Antioxidant activities of chitosans and its derivatives in in vitro and in vivo studies
By: Anraku, Makoto, Janusz M. Gebicki, Daisuke Iohara, Hisao Tomida, Kaneto Uekama, Toru Maruyama, Fumitoshi Hirayama, and Masaki Otagiri. | Find with Google Scholar »
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Hi all
Thanks to all who attended this week’s department meeting and L&T curriculum meeting where the proposed Advanced Science, Medical Science and Human Biology courses were discussed. We also talked about renewal of the Biological Sciences Museum and there was general agreement that the theses could be moved to the library and that space made accessible as a student study area. If you would like input on the Museum displays and how to best support our teaching, please let me know. You can find the department meeting slides here.
Next week I am at a conference until Thursday and Sharyon is in Perth at a tertiary education conference, so please see the lovely admin team or Deputy HoDs Grant and Mel if you need anything.
cheers
Michelle
Save the Date
This coming week 10th – 14th September
Mon 10th: REP Workshop ‘Is The Mainstream Account of Evolution Satisfactory?’; 10.00am – 12.00pm; 7WW (E6B) 149 Briefing Room.
Wed 12th: Departmental Seminar – Professor Ian Crawford, Birkbeck, University of London; 1.00pm – 2.00pm; 14EAR (E8A) 280 Biology Tea Room.
Thu 13th: R U OK? Day. Information session 12-1pm Conference Room A, Level 3, 18 Wally’s Walk. Information here
Thu 13th: aaRgh – R drop in session; 3.00pm – 4.00pm; 14EAR (E8A) 280 Biology Tea Room.
Thu 13th: Biology and Environment Society Careers Night; 4.00pm – 7.30pm; 14EAR (E8A) 280 Biology Tea Room.
Following week 10th – 14th September
Wed 19th: Biology ECR Research Showcase; 9.00am; 14EAR (E8A) 280 Biology Tea Room.
Wed 19th: Biological Sciences Graduation Ceremony; 2.30pm; Great Hall, MQU.
Thu 13th: HDR completion seminars – Kaja Wierucka & Mo Hasque; 4.00pm – 5.00pm; 14EAR (E8A) 280 Biology Tea Room.
Thu 13th: Biology Social Club; 5.00pm – 7.00pm; Biology Courtyard.
Future Events
Sep 21st: Frank Mercer Garden 40th Anniversary; 12.00pm – 2.00pm; Frank Mercer Garden, behind Biology Courtyard – RSVP to Samantha Newton.
Oct 2nd: REP Workshop ‘Conservation Conversations: Saving Our Smallest Species’; 9.00am – 11.00am; 14EAR (E8A) 280 Biology Tea Room.
Oct 10th: Faculty Safety Day; 10.00am – 2.00pm; Biology Courtyard.
Want to know what Department seminars are coming up? You can check out the Dept webpage at any time!
General News and Announcements
Baby News
Welcome to Martin and Sally Whiting’s new babies, Thomas (left) and Olive (right). Martin advises that sibling rivalry is already underway with Olive weighing 850 gram more at birth.
MQ’s R U OK? Day – Thursday 13th September
This Thursday is R U OK? Day and there will be a session on supporting others and asking R U OK? You can find information here.
The annual Biology ECR Research Showcase is nearly upon us! The Early Career Researcher (ECR) Showcase is just around the corner on Wednesday September 19th. Please put it in your diary. The organisers (Ajay N, Rachael D, Jonas W) are busy collating a schedule of fascinating talks for your intellectual tastebuds, and also organising some carefully considered catering for your real ones. The ECR showcase is an annual mini-conference organised by our ECR committee, with the aim to promote and expose the great research being conducted in our department by our ECRs, while enabling networking across the department. All Department members (e.g. ECRs, Academics, Professional Staff and HDR students) are warmly invited to attend. Thank you so far to everyone who has volunteered to give a talk. Schedule to follow.
Biology Garden 40th Anniversary – Please Help! – We’re celebrating the 40th anniversary of our garden on Friday 21st September.
We need your historic photos! As part of the celebrations we’ll have a display of how the garden, especially the courtyard, has been used over the past 40 years.
Please help by submitting images you have to Samantha Newton <samantha.newton@mq.edu.au>
We’d love to have a range of photos from across the decades: planting days, student pracs, open days, Christmas parties and farewells. Precious hard copies can be scanned. Please contact Samantha
Have your say on Open Day 2018
If you were a contributor on Open Day this year please provide feedback on what worked and didn’t work so well on the day at this survey
Train Station Closure 30th September 2018 With the Macquarie University train station closure from 30 September 2018 for 6-7 months, this website offers information about bus options from your closest train station. http://www.mysydney.nsw.gov.au/stationlink It will be the first place to look for information and will be continually updated. https://staff.mq.edu.au/work/travel/station-upgrade
Women in Conservation – special issue
The latest issue of Pacific Conservation Biology is a special issue that brings together the stories of a range of women in conservation science to showcase the great work being done in a wide range of disciplines and sectors, from field studies to genetics, decision-making and modelling, in marine and terrestrial systems within Australia. The issue is edited by Margaret Byrne, Linda Broadhurst, Michelle Leishman and Kathy Belov and contains articles written by many women currently in or in some way associated with our Department, including Lesley Hughes & Vanessa Adams. A recommended read with lots of wise advice and tips for ECRs starting on their careers from a diversity of women – available open access for the next month https://www.publish.csiro.au/pc
SEMINARS AND WORKSHOPS
Biological Sciences Weekly Seminar
Date/Time/Venue: Wednesday, 12th September 2018, 1 – 2pm, 14EAR (E8A) 280 Biology Tea Room.
Speaker: Professor Ian Crawford: Widening perspectives: the intellectual and social benefits of astrobiology, big history, and the exploration of space ON OUR WEBPAGE HERE
RESEARCH ENRICHMENT PROGRAM: Is the mainstream account of evolution satisfactory?
Date/Time/Venue: Monday, 10th September 2018, 10 am – 12 pm, E6B 149 Briefing Room.
The broad aim of this workshop is for participants is to think over our knowledge of evolutionary biology, especially the question whether standard or mainstream accounts of Darwinism should be regarded as somehow unsatisfactory or incomplete. Click here to register to attend.
RESEARCH ENRICHMENT PROGRAM: Conservation conversations: saving our smallest species
Date/Time/Venue: Tuesday, 2 October 2018, 9 am – 11 am, 14EAR (E8A) 280 Biology Tea Room.
Almost all animals are invertebrates, yet their vital role in maintaining the health of our environments and providing essential ecosystem services is systematically undervalued. These “other 99%” are under threat from a range of human activities but the need for their conservation is virtually ignored. In order to save our smallest species, we need increased public engagement, new ideas and improved collaboration between interest groups. Click here to register to attend.
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.
Molecular Sciences Seminar
Date/Time/Venue: Tuesday, 25th September 2018, 1 – 2pm, 4WW (F7B) 322 Seminar Room.
Speaker: Dr Lidia Matesic, Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO). Title: The genetic basis of innovation: venom, pregnancy, and the evolution of complex traits. More information on this and all department seminars
ADMIN THINGS
Pure Training – Registration – 25 September 2018 – 1.00 pm to 3.30 pm
The PURE system is used to manage researcher profiles, outputs including publications, funding applications, awards, projects and reports. Do you feel like you could use some more PURE training? Please register for this session via an email to jenny.ghabache@mq.edu.au.
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.
Photo Competition – SEPTEMBER 2018 – go into the draw to win a $100 Gift Card this month! This month’s theme is Man Made! 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: 30 SEPTEMBER 2018. You can enter as many photos as you like – one entry to the draw per photo with caption info, good luck!
RESEARCH FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
The Paddy Pallin Foundation and the Foundation for National Parks & Wildlife Science Grants 2018 – worth up to $7,000 each to support field-based, high quality ecological research.
The grants are open to postgraduate students and Early Career Researchers. Applications close 14 September. Further details and application forms can be found here
Ecological Society of Australia Student research awards open 31 August – Ten student research awards of up to $1,500 will be available to Australian postgraduate and honours students conducting ecological research with applications opening Friday 31 August. 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
Are You an Early-Career Researcher Who Loves Sharing Your Research? The NSW Office of Environment & Heritage (OEH) and the Ecological Society of Australia (ESA) have joined forces to establish a new prize for early-career researchers who are doing an exceptional job of communicating ecological research to the public. The OEH/ESA Prize for Outstanding Outreach is a $400 cash prize which will provide much-deserved recognition, and additional experience, for up to six early-career researchers who are doing an excellent job of communicating their research.
Applications are now open, closing at midnight Saturday 13 October. Details here
OPPORTUNITIES
SUPERSTARS OF STEM – applications open NOW!
The search is on for the next 60 Superstars of STEM! Applications are already open! Science & Technology Australia are particularly keen for articulate and passionate women to apply: the aim is to make sure as many STEM disciplines as possible are represented on the program. Each of the participants will be equipped with the skills, contacts and opportunities to become confident public spokespeople for their work, their discipline, and their sector. They will meet decision makers at all levels of government, media, business and academia, and we will provide them with opportunities to connect with thousands of students across Australia. Applications due 23 September 2018.
Lecturer in PACE – is this the job for you? – http://jobs.mq.edu.au/cw/en/job/503804/lecturer-in-pace-learning-teaching-and-research
Mental Health support: upcoming workshops – One of the hardest parts of doing a research degree is giving your attention to the thesis each day. While students may face many kinds of obstacles, it is the ordinary experience of being with one’s work and oneself that often presents the greatest challenge.
This four-part workshop series focuses on the role that awareness and our states of mind play in the experience of being a researcher. It looks closely at the mind states – both positive and challenging – that students commonly report, and explores how these relate to experiences of self, research practice and the wider university culture.
The first workshop offers a basic introduction to mindfulness principles and their relevance to research. It discusses the importance of awareness for both our understanding the research experience, and how we face the challenges it presents.
24/09/2018 The Mindful Researcher, Part 1: Mindfulness and Research
02/10/2018 The Mindful Researcher, Part 2: The Research Environment: Busyness and Slowness in the Academy
08/10/2018 The Mindful Researcher, Part 3: Attention and Distraction in the Research Process
15/10/2018 The Mindful Researcher, Part 4: Cultivating Balance
Register by clicking on the course names here: https://myrdc.mq.edu.au/
First Aid Training Course – The Provide First Aid Course will be held on the following dates from 9 am – 4 pm here at Macquarie University on Monday, 8 October and again on
Tuesday, 11 December 2018. If you are able to attend one of the above dates, please complete the application form seeking your manager’s approval and send back to ohs@mq.edu.au. If you have a current First Aid certificate and are attending to complete as a ‘refresher’ please indicate this on your form and bring a copy of your current certificate to the training day. The refresher will only take 2 hours commencing 9 am on the day. As there is a maximum of 25 participants per course places will be allocated upon receipt of your application. For those of you who do not have a current First Aid certificate there will be some pre-work to be completed. A confirmation will be sent confirming your place.
BLOGS AND OTHER THINGS OF INTEREST
Plant of the Week
The Blue Lupin is endemic to Israel but now widely dispersed around the Mediterranean. In years past it was grown in Altrei, a northern Italian village, where the seeds were roasted, mixed with grains and ground to produce a caffeine-free hot drink. There is now a move to re-establish that tradition.
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.
Keeping to these guidelines will streamline your article’s addition to the newsletter. Thank you.
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Back issues can be found at this newsletter archive link for your reading pleasure.
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New Publications
Maximizing the benefits of oyster reef restoration for finfish and their fisheries
By: Gilby, Ben L., Andrew D. Olds, Charles H. Peterson, Rod M. Connolly, Christine M. Voss, Melanie J. Bishop, Michael Elliott, Jonathan H. Grabowski, Nicholas L. Ortodossi, and Thomas A. Schlacher. | Find with Google Scholar »Differential success in obtaining gametes between male and female Australian temperate frogs by hormonal induction: A review
By: Clulow, John, Melissa Pomering, Danielle Herbert, Rose Upton, Natalie Calatayud, Simon Clulow, Michael J. Mahony, and Vance L. Trudeau. | Find with Google Scholar »The Microbiome of the Gastrointestinal Tract of a Range-Shifting Marine Herbivorous Fish
By: Jones, Jacquelyn, Joseph DiBattista, Michael Stat, Michael Bunce, Mary C. Boyce, David V. Fairclough, Michael T. Travers, and Megan Jane Huggett. | Find with Google Scholar »Generation of a sexually mature individual of the Eastern dwarf tree frog, Litoria fallax, from cryopreserved testicular macerates: proof of capacity of cryopreserved sperm derived offspring to complete development
By: Upton, Rose, Simon Clulow, Michael J. Mahony, and John Clulow | Find with Google Scholar »In the Media
Adam Stow provided comment to the Daily Mail regarding a stingray’s virgin birth.
Associate Professor Adam Stow from the Department of Biological Sciences provided comment to the Daily Mail regarding a stingray’s virgin birth.