Human protein paucimannosylation: cues from the eukaryotic kingdoms
By: Tjondro, Harry C., Ian Loke, Sayantani Chatterjee, and Morten Thaysen‐Andersen. Biological Reviews (2019). | Find with Google Scholar »
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Dear all
This week coming up we have the monthly department meeting as well as Diversity & Inclusion’s Pot Luck lunch – come along on Tuesday and Wednesday to find out what is happening in the department (Tuesday) and enjoy delicious food and delightful conversation (Wednesday).
Cheers
Michelle
PS Spotted at the Eureka Awards – who knew they would scrub up so well?
Save the Date
This week 2nd – 6th September
Tue 3rd: Department Meeting; 1.00pm – 2.00pm; 14EAR(E8A)-280 (Biology Tea Room).
Wed 4th: Department Morning Tea; 10.30-11am; (Biology Tea Room).
Wed 4th: Biology Diversity & Inclusion Potluck lunch; 11.30am-12.45pm; Biology Tearoom
Wed 4th: Department Seminar – Dr Ben Ashton, MQU; 1.00pm – 2.00pm; 14EAR(E8A)-280 (Biology Tea Room).
Thu 5th: PhD Completion Seminar: Aniko Toth (see abstract below); 4.00pm – 4:45pm; 14EAR(E8A)-280 (Biology Tea Room).
Thu 5th: Biology Social Club; 5.00pm – 7.00pm; 205b Culloden Rd.
Following week 9th – 13th September
Wed 11th: Department morning tea; 10:30-11am, 205B Culloden Rd.
Wed 11th: Department Seminar – Dr Luana Lins, CSIRO; 1.00pm – 2.00pm; 14EAR(E8A)-280 (Biology Tea Room).
Thu 12th: AARGH: R-Users Group (RUG) Help Session; 3.30 PM – 5.30 PM; Continuum room (75 Talavera road, room 3114); snacks provided, BYO mug.
Weekly Events
Wed: Shut up and Write sessions; 11.00am – 12.00pm; 6WW(E8C)-212 or 14EAR(E8A)-360A.
Thu: Venture Café; 3–8pm; (map). Find out what is on each week here – https://venturecafesydney.org/
Fri: Writing workshops with Prof Ken Cheng – to support HDRs and ECRs with scientific writing; 2–4pm; Ken’s office at 205b Culloden Road, G12.
Fri: Behaviour and Evolution Journal Club; Friday at 12:30pm (bring your lunch); 205B Culloden Rd Boardroom.
Weekly Biological Sciences seminar program is here
Future Events
September 19th: REP: Reviewing for Journals workshop; 3:00 – 5:00 pm; 14EAR(E8A)-280 (Biology Tea Room) – Register here.
September 23rd: MQ graduation ceremony for Biological Sciences; 10.30am-12pm; register for the academic procession here.
September 29th: Managing data in R: a beginner’s guide; 3.30 PM – 5.30 PM; Continuum room (75 Talavera road, room 3114); snacks provided.
October 2nd: Developing your five-year plan workshop; 12:30 – 2:00 pm; 12 Wally’s Walk, 801 – Register here.
General News and Announcements
The Department’s Annual Report 2018 is now published and available here. It is packed full of news and events and showcases our people and achievements for the year. A cracker of a read! It will be available on the website very soon, so please pass on to your networks, colleagues and friends.
Finalists Announced: 2019 Academic Staff Awards – here are the academics from Biological Sciences who are finalists in the Academic Staff Awards this year:
Excellence in Research: Five Future-shaping Research Priorities
Professor Phillip Taylor
Vice-Chancellor’s Learning and Teaching Student Nominated Award
Dr Bruno Alves Buzatto
Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Teaching Excellence
Dr Matthew Bulbert and team members: Serene Lin-Stephens, Fiona Jones and Associate Professor Martin Whiting
Vice-Chancellor’s Educational Leader Award
Dr Matthew Bulbert
Congratulations all, and good luck in the finals.
A New Faculty Website is Under Development – IT would like you to undertake a 5-10 minute click test before Tuesday 10th September, to evaluate the usability of a Faculty of Science and Engineering landing page, a key jump off point for the discoverability of the Faculty’s activities.
You will be helping Macquarie University’s Faculty of Science and Engineering to create a better online experience.
The test will work best in your web browser on your PC or Laptop.
https://01y04f78.optimalworkshop.com/chalkmark/lq45o24v-0-0-0-0-0
All professional and academic staff and students are welcome to do the click test
Bin-Opening Survey – Help researchers learn about bin-opening across the Sydney, Wollongong & Gosford Regions. Whether you “have” or “have not” observed this behaviour is valuable to our study, so please participate: https://tinyurl.com/y8a5xpl6
For more information – https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/offtrack/clever-cockies-bins-and-sins/11387992
Drone & Satellite Data Workshop – The Department of Physics and Astronomy at Macquarie University is pleased to announce a free 1-day workshop on using drones and satellite data for research, to be held on September 20th at MQ. Our invited speakers are Professor Steven Longmore, head of the Astro-Ecology at Liverpool John Moores University (UK) and Dr Paul Butcher, senior research scientist in charge of shark management at the NSW Department of Primary Industries.
Registration is free and includes morning and afternoon tea. Come along if you are thinking about using satellite data in your research, or you are simply drone-curious. If you already use drones or satellites, please consider giving a short talk on your work.
For further details and to register please see the meeting website: http://cormacpurcell.net/public/drone_workshop
Plant of the Week – click the thumbnails for larger images-
More about Magnolias.
Magnolias are now classified as Early Angiosperms. Characteristics of Early Angiosperms, in particular the abundance of floral parts (petals, stamens, carpels) and their spiral arrangement, can be seen in the flowers of all Magnolia species.
COMINGS AND GOINGS
Weihua Li – Visiting Scholar – Weihua is visiting our Department and will be working with Jaco Le Roux and Michelle Leishman over the next 12 months. Weihua’s research interests include understanding interactions between invasive plants and soil micro-organisms and how invasive species affect soil nutrient loads and nitrogen cycling. She is currently investigating microbially-induced plant-soil feedbacks and the revegetation success following invasive species removal.
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OPPORTUNITIES
FIXED TERM RESEARCH ASSISTANT POSITION, BENTHIC ECOLOGY LABORATORY, MACQUARIE UNIVERSITY – A/Prof Melanie Bishop is presently seeking a Research Assistant to support her oyster reef restoration and living seawalls research at Macquarie University. Applications close 10 Sept, must be able to start Oct 2019.
All details at the below link:
Faculty Staff (Professional & Academic) Travel Grants – support for staff travel is now provided centrally by the Faculty. Funding is available for ECR travel, international collaboration, teaching and professional staff development. If you would like to apply, please discuss with your supervisor and A/Prof Andrew Barron (for research travel) or Dr Drew Allen (for teaching travel). Research Eligibility and application details can be found here.https://staff.mq.edu.au/intranet/science-and-engineering/faculty-awards,-schemes-and-procedures
One round remain for the rest of the year:
– Round 3 closes Friday 27 September 2019
Apply as soon as possible for any travel you intend on taking in 2019, that meets the criteria. Funds awarded must be spent in 2019 and will not be carried into 2020.
SEMINARS AND WORKSHOPS
Biological Sciences Seminar – Date/Time: Wednesday, 4th September, 2019; 1pm – 2pm. Speaker: Dr Ben Ashton, MQU. Title: The causes and consequences of individual variation in cognition. Venue: 14EAR-280 (Biology Tea Room). More information on this and all department seminars ON OUR WEBPAGE HERE.
PhD Completion Seminar: Aniko Toth Date/Time: Thursday 5th September, 2019; 4pm – 4:45pm. Venue: 14EAR(E8A)-280 (Biology Tea Room). Abstract: How do species communities respond to disturbance? In today’s rapidly changing word, this is a critical ecological question. I will talk about how I set out to answer this question using the power of big datasets, deep time, and the powerful computing resources of… my laptop. This presentation will take you on an adventure from the savannas of Africa to the jungles of Brazil, and even into the past when mammoths and giant ground sloths roamed the Great Plains of North America in the shadow of ice age glaciers (disclaimer: I never actually went anywhere). On the way, I will show how the telltale footprint of species interactions is detectable in the way that animals—both Earth-bound and winged—coexist. Perhaps more importantly, I will explore how humans have shaped this process directly and indirectly for thousands of years.
To be followed by Biology Social Club at The Hill (205b Culloden Road) – with snacks!
Department of Maths & Statistics
Speaker: Robyn Araujo (QUT)
Title: Cellular Cognition and the Robust Perfect Adaptation (RPA) Problem
Venue: E7B 146 (ACE room), Time: 3-4pm
Abstract:
In this talk, I will give a brief discussion of my recent research on robustness in molecular signalling networks. It has been a long-standing mystery how the extraordinarily complex communication networks inside living cells, comprising thousands of different interacting molecules, are able to function robustly since complexity is generally associated with fragility. Our recent work has now suggested a resolution to this paradox through the discovery that robust adaptive signalling networks must be constructed from just a small number of well-defined universal modules (or “motifs”), connected together. The existence of these newly-discovered modules has important implications for evolutionary biology, embryology and development, cancer research, and drug development.
Details of the colloquium series can be found on the department website:
Mason Public Lecture – Date/Time: Thursday, 12th September, 2019; 6pm – 7.30pm. Speaker: Prof Jim Paulson of the Scripps Institute. Title: AIRWAY RECEPTORS OF HUMAN INFLUENZA VIRUS: A BARRIER FOR HUMAN TO HUMAN TRANSMISSION OF ‘AVIAN FLU’. Venue: Conference Room D Level 3 MUSE, 18 Wally’s Walk. More information https://www.mq.edu.au/about/events/view/airway-receptors-of-human-influenza-virus-a-barrier-for-human-to-human-transmission-of-avian-flu/
AARGH: R-Users Group (RUG) Help Session – Do you have a problem with data analysis? You might want to give R a go which is a fantastic analytical and plotting tool. For all your R-related queries, drop by ‘Ask An R Geek for Help’ (aaRgh) session where you can get one-on-one assistance. Or just come by, have some tea, and work on your code. No registration is required and snacks and beverages will be provided (BYO mug). Date: September 12, 2019. Time: 3:30 PM to 5:30 PM. Venue: Continuum Room (75 Talavera Road, room 3114).
Let’s Talk Sex! Thursday September 26th, 6pm for 6:30 start. Scientist and debut author Dr Amanda Niehaus in discussion with UNSW Scientia Professor Rob Brooks, author of Sex, Genes & Rock’ n ‘ Roll. Based on Amanda’s scientific research, The Breeding Season is an astounding debut novel that forensically and poetically explores the intersections of art and science, sex and death, and the heartbreaking complexity of love. GLEEBOOKS. 49 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe NSW 20377. Reserve a spot at https://gleebooks.worldsecuresystems.com/bookings
Molecular Sciences Seminar – Date/Time: Tuesday, 3rd September, 2019; 1pm – 2pm. Speaker: Dr Rebeca Kawahara Sakuma, Department of Molecular Sciences, Macquarie University. Title: Mass spectrometry-based tools to uncover protein signatures and mechanisms of cancer. Venue: 4WW 322 seminar room. More information https://goto.mq/7n.
And:
Date/Time: Tuesday, 10th September, 2019; 1pm – 2pm. Speaker: Dr Sophie Goodchild, Department of Molecular Sciences, Macquarie University. Title: Metamorphic proteins – the reversible transition between immunoglobulin fold and amyloid fibril structure of β2-microglobulin. Venue: 4WW 322 seminar room.
Shut Up and Write Sessions, every Wednesday 11am. It’s pretty simple, we shut up… and we write. Using the pomodoro technique we’ll meet at 11am to write, stop 25 minutes in for a 10 min break, then settle down again for another 25 minutes of writing. You’ll be amazed how productive you can be. More details on the concept here: https://thesiswhisperer.com/shut-up-and-write/
Room will be either 6WW(E8C)-212 or 14EAR(E8A)-360A, email <lizzy.lowe@mq.edu.au> to confirm or with any questions.
All welcome!
Lunchtime Litter Collection – The days may be cooler, but they’re also clear and sunny. Lunchtime is a great time to go for a walk and get some vitamin D! It’s also a great time to join the Biology Litter Collection competition! The next event will be Tuesday 10th September, 1pm. Meet in the Biology courtyard, bring a bucket or bag if you can.
We’ll be holding events throughout the rest of the year, every few weeks. At each event you go out to collect litter, between 1 and 1:30pm. Collections will be assessed at the end of each collection and gold stars awarded accordingly. Event results are tallied at the end of the year with a prize for the best collector.
Event dates: Tues 10th September; Tues 8th October; Tues 12th November; Tues 10th December.
Venture Café – Want to know more about innovation, and how to achieve it? Come along to the Venture Cafe, Thursday, 3pm – 8pm, (map). Find out what is on each week here – https://venturecafesydney.org/
This week: 3.00pm: Demo Tables, 3.15pm: Maximize Your Venture Cafe Experience, 3.30pm: Agile Leadership and Resilience, 4.45pm: Workshop: How To Leverage The Power of Collaborative Marketing, 6.00pm: Nurturing and Tapping into Your Community’s Human Capital.
Wildlife at the Watering Hole – 3rd Tuesday of each month, 6:30pm @ Botany View Hotel, King St Newtown!
HDR NEWS AND OPPORTUNITIES
Research Enrichment Program (REP) Workshop Series – The Department now has a fully fledged research enrichment program for 2019 – you can find out about upcoming workshops here (click on this PDF). All HDR students are encouraged to attend several of these workshops each year to develop their skills and track record for the post-PhD world. Supervisors please encourage your students!
Reviewing for Journals – Thursday 19 September, 3:00 – 5:00 pm; 14EaR(E8A)-280 (Biology Tea Room); facilitated by Rachael Gallagher.
Would you like to review for journals, but are not too sure how the whole process works? Have you already reviewed, but would like to brush-up on your skills?
This short, two-hour course is designed to introduce young researchers to the ethics and skills required to become a good journal reviewer.
WHAT WILL BE COVERED:
– The ethics of reviewing – how to be fair and helpful to authors
– Examples of good and not-so-good reviews
– Worked examples of scenarios that may arise when reviewing
– The opinions of journal editors from within the Department
Suitable for: Early-mid career researchers.
To attend: REGISTER HERE
PhD Students: got a grant? Dept. will co-fund up to $1500 – The Department would like to encourage students to seek external sources of funding, and has a small budget with which to support successful candidates.New limits from 2019:PhD students ONLY: Dept. will match up to $1500 of external (non-MQ) funding ONCE during the student’s candidature.
If you have received a grant (student as chief investigator) and wish to request co-funding, please forward a copy of the award letter to <sharyon.odonnell@mq.edu.au> and <julian.may@mq.edu.au>.
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.
The PWA program is based on the principle of collaborative learning in which a more experienced research student helps you develop stronger academic and research skills. Peer Writing Assistants are not teachers. Rather, they are trained to function as a ‘friendly audience’ or ‘fresh pair of eyes’ to help you gain new perspectives on your writing or research ideas.
Registrations are now open for individual consultation bookings. If you are interested, please go to book in for a 45-minute session with a PWA here.
And:
Writing workshops – Convened by Ken Cheng, running weekly for most of the year: Fridays 2-4pm in Ken’s office at 205b Culloden Road, G12.
These writing workshops are meant for HDR students and early-career researchers. In these face-to-face encounters, writing at any stage of any genre is welcome, from first draft to final polish, from empirical paper to literature review to popular news story. Ken envisages personal feedback linked perhaps with rounds of revisions on selected passages during the session. The aim is not just to get stuff written, but to write everything well.
Those interested in attending a session should email Ken Cheng <ken.cheng@mq.edu.au> by Wednesday 12:00-noon, preferably with a draft attached of what they are working on and some indication of what they especially need help with.
ADMIN THINGS
Need to Contact the Biology Admin Team via Email? Please send your email to <fse.bio-adm@mq.edu.au> or drop in and see us. The old google group (sci.bio-adm) email no longer works, if you have this email as a remembered address please delete.
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.
THIS AND THAT
Call for Cystic Fibrosis Christmas Markets Volunteers! Cystic Fibrosis Australia is in need of Volunteers for their Christmas markets on December 5th and 6th at Martin place. Volunteers are needed to sell Raffle tickets/Merchandise and all funds received support Cystic Fibrosis research and advocacy. All Fixed term and continuing staff are eligible to two days community volunteering leave. Such fund raising events are also great for team building. Please email queries or expressions of interest to Prasanth Subramani <prasanth.subramani@mq.edu.au>.
Volunteers CFA_Markets_Flyer CM_20191
Harvest Hub – great food that doesn’t cost the earth
Do you want:
- To eat with the seasons?
- Have fresh fruit and veg delivered weekly?
- Buy from local growers and support local farmer more directly?
- Access weekly specials and a flexible, easy to use ordering system?
- Have produce delivered to you at work?
- Buy grains and cereals too?
Then try Harvest Hub www.harvesthub.com.au
Hub name: MACQUARIE04 F: @harvesthubau
More information?
- Check out the website
- Talk to Samantha Newton <samantha.newton@mq.edu.au>.
- Orders are delivered weekly, on Tuesdays
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.
New Publications
Measuring continuous compositional change using decline and decay in zeta diversity
By: Mcgeoch, M.A., Latombe, G., Andrew, N.R., Nakagawa, S., Nipperess, D.A., Roigé, M., Marzinelli, E.M., Campbell, A.H., Vergés, A., Thomas, T. and Steinberg, P.D., 2019. Ecology, p.e02832. | Find with Google Scholar »Lack of social preference between unfamiliar and familiar juvenile Port Jackson sharks Heterodontus portusjacksoni
By: Vila Pouca, Catarina, and Culum Brown. Journal of fish biology (2019). | Find with Google Scholar »Effects of Maternal Care During Rearing in White Leghorn and Brown Nick Layer Hens on Cognition, Sociality and Fear
By: Hewlett, Susie E., and Rebecca E. Nordquist. Animals 9, no. 7 (2019): 454. | Find with Google Scholar »In the Media
Robert Perryman was featured on Science Alert
Robert Perryman from the Department of Biological Sciences was featured on Science Alert regarding manta rays’ social connections.
John Alroy provided comment to Forbes
Associate Professor John Alroy from the Department of Biological Sciences provided comment to Forbes about the effect of global warming on the Great Barrier Reef.
Rick Shine was featured on Inside Science
Professor Rick Shine from the Department of Biological Sciences was featured on Inside Science regarding a study of how Komodo dragons survived extinction.
Lesley Hughes was interviewed on ABC Southern Queensland Drive
Distinguished Professor Lesley Hughes, Pro Vice-Chancellor Research Integrity and Development was interviewed on ABC Southern Queensland Drive regarding the poor outlook for the Great Barrier Reef.
Jaco Le Roux gave an interview to Radio Sonder Grense, South Africa
Associate Professor Jaco Le Roux from the Department of Biological Sciences gave an interview to Radio Sonder Grense (South Africa, Afrikaans) regarding the shocking rate of recent plant extinctions in South Africa’s three biodiversity hotspot areas.
Jaco Le Roux gave an interview to Eye Witness News, South Africa
Associate Professor Jaco Le Roux from the Department of Biological Sciences gave an interview to Eye Witness News (South Africa) regarding the shocking rate of recent plant extinctions in South Africa’s three biodiversity hotspot areas.
Vanessa Pirotta was featured in the Sydney Morning Herald
Dr Vanessa Pirotta from the Department of Biological Sciences was featured in the Sydney Morning Herald regarding humpback whales playing in the rain.
Vanessa Pirotta was interviewed on ABC Southern Queensland Drive
Dr Vanessa Pirotta from the Department of Biological Sciences was interviewed on ABC Southern Queensland Drive about beached whales.
Vanessa Pirotta gave a presentation at TEDx Melbourne
Dr Vanessa Pirotta from the Department of Biological Sciences gave a presentation at TEDx Melbourne about what “whale snot” tells us about whales and the ocean.
Kiara L’Herpiniere was featured in Tasmanian Geographic
PhD Candidate Kiara L’Herpiniere from the Department of Biological Sciences was featured in Tasmanian Geographic for her MRes work on Australian Magpie Eggs.
Recent Completions
Sonu Yadav has submitted her PhD Thesis entitled “Landscape genomics of grasshopper pests in Australia.”
Supervised by Rachel Dudaniec and Adam Stow.