On research priorities to advance understanding of the safety-efficiency tradeoff in xylem: A response to Bittencourt etal.’s (2016) comment “On xylem hydraulic efficiencies, wood space-use and the safety-efficiency tradeoff’: in this issue of New Phytologist, pp. 1152-1155
By: Gleason, S.M., Westoby, M., Jansen, S., Choat, B., Brodribb, T.J., Cochard, H., Delzon, S., Hacke, U.G., Jacobsen, A.L., Johnson, D.M. and Lens, F., 2016. New Phytologist, 211(4), pp.1156-1158. | Find with Google Scholar »
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Dear all,
We had a successful inaugural ECR showcase on Monday – it was great to hear about so much interesting research going on in the department and everyone enjoyed drinks and pizza afterwards! Thanks to Rachael D & Ajay for their organisation of this event. More talks on Thursday with the MRes conference which was also very successful. Gold star to Ken who I think asked a question of every student! At Tuesday afternoon’s graduation ceremony there were plenty of familiar faces in their caps and gowns – congratulations especially to all our new PhDs (see photo below of a very happy Masood!).
We have a new face in the admin team – Rosie Neville has joined us and will be filling in for Jennifer Rowland while she is on holiday – please drop in and introduce yourself to her. And a reminder that if you have a new student or visitor or researcher joining your lab, please bring them to the admin offices and introduce them to us so we can welcome them. Lara will be running her weekly admin induction sessions on Wednesdays which are a MUST for new people.
This week we have the start of a series of special seminars given by applicants for the conservation biology lectureship positions. Please come along to hear about their research and you can provide informal feedback to the selection committee. Seminars are in the tearoom Tuesday and Wednesday this week 10.30-11.30am, and more will follow in coming weeks.
cheerio
Michelle
Save the Date
This coming week 26th – 30th September
Wed 28th: Special seminar (Moreno Di Marco); 10:30am – 11:30am; E8A-280 (Biology Tea Room).
Wed 28th: Special seminar (Vanessa Adams); 10:30am – 11:30am; E8A-280 (Biology Tea Room).
Thu 29th: Supplementary HDR Conference; 9am – 5pm; E8A-280 (Biology Tea Room).
Following week 4th – 7th October
Wed 5th: Morning Tea; 10:30am – 11:00am; The Hill.
Wed 5th: Weekly Seminar – Tim Green: Controlling disease in aquaculture: vaccines for oysters; 1 – 2pm; E8A-280 (Tea room).
Coming up
Oct 26th; Faculty Safety day
Oct 26th; Advanced Biology Conference; 12 – 2pm; E8A-280 (Biology Tea Room).
Oct 31st: Applications for domestic (APA) PhD scholarships due.
Nov 8th: Biology programs information session for students. 1 – 2pm; E8A-280 (Biology Tea Room).
November tentatively 2 days within the week of 14-18th Nov for a department research and L&T retreat – TBA
Dec 7th: Department formal exam meeting
Dec 9th: Faculty of Science & Engineering Xmas BBQ
General News and Announcements
Doc Masood!
Our very own Plant Growth Facility Manager, Muhammad Masood, received his doctorate in the Biological Sciences Graduation earlier this week. Congratulations Dr Masood!
What are your High Performance Computing needs?
Recent discussions within FSE around HPC needs and capability highlighted a number of issues, in particular with regards the scale and focus of our spend on HPC and the need for a mid-level facility. In order to gather some further data on HPC needs across the University we have put together a short survey which will allow us to gather a more complete picture of the requirements of Macquarie researchers.
The survey can be found here – https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/B3BRKML
Could I ask that you take a few minutes to fill in the survey. Please also forward this on to any colleagues who may have a need for HPC facilities but is not included on this email list.
We look forward to receiving your input.
Important Boating Fieldwork Message
Between the 14th of October and the 12th December, there will not be any manager approving boating activities in the department. Diving, snorkeling and other marine non-boating activities will be approved by the University Dive Officer. If you are already aware of boating activities undertaken during this period, please get them approved as soon as possible, or definitely before the 14th October.
Attention Terrestrial fieldworkers
Sarah (terrestrial fieldwork manager) will be on leave from 18th November until 3rd January so there will be no terrestrial fieldwork inductions at this time. If you or your students expect to need an induction at this time please organise as soon as possible before this date. In her absence approvals will be done by Amanda Sordes via Field Friendly as usual. Please allow at least 5 working days for approvals as Amanda will be responsible for all terrestrial, marine and boating approvals during this busy period. In cases of accidents or emergencies or to collect or return equipment please see Amanda or Tarun Rajan.
Acting Vehicle Manager
Sarah Collison will be the acting vehicle manager from the 4th October till the 31st October 2016 as Tarun will be away on a course. Sarah will be able to provide vehicle inductions, but may not be able to conduct one on short notice. Please endeavour to provide her with sufficient notice to schedule any inductions.
Sorry about the inconvenience and we appreciate your co-operation.
Plant of the Week
Pultenaea flexilis – the Graceful Bush Pea, yet another of the myriads of red and yellow ‘Eggs and Bacon’ or ‘Bacon and Eggs’ bush peas.
Is Exercise Good or Bad for Our Knees?
Mitch <z3465495@ad.unsw.edu.au> is doing research this semester as part of his 4th year in Exercise Physiology. This survey is to get an understanding of young adults’ thoughts on exercise and knee health. His colleague has got responses from young people heavily involved in sport but Mitch would love to get everyone’s thoughts (even if you hate exercise or sport) as this will make our sample more representative of the general population. As long as you are generally healthy and between the ages of 18-35, you are welcome to participate!
The survey takes 10-20min and can be done online.https://www.surveys.unsw.edu.au/f/162348/81ee/
If you get a spare moment Mitch would greatly appreciate your participation. Please let him know if you have any questions at all.
New Student: Theotime Colin
Theo will be working with Andy Barron on Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), a recent syndrome which can be defined as a rapid loss of adult worker bees associated with the absence of bee corpses within or near the hive. Numerous causes have been proposed to explain CCD, such as infections by microsporidia, bacteria, viruses, parasitic mites, loss of habitats, introduction of parasitic and predatory alien species, miticides and pesticides. Most scientists agree to say that CCD is probably a multifactorial issue and that interactions between several factors may occur and contribute to CCD. This explains why the causes of CCD remain poorly understood, despite the recent increase in the number of studies on CCD.
Consequently, only a few predictive markers of CCD have been identified and their predictive powers are known to strongly depend on the season. Strong predictive markers of colony failure would be useful tools for both scientists and beekeeper. Scientists could use them to design better protocols in their attempts to determine the causes of CCD. Beekeepers could use them as signals of colony failure and try to apply counter-measures such as insertions of brood frames or fusion of weakened colonies. This is why we believe that there is an urgent need to develop new methods to monitor honey bee colony condition. Our first objective is to find predictive markers. We will then determine the most reliable indicators of colony failure. We will use classic methodologies used to monitor honey bees activity and will also develop new sensor technologies. Our second goal is to build predictive models of honey bee colony growth to help beekeepers estimate the honey production, the colony longevity and the risks of colony failure. Our third goal is to determine how three key bee stressors, Varroa mites infestation, miticides and agrochemicals act and interact to affect bee colony condition.
New Admin Staffer: Stevie Rose (Rosie)
My name is Stevie Rose, but I am more commonly known as Rosie. I hail from California and am a proud alumna of UC Berkeley where I studied Psychology, Neuroscience, and Linguistics. I have called Sydney home for the past seven years and just joined the team on Monday of this week. I will be in the Head of Department office full-time looking after Jennifer Rowland’s role while she is away for five weeks and I will also be taking over Vince’s duties with regards to student enquiries. I’m excited and honoured to be a part of the team and am looking forward to getting to know everyone over the coming weeks.
Communication Training Course for Scientists
Do you need help shaping your science into a story for stakeholders, the public, industry, or the media?
Science in Public running a media and communication training course for scientists in Sydney on Tuesday 4 October.
It will help you to find the best way to communicate your work to different audiences, manage tricky questions about your research, and gives you the chance to practice interviews with working journalists from TV, radio and print media.
This course will run for a full day (8.30am to 5pm) and will be held at Business Events Sydney. It costs $800 (ex. GST) per person, and includes lunch, morning and afternoon tea, and coffees throughout the day.
If you’d like to book in, please email my colleague Ellie on ellie@scienceinpublic.com.au. And if you know of anyone who might be interested, please forward this information on.
New Publications
A horizon scan of future threats and opportunities for pollinators and pollination
By: Brown, M.J., Dicks, L.V., Paxton, R.J., Baldock, K.C., Barron, A.B., Chauzat, M.P., Freitas, B.M., Goulson, D., Jepsen, S., Kremen, C. and Li, J., 2016. PeerJ Preprints, 4, p.e2006v1. | Find with Google Scholar »Role of zooplankton dynamics for Southern Ocean phytoplankton biomass and global biogeochemical cycles
By: Buitenhuis, Erik T., Daniel J. Franklin, Richard J. Geider, Sandy P. Harrison, Andrew G. Hirst, I. Colin Prentice, Richard B. Rivkin, and Sergio M. Vallina. Biogeosciences 13, no. 14 (2016): 4111. | Find with Google Scholar »Phylogenetic approaches reveal biodiversity threats under climate change
By: Carlos E. González-Orozco, Laura J. Pollock, Andrew H. Thornhill, Brent D. Mishler, Nunzio Knerr, Shawn W. Laffan, Joseph T. Miller, Dan F. Rosauer, Daniel P. Faith, David A. Nipperess, Heini Kujala, Simon Linke, Nathalie Butt, Carsten Külheim, Michael D. Crisp & Bernd Gruber; Nature Climate Change (2016) doi:10.1038/nclimate3126 Published online 19 September 2016 | Find with Google Scholar »In the Media
Lesley Hughes contributes to work published in The Conversation and Australian Geographic
Distinguished Professor Lesley Hughes from the Department of Biological Sciences contributed the piece ‘The Great Barrier Reef’s ‘new normal’ is a forlorn sight’ to The Conversation, which was also published in Australian Geographic.
Lesley Hughes featured in ABC Online and The New Daily and spoke to ABC Far North Queensland, ABC Tropical North Queensland, 612 ABC Brisbane, 105.7 ABC Darwin and 891 ABC Adelaide
Distinguished Professor Lesley Hughes from the Department of Biological Sciences featured in ABC Online and The New Daily and spoke to ABC Far North Queensland, ABC Tropical North Queensland, 612 ABC Brisbane, 105.7 ABC Darwin and 891 ABC Adelaide in regards to the observed changes to the fish communities in regions of the Great Barrier Reef where 35 per cent of the coral has been killed by bleaching.
David Nipperess’ new paper covered in Scimex and ABC online
Dr David Nipperess of the Department of Biological Sciences had his new paper, ‘Phylogenetic approaches reveal biodiversity threats under climate change,’ covered in Scimex and ABC online.