Probing the past 30-year phenology trend of US deciduous forests
Yue, X., N. Unger, T. F. Keenan, X. Zhang, and C. S. Vogel. 2015. Probing the past 30-year phenology trend of US deciduous forests. Biogeosciences 12:4693-4709. | Find with Google Scholar »
|
Dear all,
A quick reminder that if you have suggestions for schools that we should engage with, please let me know ASAP as I will be forwarding our list to the Faculty next week.
All late changes for the 2016 calendar are due next week. We think we have everything in hand but can unit convenors please contact Michelle Power if you have any changes. While on L&T matters, unit convenors should note that the census date for each semester will move forward by one week, starting S3. This may affect your early assessment tasks. Also don’t forget it’s Learning & Teaching Week next week, with a host of activities – see here for details.
I’m looking forward to Open Day tomorrow and seeing you all resplendent in those marvellous new MQ branded shirts. I’m also looking forward to next week’s HDR conference – special thanks to the HDR committee and Veronica for their organisation, to Panel 6 for their organisation of Tuesday’s lunch and to the Research Fellows and postdocs for organising judging and awards for student prizes. See you there!
cheerio
Michelle
General News and Announcements
HDR Conference
Our annual HDR conference is on next week – Monday 14th and Tuesday 15 September 2015 – refer to abstract booklet sent Thursday 10th September form Veronica Peralta.
This is an important part of the Department’s activities with academic staff expected to attend the conference and support our PhD students. All welcome!
Free lunch is available on Tuesday 15th September from 1pm in the E8 Courtyard. See you there.
3 Minute Thesis Competition
Before the HDR conference lunch, please go along to support Biology’s Dominic McAfee in the Faculty of Science and Engineering Final of the 2015 3 Minute Thesis Competition which will be held next Tuesday 15th September at 12.00pm, W5A – Price Theatre. Dominic is competing against entrants from CBMS, Computing, Environmental Sciences and Physics & Astronomy.
End of Year Finances
The University ceases its financial year in December and spending cut-off dates are imposed. As such, Department admin is put under a lot of pressure to meet these deadlines so early spending, ordering and reimbursing cut-off dates will be broadcast by us, sometime next week. Exceptions can be made, where required, but we need your help so plan your spending in advance, as much as possible so admin can survive this super stressful time.
MQ Research Infrastructure Block Grants Due
RIBG full draft applications are due to the Faculty 28 September. If you intend to submit an application please let Michelle know. You can find information here.
Successful Grant Outcomes
Leanne Armand was successful in attracting $60K from the second round of the 2015 MQ Innovation and Scholarship Program grants in the development of the National Strategic Marine Alliance for Research, Teaching and Training initiative (SMART2) in consortium with several universities and government institutions. Funds will be used to assist with the hiring of a project manager, logo development, surveys of postgraduate students & industry employers, and the initiative’s working group workshop in 2016 at SIMS. The funding will allow the consortium to provide background data, TEQSA frame-working and demonstrate MQ’s investment as the lead institution. These actions will enable an Office of Learning and Teaching Innovation and Development grant to be submitted for continued support of the program between 2017-2019.
Biology’s Safety Spring Fair
September 29th, 11am-2pm in the courtyard.
Fitness tests, healthy food, alfresco massages, competitions, prizes and much more! Put it in your calendar now!
TropAg2015
The goal of TropAg2015 is to bring together many of the leading scientific voices and facilitate cross-border collaboration, new project development and technology transfer – with a focus on the delivery of a diverse range of tropical and subtropical agricultural scientific advances for the food, plant and animal industries. The conference will run from the 16th-18th of November 2015 in the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Center. More information is available from their website here.
For Staff Interested in Management and Leadership Roles at Macquarie
The Equity and Diversity Unit in partnership with the Centre for Workforce Futures is offering 10 fully funded places for staff employed at Macquarie University to attend the Women, Management and Work Conference. This year’s WMWC will be held at the Four Seasons Hotel, Sydney, on Friday, 6 November. Full details of the conference including the program are available at www.mq.edu.au/womens-conference.
If you would like to be nominated to attend, please contact Michelle. Expressions of Interest are due 30 September.
Finally, Action on a Plagiarism Case
In early 2013, we discovered a serious case of plagiarism, where a 2008 paper in the Journal of Biological Science was word-for-word identical with a paper by Jane Williamson (Williamson and Steinberg (2002) Marine Biology 140: 519-532). Just to show how blatant this plagiarism was, here is a comparison of the first paragraph of the Journal of Biological Sciences paper:
with the Introduction from Williamson and Steinberg:
Introduction
Sea urchins have a major impact on the structure and
dynamics of shallow subtidal communities (reviewed by
Harrold and Pearce 1987). In temperate regions, high
densities of urchins often denude large areas of macroalgae
and can even create ‘‘barrens’’ (Underwood et al.
1991), thus dramatically altering the community’s
physical and biological structure (Leinaas and Christie
1995). Because of the density-dependent nature of the
impact of urchins in temperate communities, knowledge
of their life-history is important for understanding the
ecology of these interactions.
The rest of the JBS paper continues the same word-for-word copying.
Some two years after our initial complaint, the journal has retracted the paper:
http://scialert.net/abstract/?doi=jbs.2008.1138.1148
So, some justice done, even if it is a little late…….
Michael
Bu
y a keep-cup, produce less waste and support SCB Sydney
Are you often buying take away coffees and throwing away your cup? Do you need a new keep-cup or want to gift one to someone else? You can buy one for only $10 and help support the Society for Conservation Biology Sydney chapter. Your choice of white or black. email Toni: toni.mizerek@mq.edu.au
AV Assistance and Problem Reporting in the next Month
For all teaching related AV, and AV related IT problems within the department, please contact Prasanth Subramani between 14th September and 12th October. His email is prasanth.subramani@mq.edu.au and his extension is 8136.
For digital teaching lab faults during this time, Prasanth is also your first point of contact, as the Lab Manager, Rekha Joshi, will also be away for 2 weeks (21/9 – 2/10) during this period.
Seeking Housemates
Large house in Seaforth (overlooking the spit bridge and estuary) with three rooms available. There are two large rooms suitable for couples or a single and one single room. The house consists of two floors each with a kitchen, bathroom and two bedrooms. Large backyard suitable for pets. Lots of public transport and awesome views.
Please contact monique.ladds@gmail.com if interested and you would like more information.
Send Us Your Photos
If you have any photos of department activities (including teaching, Open Day, the Christmas Party, special events, seminars, etc.) please send them to us. We need lots of pictures for our web page and for our publications. You can send your pictures to us at fse.bio-photos@mq.edu.au.
Plant of the Week – Oriental Lilies
Got Field Notes?
The Macquarie University Art Gallery, in conjunction with the museums and collections, are running a Paper Festival on campus on Friday 30 October. The Biology Museum is after field note books or data collection forms in paper format that can be used for a display. Perhaps you have data sheets from observing critters at sea, or a stained and dog-eared note pad with jottings on bird behaviour, or maybe a check sheet for invertebrates? If you can assist, please contact Libby in The Biology Museum. Many thanks.
New Publications
Variation in Brain Morphology of intertidal Gobies: A Comparison of Methodologies Used to Quantitatively Assess Brain Volumes in Fish
White, G. E., and C. Brown. 2015. Variation in Brain Morphology of intertidal Gobies: A Comparison of Methodologies Used to Quantitatively Assess Brain Volumes in Fish. Brain Behavior and Evolution 85:245-256. | Find with Google Scholar »A comparison of methods for measuring the induction time for bubble-particle attachment
Verrelli, D. I., and B. Albijanic. 2015. A comparison of methods for measuring the induction time for bubble-particle attachment. Minerals Engineering 80:8-13. | Find with Google Scholar »Quantitative proteomic analysis of paired colorectal cancer and non-tumorigenic tissues reveals signature proteins and perturbed pathways involved in CRC progression and metastasis
Sethi, M. K., M. Thaysen-Andersen, H. Kim, C. K. Park, M. S. Baker, N. H. Packer, Y.-K. Paik, W. S. Hancock, and S. Fanayan. 2015. Quantitative proteomic analysis of paired colorectal cancer and non-tumorigenic tissues reveals signature proteins and perturbed pathways involved in CRC progression and metastasis. Journal of Proteomics 126:54-67. | Find with Google Scholar »Intrasexual selection drives sensitivity to pitch, formants and duration in the competitive calls of fallow bucks
Pitcher, B. J., E. F. Briefer, and A. G. McElligott. 2015. Intrasexual selection drives sensitivity to pitch, formants and duration in the competitive calls of fallow bucks. Bmc Evolutionary Biology 15. | Find with Google Scholar »Endemic aphids Aphis carverae sp nov and Casimira canberrae (Eastop, 1961) on Epilobium (Onagraceae) threatened by introduced Aphis oenotheraeOestlund, 1887 (Hemiptera: Aphididae: Aphidinae)
Hales, D. F., R. G. Foottit, and E. Maw. 2015. Endemic aphids Aphis carverae sp nov and Casimira canberrae (Eastop, 1961) on Epilobium (Onagraceae) threatened by introduced Aphis oenotheraeOestlund, 1887 (Hemiptera: Aphididae: Aphidinae). Austral Entomology 54:278-285. | Find with Google Scholar »Climbing plant diversity in Australia: taxonomy, biogeography and functional traits
Gallagher, R. V. 2015. Climbing plant diversity in Australia: taxonomy, biogeography and functional traits, in Ecology of Lianas (eds S. A. Schnitzer, F. Bongers, R. J. Burnham and F. E. Putz), John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, Chichester, UK. doi: 10.1002/9781118392409.ch9 | Find with Google Scholar »Phylogenetic uncertainty can bias the number of evolutionary transitions estimated from ancestral state reconstruction methods
Duchene, S., and R. Lanfear. 2015. Phylogenetic uncertainty can bias the number of evolutionary transitions estimated from ancestral state reconstruction methods. Journal of Experimental Zoology Part B-Molecular and Developmental Evolution 324:517-524. | Find with Google Scholar »Biogeographical patterns of liana abundance and diversity, in Ecology of Lianas
DeWalt, S. J., Schnitzer, S. A., Alves, L. F., Bongers, F., Burnham, R. J., Cai, Z., Carson, W. P., Chave, J., Chuyong, G. B., Costa, F. R. C., Ewango, C. E. N., Gallagher, R. V., Gerwing, J. J., Amezcua, E. G., Hart, T., Ibarra-Manríquez, G., Ickes, K., Kenfack, D., Letcher, S. G., Macía, M. J., Makana, J.-R., Malizia, A., Martínez-Ramos, M., Mascaro, J., Muthumperumal, C., Muthuramkumar, S., Nogueira, A., Parren, M. P. E., Parthasarathy, N., Pérez-Salicrup, D. R., Putz, F. E., Romero-Saltos, H. G., Sridhar Reddy, M., Sainge, M. N., Thomas, D. and Melis, J. v. (2015) Biogeographical patterns of liana abundance and diversity, in Ecology of Lianas (eds S. A. Schnitzer, F. Bongers, R. J. Burnham and F. E. Putz), John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, Chichester, UK. doi: 10.1002/9781118392409.ch11 | Find with Google Scholar »Potential Mechanisms Driving Population Variation in Spatial Memory and the Hippocampus in Food-caching Chickadees
Croston, R., C. L. Branch, D. Y. Kozlovsky, T. C. Roth, II, L. D. LaDage, C. A. Freas, and V. V. Pravosudov. 2015. Potential Mechanisms Driving Population Variation in Spatial Memory and the Hippocampus in Food-caching Chickadees. Integrative and Comparative Biology 55:354-371. | Find with Google Scholar »Potential impacts of aquatic pollutants: sub-clinical antibiotic concentrations induce genome changes and promote antibiotic resistance
Chow, L., L. Waldron, and M. R. Gillings. 2015. Potential impacts of aquatic pollutants: sub-clinical antibiotic concentrations induce genome changes and promote antibiotic resistance. Frontiers in Microbiology 6. | Find with Google Scholar »Decision-making and action selection in insects: inspiration from vertebrate-based theories
Barron, A. B., K. N. Gurney, L. F. S. Meah, E. Vasilaki, and J. A. R. Marshall. 2015. Decision-making and action selection in insects: inspiration from vertebrate-based theories. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 9. | Find with Google Scholar »Barquero, M. D., R. Peters, and M. J. Whiting. 2015. Geographic variation in aggressive signalling behaviour of the Jacky dragon. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 69:1501-1510.
Barquero, M. D., R. Peters, and M. J. Whiting. 2015. Geographic variation in aggressive signalling behaviour of the Jacky dragon. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 69:1501-1510. | Find with Google Scholar »A new approach to testing the agreement of two phytoplankton quantification techniques: Microscopy and CHEMTAX
Armbrecht, L. H., S. W. Wright, P. Petocz, and L. K. Armand. 2015. A new approach to testing the agreement of two phytoplankton quantification techniques: Microscopy and CHEMTAX. Limnology and Oceanography-Methods 13:425-437. | Find with Google Scholar »**Open Access for 28 Days** Evolution of displays in Galápagos lava lizards: comparative analyses of signallers and robot playbacks to receivers.
Clark DL, Macedonia JM, Rowe JW, Stuart MA, Kemp DJ, Ord TJ. 2015. Evolution of displays in Galápagos lava lizards: comparative analyses of signallers and robot playbacks to receivers. Animal Behaviour 109:33-44. DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2015.08.002 | Find with Google Scholar »Ecology and evolution of the human microbiota: Fire, farming and antibiotics
Gillings, MR, Paulsen, IT, and Tetu, S. 2015. Ecology and evolution of the human microbiota: Fire, farming and antibiotics. Genes 6: 841-857 (invited paper) | Find with Google Scholar »In the Media
Robert Harcourt did a 30 minute interview with Central China Television on science, sharks, shark attacks and policy responses.
Professor David Raftos and Dr Tim Green were featured in Goulburn Town & Country for their oyster breeding research that recently won a Eureka prize.
Rob Harcourt was interviewed on Al Jazeera English news on Saturday (5th Sep) regarding “Is there science in the Japanese scientific whaling program?”
Dick Frankham on “Science for the People”
Emeritus professor Dick Frankham was interviewed on genetic rescue by “Science for the People”, a science radio program based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Each episode is rebroadcast throughout the week by 35 radio and online stations, including the National Science Foundation’s Science360 Radio.
Read more »Professor David Raftos and Dr Tim Green were featured on Farming Ahead for their Eureka prize winning resaerch on oyster breeding.
Read more »
Recent Completions
PhD – Heather Joan Baldwin: Epidemiology and ecology of virus and host: bats and coronaviruses in Ghana, West Africa
Supervised by Adam Stow
PhD – Aroon R. Melwani: The Biology of Environmental Stress: Adaptive responses in Sydney Rock Oysters (Saccostrea glomerata) from an Urbanized Estuary
Supervised by David Raftos