Extreme Inverted Trophic Pyramid of Reef Sharks Supported by Spawning Groupers
By: Mourier, Johann, Jeffrey Maynard, Valeriano Parravicini, Laurent Ballesta, Eric Clua, Michael L. Domeier, and Serge Planes. Current Biology 26, no. 15 (2016): 2011-2016. | Find with Google Scholar »
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Dear all,
Quite a few members of the department were at Katoomba this week for a celebration of Mark Westoby and Barb Rice’s contributions to plant ecology at the “Future directions in ecology: retreat and discussion meeting”. It was a very successful few days – thanks to Wade Tozer for his organisation.
Next week we will continue the special seminars and interviews for the conservation biology lectureship – the next one is on Tuesday 10.30 in the tearoom – please come along! We will also have our regular department meeting on Tuesday 1-2pm – Sarah will give a summary of insurance and travel issues that we all need to be aware of, plus updates and discussion on department matters generally.
The date is now set for the annual department retreat – one day of L&T and one of research, with dinner and drinks in between. We’ve got a great venue, it should be fun!
Enjoy the long weekend!
cheerio
Michelle
Save the Date
This coming week 4th – 7th October
Monday 4th: Public holiday
Tuesday 5th: Special seminar Dr Catherine Grueber Evolution in threatened species through the lens of molecular genetics; 10.30-11.30 E8A-280 (Tea room).
Wed 5th: Department Meeting; 1 – 2pm; E8A-280 (Tea room).
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).
Thurs 6th: Thursday drinks! In the biology courtyard weather permitting.
Following week 10th – 14th October
Tue 11th: Biology Banter Launch; 1 – 2pm; E8A-280 (Tea room).
Wed 12th: Morning Tea; 10:30am – 11:00am; E8A-280 (Tea room).
Wed 12th: Weekly Seminar – Geoffrey Bedford: The Rhinoceros Beetle, The Coconut Palm and Virus in the South Pacific; 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).
Nov 14-15: Department research and L&T retreat at Victoria & Albert Hotel, Mt Victoria (academic staff – please put this in your diaries now!)
Dec 7th: Department formal exam meeting
Dec 9th: Faculty of Science & Engineering Xmas BBQ
General News and Announcements
Biology Banter – Launch 11th October, 1-2pm Biology Tearoom
Come along and listen to our first speaker of the ‘Biology Banter’ series. Leanne Armand will talk about development of BIOL116 Biology in Practice. This is an important event for all involved in teaching. Leanne will explain what skills our undergrads have mastered in BIOL116. As we embark on a ‘whole program assessment strategy’ the 100 level unit assessment criteria will need to be considered by all.
Please RSVP by October 6 via the following doodle poll: http://doodle.com/poll/u825c3p8refehuw2
Weekly Seminar Series
Day / Date / Time / Place: Wednesday, 5th October, 1 – 2pm, E8A-280 (Tea Room).
Speaker: Tim Green
Title: Controlling disease in aquaculture: vaccines for oysters.
Abstract: The Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas) is farmed on every inhabited continent and is considered by many countries to be an important socio-economic and cultural resource. In 2008, abnormal and widespread mortality was reported in French oyster growing regions and billions of young oysters died. The mortality was causally linked to a newly described genotype of Ostreid herpesvirus I (termed OsHV-1 μVar). Subsequently, OsHV-1 μVar has been associated with oyster mortalities in Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Management of this viral disease has proven difficult. My research has shown oysters treated with synthetic dsRNA (poly(I:C)) exhibit enhanced protection (EP) against OsHV-1 μVar. Although this chemical treatment is highly effective, it is not feasible to treat every oyster on a farm (often millions of oysters). To circumvent this practical limitation, my postdoc at Macquarie University has investigated whether this immunity can be transferred from parents to their offspring (trans-generational EP, TGEP). We found that offspring (oyster larvae) produced from poly(I:C)-treated parents had double the chance of surviving exposure to OsHV-1 μVar compared to controls. Furthermore, the larvae of poly(I:C)-treated parents contained elevated levels of mRNA encoding a key transcription factor that regulates antiviral immunity (IRF2). Poly(I:C) treatment had no effect on the survival of oyster parents. Hence, the enhanced phenotype of offspring cannot be explained by genetic selection, and instead may reflect epigenetic reprogramming or maternal provisioning. Results suggest that TGEP has great potential for reducing disease in aquaculture.
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 and marine (non-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
Isopogon – or ‘Drumsticks’ – is yet another colourful member of the Proteaceae flowering now in Sydney sandstone bushland.
Smooth modelling in R: splines, GAMs and related models
with presenter Professsor Simon Wood of the University of Bristol, UK.
held on 25-26 November 2016 at Macquarie University.
From one day ahead prediction of electricity consumption across France, to modelling the spatial distribution of extreme rainfall events, or pollution related human deaths, or the distribution of fish in the sea, many regression models can conveniently be specified in terms of smooth functions of covariates. This course is about how to do that using the ‘mgcv’ package in R. Starting with the basics of how to represent smooth functions using basis functions and penalties, the course goes on to look at the practical use of generalized additive models, including extensions beyond the usual exponential family distributions. For example, survival analysis, functional data, location-scale models and random effects components will all be covered, while the smooths include tensor product smoothing, and spatial smoothers, such as Gaussian processes, Gaussian Markov random fields and splines on the sphere. The focus is practical and hands on, with theory presented to support understanding of the practical use of the methods.
Professor Simon Wood is the author of R recommended package ‘mgcv’ for generalized additive modelling, and of the textbook ‘Generalized Additive Models: An Introduction with R’ (2006, second edition early 2017). He works as a Professor of Statistical Science at the University of Bristol. http://www.maths.bris.ac.uk/~sw15190/.
For more information about this event and to register, please click here or go to http://www.statsoc.org.au/events/ssai-events/smooth-modelling-r-splines-gams-related-models/ .
New Student in the Department – Anika Immer
Please join us in welcoming a new PhD student, Anika Immer. Anika will be joining Simon Griffith’s lab group and studying the ecology and fear behaviour of the Zebra Finch. Anika is interested in studying what drives foraging decisions of the Zebra Finch, including fear. Two main factors are thought to be important for a zebra finch to feel safe: 1) the spacial location of a food patch and 2) the number of birds feeding in a same patch. Series of experiments will be done in cages, aviaries and in the wild. Anika will also build mathematical models of growth and resource acquisition under predation risk to interpret the data we collect. Anika can be found in W19F 135 or on x1302.
Old M10 warped white rat boxes to be given away
The animal house have approximately 25 old M10 warped white rat boxes that we are not able to use within the facility. Would you like to use these in your lab? If so, contact Robby Miller <robby.miller@mq.edu.au> if you are interested by COB Friday, 7th October.
Your life’s work in 30 seconds: media training around Australia
Conveying the complexity of your research, your life’s work, into a 30-second grab for the media can be hard. The solution is to shape the essence of your science into a story.
Join Science in Public for their one-day media training workshop and get some help.
Two experienced science communicators will work with you to find the story in your research. Over the years we’ve helped Monash launch the world’s first printed jet engine, revealed the loss of half the coral on the Great Barrier Reef, helped CERN announce the Higgs boson, and revealed the link between CSIRO’s Wi-Fi patent and Aussie astronomy.
We will help you find the right words to explain your research in a way that works for the media, as well as for government, industry and other stakeholders.
Working journalists from television, print and radio will join us over the course of the day to explain what makes news for them. And you’ll get the chance to practice being interviewed in front of a camera and on tape.
The day’s insights and training will help you feel more comfortable in dealing with journalists when media opportunities arise.
Upcoming training date: Sydney: Tuesday 4 October, Tuesday 15 November
We can also hold courses in other locations or on other dates. If you have at least four participants, we can probably find others in your area to make a course viable. If you can guarantee six participants, then we’re happy to confirm a course in your city/campus.
Media training courses are $800 +GST per person, and include lunch, morning and afternoon tea, and lattes on demand.
Or if you want a brief introduction to the media for a larger group (20 to 200 people), talk to us about our ‘Meet the Press’ sessions.
If you’d like to book a place in a course, contact Ellie Michaelides at ellie@scienceinpublic.com.au or on (03) 9398 1416.
You can read more about our courses at www.scienceinpublic.com.au/training.
In the media
Jane Williamson had an article in the Conversation and in Coastalwatch on ‘Queensland’s culling program is not the solution to NSW’s shark problem”
New Publications
Stress tolerance in a novel system: Genetic and environmental sources of (co)variation for cold tolerance in the butterfly Eurema smilax
By: Andrew, Samuel C., and Darrell J. Kemp. Austral Ecology 41, no. 5 (2016): 529-537. | Find with Google Scholar »Consistent alleviation of abiotic stress with silicon addition: a metaanalysis
By: Cooke, Julia, and Michelle R. Leishman. Functional Ecology 30, no. 8 (2016): 1340-1357. | Find with Google Scholar »Estimating the Effective Sample Size of Tree Topologies from Bayesian Phylogenetic Analyses
By: Lanfear, Robert, Xia Hua, and Dan L. Warren. Genome Biology and Evolution 8, no. 8 (2016): 2319-2332. | Find with Google Scholar »Little evidence for enhanced phenotypic evolution in early teleosts relative to their living fossil sister group
By: Clarke, J. T., Lloyd, G. T. and Friedman, M., in press. PNAS. | Find with Google Scholar »In the Media
Graeme Lloyd’s paper, Little evidence for enhanced phenotypic evolution in early teleosts relative to their living fossil sister group, gets media attention.
Dr Graeme Lloyd’s paper, Little evidence for enhanced phenotypic evolution in early teleosts relative to their living fossil sister group, gets media attention in:
Insidescience – https://www.insidescience.org/news/demystifying-evolutionary-success-ray-finned-fishes
Michael Gillings was featured in the Fitness First Online Magazine, on the power of the Microbiome
Professor Michael Gillings of the Department of Biological Sciences was featured in the Fitness First Online Magazine, on the power of the Microbiome.
Michael Gillings was interviewed by Radio Live New Zealand
Professor Michael Gillings of the Department of Biological Sciences was interviewed by Radio Live New Zealand on the spread of antibiotic resistance.