In this edition:
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News From the Deane |
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Why did the Possum cross the road? |
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Opportunities |
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Events |
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Snippets | |
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Science News Archive | |
News from the Dean |
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Dear Colleagues, Thank you to all staff who turned up in their finery at graduation last Friday. Particular thanks to Kevin, who stood in for me and did a great job with difficult thesis titles and names and to the staff who were graduation helpers. Congratulations also go to all staff who helped these students on their way and to proud supervisors of our latest crop of Masters and PhDs. Congratulations to Sam Muller (PhD student in Human Geography) who has just been awarded one of the first ever Wentworth Scholarships. These are new scholarships from the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists, awarded to support research to bridge the gap between science and public policy. Some opportunities that have arrived on the desk.
Till next week Liz |
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The Impact of Vehicles on Possums in Our Urban Environment
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Anyone who lives in one of Sydney's leafier or newer suburbs will no doubt have noticed the increasing number of local native animals that are reduced to roadkill every year. Not content to accept these animal deaths as a consequence of expanding urbanisation, a Macquarie University scientist has made it her mission to reduce the number of possums that are all too regularly being killed on our suburban roads. Tracey Adams, a student within the Department of Biological Sciences, has been doing research as part of a Masters degree on the impact of vehicles on our ringtail and brushtail neighbours. Two years into the research Adams has found that nearly one possum per day is dying on a single 40 kilometre stretch of road in the Ku-ring-gai area. Adams has been surveying Lady Game Drive, The Comenarra Parkway, Bobbin Head Road, Ku-ring-gai Chase Road, and Ryde and Mona Vale Roads. These roads were chosen as they occur in pairs of differing environmental aspect - Lady Game Drive and The Comenarra Parkway run through both bush and urban areas, Ryde Road and Mona Vale Road are six lanes through urban areas, Bobbin Head Road is a two-lane urban and bush road and Ku-ring-gai Chase Road at Bobbin Head Road has bush on both sides. To date she has collected data on nearly 600 dead possums, recording their weight, body measurements, age and sex. She also took a GPS reading of the exact location of each fatality. Additionally she looked at factors along the road including the roadside vegetation, road orientation, the proximity of the possum carcass to the nearest lighting, the crossing type - usually canopy vegetation or electric wires - and the distance of the carcass from the nearest crossing, the speed limit, the weather, and the phase of the moon. This information was then statistically modelled, revealing which areas are roadkill hotspots. "Using a GIS mapping program I have been able to determine where the worst areas are," she says. "I've identified six hotspots - two unique to brushtails, two unique to ringtails, and two for both species. Of the six, Lady Game Drive and The Comenarra Parkway are notoriously bad areas for possums. On these two roads more than 13 possums die per month. Also, the hotspots on Lady Game Drive have remained consistent throughout the project." Adams found that light was a key factor in the road toll. Seventy per cent of the possums she collected were found within 50 metres of a streetlight and 32 per cent within less than five metres. Fifty-three per cent of the possums were killed within 50 metres of a crossing and 23 per cent within five metres or less. Tellingly, Adams also discovered that in only three per cent of cases were possums able to cross the road via canopy vegetation, leaving electricity wires as the only alternative to crossing at ground level. However, electricity wires were only available in 65 per cent of cases, leaving nearly a third of the possums with no crossing, apart from the road, for more than 200 metres. Made of mesh and steel, the tunnel bridges allow possums to either walk through, on top, or in and out of the bridge as they cross over the road below. From the very beginning, the project was never going to be just about the numbers however. Adams was keen from the get-go that it would have positive outcomes for Sydney's suburban possums. "When I started the project I knew that I wanted it to have some kind of conservation outcome," she explains. "I knew that I had to do something to lower the roadkill numbers because it's just so awful. The common brushtail possum and the common ringtail possum both show contraction throughout their range and populations are thought to be in decline. Brushtails are now common only in Tasmania, Kangaroo Island and in some urban areas, and have recently been listed as rare in South Australia, so I started to investigate ways that our roads could be made more permeable to wildlife." Encouraged by data from a similar study conducted in Queensland, which made recommendations for aerial possum bridges to be erected in areas of rainforest in the far north of the state, Adams began lobbying Ku-ring-gai Council for bridges to be constructed at the roadkill hotspots she identified. Late last year she received permission from the Council, and so with contributions from their office, the NSW Wildlife Information and Rescue Service (WIRES) and Macquarie University, two trial bridges have recently been constructed at Lady Game Drive in East Lindfield. Remote infra-red cameras have been installed to monitor possum traffic on the bridges over the course of this year. Later in the year Adams will be able to say for certain if the possum bridges are a success. If they prove to be, as she expects, she will lobby other Sydney councils to construct bridges in their hotspots. For further information on this research, please contact: tadams@rna.bio.mq.edu.au Adapted from an original story by Fiona Crawford appearing at http://www.pr.mq.edu.au/macnews/
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Opportunities |
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_________________________________________________________ 2nd International Conference on Education for Sustainable Development: Graduates as Global Citizens 10-11 September 2007, Bournemouth University, UK We would like to announce that a second international conference will be held at Bournemouth University on 10-11 September 2007 on the theme of Education for Sustainable Development: Graduates as Global Citizens. The conference aims to bring together participants who are developing approaches to take forward sustainable development and global citizenship within the context of Further/Higher Education. This may be through learning, teaching and assessment strategies, student support, extra curricular activities, and corporate initiatives that demonstrate to students and staff, that universities are addressing their responsibility for sustainable development. All contributions that demonstrate relevance to addressing global perspectives and sustainable development in FE/HE will be considered. Perspectives that show how these issues are dealt with in other countries are particularly welcome. Submission of abstracts (500-600 words) is to be made by Friday 27 April. For more information and updates, please see the conference web-page: http://www.bournemouth.ac.uk/globalcitizens Those who wish to attend the conference without presenting a paper, please book your place through the conference web-page listed above. _________________________________________________________
BOOKS WANTED The Epping Chapter of Amnesty International raises money annually by selling second hand books. Children's books, gardening books, recipe books and trashy novels are always popular, but, please, no old computer manuals or text books. If anyone has any books that they would like to donate, please contact Blanche on 9850 6497.
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Events |
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_________________________________________________________ GENES TO GEOSCIENCES SEMINAR "Candid Camera" Dr Martin Slade (Macquarie University). Wednesday 2 May
_________________________________________________________ Physical Geography Seminar 1 Wednesday, 2nd May, 2007 Location: E5A 143, 1.00pm. Presenter: Dr Kevin Cheung, National Center for Disaster Reduction, Taipei, Taiwan Title: Mesoscale Features associated with Tropical Cyclone Formations in the Western North Pacific
Physical Geography Seminar 2 Thursday, 3rd May, 2007. Location: E5A 143, 1.00pm. Presenter: Dr Scott Power, Bureau of Meteorology Research Centre Title: The El Nino-southern Oscillation and its changing impact on Australia Further information on both seminars can be found at: http://www.es.mq.edu.au/physgeog/events/index.htm
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CLIMATE CHANGE SEMINAR - Experts Explain the Latest IPCC Reports 7-9pm Tuesday 1 May 2007 Physics Theatre, Old Main Building (K15) UNIVERSITY OF NSW, Anzac Pde, Kensington Dr. Scott Power - Bureau of Meteorology Research Centre "Climate Change: Science in a Nutshell" This talk is for people who want a quick overview of the very latest in climate science and what it means for Australia. The talk will draw on the Working Group 1 "Summary for Policymakers" recently released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and research conducted here in Australia. We will examine observed changes in our climate system, how climate models work, and what the models tell us about past and future climate. Scott Power is a Principal Research Scientist with the Bureau of Meteorology Research Centre and is a contributing author of the IPCC 2007 Working Group 1 report. Kevin Hennessy - CSIRO Marine & Atmospheric Research "Climate Change: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability" This talk will start with a brief overview of the IPCC Working Group 2 "Summary for Policymakers" which assesses global impacts, adaptation and vulnerability. The focus will then shift to Australia, with a detailed discussion of observed and projected changes in climate, potential impacts on a range of sectors including agriculture and coasts, the scope for adaptation, and some conclusions about vulnerability. Kevin Hennessy is a Principal Research Scientist in CSIRO's Climate Impacts and Risk Group. He is also a Coordinating Lead Author of Chapter 11 "Australia and New Zealand" in the IPCC 2007 Working Group 2 report.
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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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SnippetsMicroscopic algae vital to estuaries A field survey completed by Geoscience Australia has confirmed that microscopic algae can play a critical role in maintaining the health of Australia's estuaries. Asbestos disease has been underestimated Current predictions of the future incidence of asbestos-related disease have been substantially underestimated, according to new modelling presented by Dr Mark Clements from The Australian National University. Agriculture polluting NZ rivers New Zealand's rivers are showing the benefits of efforts to clean up point-source pollution, but the effects of diffuse run-off from intensified agriculture are becoming increasingly apparent. About half of the long-term rainfall decline experienced in south-west Western Australia since the 1960s can now be linked to increases in greenhouse gases, according to two CSIRO scientists. Cancer breakthrough: enzyme identified Research into cancer, anticancer treatments, and ageing has been advanced through the identification of the composition of human telomerase - an enzyme integral to 85% of all cancers. Small bird with jumbo jet range As the last bar-tailed godwits leave New Zealand estuaries on their northern migration to Alaska this week, Massey scientists will trace their journey via satellite-tagged individuals. Fencing off salt-affected land is a low risk strategy to reduce the amount of salt entering our rivers and streams, according to the research findings from the Gumble region in central NSW.
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