-machine interfaces. The workshop will consider the scientific, ethical and philosophical challenges posed by new developments in A.I. and autonomous machines. You can register now here!.
Night Talk: Whales, Drones and the Future of Marine Mammal Research – 15 Nov 2018 5.45pm – 7.45pm – Australian Museum. Hear from Vanessa Pirotta of the Marine Predator Research Group, Macquarie University, whose investigations into threats facing cetaceans has taken her around the world including Australia, Tonga, Madagascar and Antarctica. Pirotta uses drone technology to track whale health by collecting whale snot – her work highlights the use of drones as non-invasive research tools for marine mammal research. She seeks to apply theoretical frameworks to change our thinking about how to better manage human activities in the ocean and promote wildlife conservation. More information – https://australianmuseum.net.au/event/night-talk-whales-drones-and-the-future-of-marine-mammal-research
Molecular Sciences Seminars
Date/Time/Venue: Monday, 29th October 2018, 1 – 2pm, 4WW (F7B) 322 Seminar Room.
Speaker: Dr Lyndsey Collins Praino, Adelaide Medical School, Uni of Adelaide. Title: Settle down now!: Targeting abnormal microglial activation to treat cognitive dysfunction and depression in Parkinson’s disease. https://goto.mq/6s
Date/Time/Venue: Tuesday, 31th October 2018, 12 – 1pm, 4WW (F7B) 322 Seminar Room.
Speaker: Dr Belinda M. Abbott, Department of Chemistry and Physics, Le Trobe University. Title: The Importance of Being Assayed: Design, Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Isoquinolines as Antimalarial Agents. https://goto.mq/7n
Date/Time/Venue: Thursday, 1st November 2018, 1 – 2pm, 4WW (F7B) 322 Seminar Room.
Speaker: Dr Peter Duggan, Biomedical Manufacturing Program, CSIRO Manufacturing. Title: Natural Projects & Extracts Research at CSIRO. https://goto.mq/7l
HDR OPPORTUNITIES
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
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.
Exciting opportunity in the outback for all MRes students, with expenses paid!
If you are ready for some new excitement after just handing in your MRES thesis, Stephan Leu might just have the right opportunity for you. He is accepting students and volunteers to help him during a great trip to the outback, leaving on 29th of October and will be out there until mid-December. Dates are a little flexible. Stephan is working on animal movement, social networks and collective behaviour and decision-making. The days will be full of exciting work in the outback, ranging from working with GPS collars, moving sheep around, equipping them with collars and monitoring a cool experiment. There is also plenty of free time to experience the beauty of the outback with its vast openness, amazing views and plenty of sunshine – if you like a great tan. Email stephan.leu@mq.edu.au as soon as possible if you are interested.
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.
Hurry Last Week to Enter – Photo Competition – OCTOBER 2018 – go into the draw to win a $100 Gift Card this month! This month’s theme is YOUR BEST SHOT! 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: 31 OCTOBER 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.
RESEARCH FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
CSIRO Postgraduate Scholarships – CSIRO is currently offering top-up postgraduate scholarships for students enrolled at an Australian University and holding a RTP scholarship (or equivalent), commencing in 2019. These scholarships are for PhD projects in priority research areas for CSIRO. The closing date for applications is Wednesday 31st October 2018. Students must apply via the Careers webpage.
Ecological Society of Australia Student Research Awards – closing date 31st October – Ten student research awards of up to $1,500 will be available to Australian postgraduate and honours students conducting ecological research. The award can be used to cover expenses such as field travel, research assistance, equipment or consumables. Applicants must be a member of the ESA and not have previously won a research award from the Society. Info here
OPPORTUNITIES
Greater Sydney Landcare Network sustainability weekends – A BioBlitz weekend from 23-25 November at Jenolan Caves. Looking for volunteers to assist with registrations, ecological surveying and general ad-hoc. Food and accommodation provided. The Sustainable agriculture and conservation weekend at Elmsleigh, near the Oaks from 1-2 December, are seeking participants to help with weeding in return for ecological talks and sustainable tours of private land set aside for conservation. Both weekends are targeted at environmental/sustainability students looking for field experience, and free! Students will need their own transport. Click here for the BioBlitz flyer and click here for the Sustainable agriculture and conservation flyer.
Australian Wildlife Conservancy 2019 Internship Program – This is a fantastic opportunity for recent graduates in ecology, conservation biology and related fields to gain training and experience in conservation research and flora and fauna monitoring techniques. There will be eleven internships offered in 2019, each introducing the intern to several different sanctuaries, ecosystems, flora and fauna, field techniques, and conservation issues. Applications close 11th Nov 2018. 2019-awc-intern-program-final
BLOGS AND OTHER THINGS OF INTEREST
Plant of the Week – click on thumbnail to enlarge the image
This week – Geraldton Wax, Chamelaucium uncinatum, is an exquisite native shrub from the south-west of Western Australia. The leaves contain oil glands, a characteristic of Myrtaceae, the family to which Chamelaucium belongs, and have a pleasant fragrance when crushed.
Seeking Female Mentors for AIR4 Life Event – 21-22 Nov 2018, Luna Park, Melbourne – We are looking for female STEM students, researchers and professionals at various stages of their education and career who can participate in AIR4 Life as mentors to talk about and demonstrate interesting and inspiring STEM related displays during the event. Mentors can be individuals or groups. Students, both undergraduate and postgraduate, and early career researchers are particularly encouraged to become involved. For further information or to register follow the ‘Register Now’ link at air4.com.au. Download AIR4 Life flyer.
Interesting Article – Michele Carbone, Research Professor in Cancer Biology, University of Hawaii suggests the well-tried way to assess quality rather than quantity of publications used by the US National Academy of Science: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-06816-0. As the heading says: Count the best, not the most.
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.
- Do not use fancy text formatting. Bold heading, normal text, and only italics or bold to highlight. No font size changes will make it through, sorry.
- 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
Impact of wastewater treatment on the prevalence of integrons and genetic diversity of integron gene cassettes
By: An, Xin-Li, Qing-Lin Chen, Dong Zhu, Yong-Guan Zhu, Michael R. Gillings, and Jian-Qiang Su. Applied and environmental microbiology (2018): AEM-02766. | Find with Google Scholar »Environmental dimensions of antibiotic resistance: Assessment of basic science gaps
By: Smalla, K., Cook, K., Djordjevic, S. P., Klümper, U., & Gillings, M.. FEMS microbiology ecology. | Find with Google Scholar »The extended genotype: Microbially mediated olfactory communication. Trends in ecology & evolution.
By: Carthey, Alexandra JR, Michael R. Gillings, and Daniel T. Blumstein. Trends in ecology & evolution. | Find with Google Scholar »Signs of adaptation to trace metal contamination in a common urban bird
By: Andrew, S. C., Taylor, M. P., Lundregan, S., Lien, S., Jensen, H., & Griffith, S. C. Science of The Total Environment, 650, 679-686. | Find with Google Scholar »Mobile DNAs as Ecologically and Evolutionarily Independent Units of life
By: Ghaly, T. M., & Gillings, M. R.. Trends in microbiology. | Find with Google Scholar »Brood size influences patterns of DNA methylation in wild Zebra Finches (Taeniopygia guttata)
By: Sheldon, E. L., Schrey, A. W., Ragsdale, A. K., & Griffith, S. C.. The Auk, 135(4), 1113-1122. | Find with Google Scholar »Different environmental gradients affect different measures of snake beta-diversity in the Amazon rainforests
By: de Fraga, R., Ferrão, M., Stow, A. J., Magnusson, W. E., & Lima, A. P.. PeerJ, 6, e5628. | Find with Google Scholar »In the Media
Lesley Hughes provided comment to ABC online in relation to councils taking the lead on solar energy, inspired by US examples.
Distinguished Professor Lesley Hughes from the Department of Biological Sciences provided comment to ABC online in relation to councils taking the lead on solar energy, inspired by US examples.
Jane Williamson was interviewed on ABC Radio Sydney Breakfast in relation to microplastics.
Associate Professor Jane Williamson from the Department of Biological Sciences was interviewed on ABC Radio Sydney Breakfast in relation to microplastics.
As Deputy Chair of the NSW Fisheries Scientific Committee, Jane Williamson was interviewed on ABC North Coast and ABC Illawarra on the recent proposal to list White’s Seahorse (Hippocampus whitei) as Endangered.
As Deputy Chair of the NSW Fisheries Scientific Committee, Jane Williamson from the Department of Biological Sciences was interviewed on ABC North Coast and ABC Illawarra on the recent proposal to list White’s Seahorse (Hippocampus whitei) as Endangered.
Linda Beaumont was interviewed on ABC Illawarra NSW Country Hour regarding government assistance for farmers affected by climate change.
Dr Linda Beaumont from the Department of Biological Sciences was interviewed on ABC Illawarra NSW Country Hour regarding government assistance for farmers affected by climate change.
Lizzy Lowe was interviewed on ABC Radio Melbourne Breakfast, ABC Riverina Breakfast, 3AW Mornings and 6PR Mornings, in relation to a survey about household insects and spiders.
Dr Lizzy Lowe from the Department of Biological Sciences was interviewed on ABC Radio Melbourne Breakfast, ABC Riverina Breakfast, 3AW Mornings and 6PR Mornings, in relation to a survey about household insects and spiders.