In this edition:
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News From the Dean |
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Selling Lamingtons to Tokyo |
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Unique Biotech Course for Korean Students ESL hosts students from Korea over the summer |
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Opportunities |
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Snippets | |
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Science News Archive | |
News from the DeanAs you're all probably aware I am filling in for Liz while she takes some well earned annual leave. She'll be back in the chair on Monday, 12 March. In the meantime I want to thank all of you who have helped to ensure the smooth running of the enrolment process. Even though students now enrol on-line there is still a significant amount of support required in student advising, timetabling enquiries and the like. I want to add a particular thank you to Jenny Donald for her co-ordinating role and for making sure we have all been well informed about the enrolment process and timelines. |
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You all probably know by now that Jen Manefield has left us to take up a career in environmental planning. I know you will join with me in wishing her all the very best for the future. Luckily she will be able to continue at a distance to do some bits and pieces for us until we can sort out how to reorganize ourselves around her departure. And, finally, if any academic staff are thinking about applying for promotion this year, the on-line application system is already up and running for the 27 th of April closing date. The web address for online applications is: http://www.pers.mq.edu.au/forms/22/index.html Best wishes for next week and the start of classes. Kevin _________________________________________________________
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Selling Lamingtons in TokyoA lamington drive could take on a whole new meaning when talking to two Macquarie University marine scientists. They are the brains behind what could become the world's first commercial closed-system aquaculture system for the production of sea urchin roe from Tripneustes gratilla - the Lamington Urchin - and a potential major export industry for Australia. Drs Jane Williamson and Devarajen Vaitilingon from Macquarie University's Marine Ecology Group have just received close to $800,000 from an AusIndustry Commercial Ready grant with commercial partner VentureAxess to spend the next 12 months developing an echiniculture (sea urchin aquaculture) system at Macquarie's unique seawater facility. The pair has already spent the past few years conducting practical research into growing sea urchins from eggs in closed farm conditions. Most recently their work has focused on finding the species that produces the tastiest roe. "While Australia has 42 species of regular sea urchins, there are only a handful that taste really nice," Williamson explains. "We have decided to work with Tripneustes gratilla - commonly known as the Lamington Urchin as it has a black body and white spines - because it is a tropical species found all around the world and along the east Australian coast and its roe is very tasty." Sea urchin roe is a delicacy in some Asian markets, particularly Japan which consumes 85 per cent of the world's sea urchin roe production. Sea urchins are known as uni in Japan, and the roe of the Lamington Urchin is called white uni - the best quality roe on the Tokyo market. However, due to over-fishing, Japan now only locally produces 20 per cent of its consumption. "Uni is a traditional Japanese food item that is often exchanged as a gift during the New Year celebrations," Williamson says. "In Japan, sea urchin roe is regarded, along with tuna, lobster and abalone, as premium seafood, selling in top restaurants for ¥5,000 (around A$53) per 20 gram serve." Demand for sea urchin roe is increasing, however many of the traditional exporters of sea urchin roe to Japan such as the United States and Russia have overexploited their populations of urchins. |
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"The number of sea urchins is declining worldwide due to natural harvesting, and many populations of urchins have been over-exploited, resulting in less productive remaining populations," she says. Sustainable fishing is something that Williamson is passionate about. She is a strong advocate for the development of marine parks and their benefits to both a sustainable fishing industry and to marine biodiversity. As President of the NSW Branch of Australian Marine Sciences Association she has been involved in raising awareness of the scientific benefits of marine parks along the NSW coast. "If we harvest more sea urchins we're likely to see a huge cascade of effects on different marine life in the ecosystem. In most of the places worldwide that have been commercially targeted, urchins have been overharvested - in many cases to extinction," Williamson says. "Considering the complex ecological role sea urchins have in temperate marine ecosystems it makes sense not to greatly impact on their natural abundance and distribution," she adds. The technique Williamson and Vaitilingon plan to use with the Lamington Urchin is closed life cycle echiniculture and it involves reproducing all the stages of the urchin's life cycle under controlled conditions. To facilitate the commercialisation of this research, Macquarie University's commercial arm AccessMQ has created a company - AusUni Pty Ltd. Providing all goes well with the project during the year, the next step will be to build a pilot farm to produce marketable quantities of Lamington Urchins with commercially viable body weight and consistently high quality roe. The following stage will involve raising capital for a commercial plant and developing an export market to Japan. The end result - based on Williamson and Vaitilingon's research and developed by AusUni - could well be a profitable while ecologically sustainable aquaculture industry for the export of sea urchins from Australia. Story by Kathy Vozella _________________________________________________________
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Unique biotech course for Korean studentsKorean students have been visiting ELS learning English and biotechnology in an intensive and unique five week course. Students from Pukyong National University and Pusan National University are taught English in the morning, and have biotechnology lectures, workshops and laboratory work several afternoons per week. This is the first course at Macquarie that combines biotechnology and English classes. Macquarie University is renowned for its research in this expanding field of science. Macquarie is home to the world's first proteomics laboratory, named by Macquarie researcher Marc Wilkins. Biotechnology applies knowledge of biochemistry, molecular biology, microbiology and chemistry to new technical and industrial processes. The students have taken part in the ‘Biotechnology Experience’ to get a taste of the kind of Biotechnology we specialise in at Macquarie. Academic staff and postgraduate students have been involved in introducing the students to new areas of Biotechnology where Macquarie has specific expertise such as bioinformatics, proteomics, bioethics and biotechnology entrepreneurship. While the students are in Australia, they stay with Australian host families. “This gives students a chance to share the family experience, speak English with native speakers and get a taste of our Australian lifestyle,” says Mark Smith from the National Centre for English Language Teaching and Research (NCELTR) at Macquarie. |
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“I am the first guest my host family has had, and it is my first time in Australia so we are learning a lot together. They ask me many questions about Korea and I get to practice my English,” says Tae Min Woo from Pukyong National University. Soon Hee Park has also enjoyed staying with a host family. “I cooked my host family a traditional Korean meal. I was worried that it would be too spicy, but they really enjoyed it.” The students have appreciated the differences between Macquarie’s campus and their university in Korea. “There are many wild birds on the campus which is very different to Korea,” says Jong Kyuny Kim from Pukyong National University. Tae Min agrees, “With so many trees, it looks more like a park than a university.” _________________________________________________________
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Irina Pollard talks Biotechics and Biotechnology to Korean Visitors |
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Opprtunities |
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The 2007 Commonwealth Health Minister's Award for Excellence in Health and Medical Research will be offered this year. A call for nominations can be found on the NHMRC website at http://www.nhmrc.gov.au/. The closing date for nominations is Friday, 30 March 2006. _________________________________________________________
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Events |
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_________________________________________________________Flock of Dodos: The Evolution – Intelligent Design Circus The movie "Flock of Dodos" will be screened in Museums around the US to celebrate Darwin Day 2007. The movie focuses on the Science vs Intelligent Design debate currently raging in the US. The film also has a wider implication – do scientists need to “evolve” the way they discuss important scientific issues and theories in order to create a wider understanding of their significance amongst the general public. (For more information see www.flockofdodos.com) The screening will be followed by a discussion on: "The extinction of science: should scientists evolve?" When: 6.30pm, Friday 2 March 2007
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The Sydney Science Forum Lecture 1: Professor Jennie Brand-Miller, Professor Ian Caterson, Professor Steve Simpson When: Wednesday, 14 March 2007, 5:30pm for 5:45pm – 7:15pm Where: Eastern Avenue Auditorium, The University of Sydney Bookings: While the lecture is free, seat bookings are essential as places are limited. Please call (02) 9351 3021 or email info@science.usyd.edu.au to book seats (maximum of 5, except for school groups). The Sydney Science Forum is a lecture series run for school groups, the general public and members of the University community in the interest of promoting an understanding and appreciation of the latest scientific knowledge and research.
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Warringah Council Water Lecture: "The Future of Water"
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ELS Seminar Series Departments in ELS host seminars covering a wide range of topics associated with ongoing research projects and other areas of interest. The seminars are delivered by academics, research staff, and students from within the Division, as well as guest speakers from other institutions and industry. Details of times, dates, locations and topics of seminars to be held over the next few weeks are listed here.
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Snippets
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