Division of Environmental and Life Sciences

News From the Dean
The weekly update from the Dean of Division, Prof Liz Deane

New ARIES Research Paper
Paper on lowering environmental stress on the Reef available for download

Opportunities
- Scientific Reference Book Seeks Your Contributions
- ABC TV Arts and Science Documentary Pitching Competition at AIDC 2008

Events
- Head for the Hills: discussion including first hand stories of going sustainable
- Author talk: Please explain by Dr Karl Kruszelnicki
- Ian Lowe Lecture: Our Respsonsibility to Future Generations
- Advanced Warning: special Biology seminar NEXT week
- ELS Seminar Series

News from the Dean

Dear Colleagues,

The most outstanding positive news for the Division this past week has undoubtedly been the announcement the Federal government funding for the National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility was awarded to a consortium of which Macquarie is a member. This is another big win for Lesley Hughes (our very own fractional Nobel Prize winner!) and for the Climate CoRE spanning Biology, Physical Geography, GSE and EFS.

Last week saw the majority of our post-graduate research students make their annual presentations. It was once again great to hear some exciting science and is a great reflection on the quality of our supervisors.

There has, as usual, been lots of paperwork this week but no fresh funding opportunities!!

Hope to see you at the end-of-semester BBQ this Friday at 12:30 in the Biology Courtyard. If you have yet to RSVP, please email elshead@els.mq.edu.au . There is still time for more ELS mug nominations, please email Jane at jedgson@els.mq.edu.au .

Till next week

Liz

[Back to top]

_________________________________________________________

New ARIES Report: lowering environmental stress on the Great Barrier Reef

• How can landholders help protect the Great Barrier Reef ?

A study undertaken by the Australian Research Institute in Education for Sustainability (ARIES) at Macquarie University attempted to address these questions. The study supports a significant body of scientific research developed over the last two decades which indicates that the Great Barrier Reef is being harmed by changes in its catchment. Changes to land use and land-management practices could make an important contribution to lowering the environmental stress on the Reef system.

You can download a PDF of the report Reef Water Quality Protection Plan: Scoping of issues associated with industry practices from our website: www.aries.mq.edu.au .

[Back to top]

_________________________________________________________

Opportunities

_________________________________________________________

Scientific Reference Book Seeks Your Contributions

Millennium House, publishers based in Sydney, are producing a large-format, lavishly illustrated volume called Scientifica, which is intended as a general reference book for the USA and other English-language markets . They are looking for authors to write various sections of the book, in particular Physics, Mathematics, Chemistry, Biology and Medicine. As the book is for non-scientists/non-mathematicians, the writing would be non-technical, non-academic, yet informative and engaging. The market is general, eg families, ordinary people, people without tertiary education in the sciences. The idea is to explain the sciences in an accessible way to non-experts.

Millennium House is a relatively new publishing company that produces general market books that are highly informative and also beautiful. The company strive's to find expert authors from around the world. This year, Millennium House published a comprehensive and gorgeous book on Astronomy (called Universe) and another on Geology (called Geologica).

Scientifica covers Physics, Mathematics, Chemistry, Astronomy, Biology, Medicine, and Geology. We are looking for writers in Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, Biology and Medicine.

Authors can write a little or a lot, from a single spread (2 pp, 900 words) to a lot, depending on their areas of expertise and interest. Millennium is offering AUD$175 per 1000 words as a token of thanks. You will also receive a copy of the book upon publication and a brief biography of you will be included on the contributors page. They will need to receive copy in late January/early February 2008. For further information please contact as soon as possible:

Loretta Barnard
Sonnet Editorial
email: lorettab@idx.com.au
phone: (612) 9997 6463; mob: 0410 608 956

_________________________________________________________

ABC TV Arts and Science Documentary Pitching Competition at AIDC 2008

ABC TV Arts, Entertainment & Comedy and ABC TV Documentaries (Science) will finance the development of a Science and Arts documentary project to the value of AU$10,000 in a pitching competition at the AIDC, February 20-22, 2008.

The collaboration between these two highly divergent cultures is now a dynamic area of practice. Increasing numbers of artists and scientists are exploring each other's ideas, materials and working methods. Artists are inspired by science and technology as well as providing fresh critical viewpoints of the consequences of new knowledge. The artistic impulse is itself an area of research by scientists.

Proposals from science and arts filmmakers that are interesting innovative formats are welcomed. We would like to receive applications that demonstrate new thoughts or new concepts on how a convergence of arts and science could be expressed on television.

ABC TV Arts and ABC TV Docs are calling for treatments of up to 3 pages for either a one-hour documentary or a documentary series for prime time slots on ABC TV.

The deadline for applications is January 14 2008.

For more information please go to http://www.abc.net.au/tv/aidc

_________________________________________________________

[Back to top]

Events

_________________________________________________________

Choosing the Good Life

Sick of the Election? Then take to the Hills! Sharyn Munro, author of The Woman on the Mountain, lives in a solar-powered mudbrick cabin on a remote mountain. Adrienne Langman, Choosing Eden: The real dirt on the coming energy crisis, has a self-sustaining lifestyle on a 12-acre farm. Hear their inspirational stories of going back to basics.

Time: 12:30pm-1:30pm Nov 21 Cost: $22, $20 (seniors) $15 (Friends & students) includes light refreshments

Venue: Friends Room, Mitchell Wing, State Library of NSW, Macquarie Street , Sydney

Bookings: State Library of NSW www.sl.nsw.gov.au (02) 9273 1770

_________________________________________________________

Author talk: Please explain by Dr Karl Kruszelnicki

Nobody conveys the wonder of science quite like Dr Karl Kruszelnicki. Please explain Dr Karl's 26th book, takes us through another entertaining exploration of the world around us.

Time: 1:00pm-2:00pm Nov 21 Cost: Free

Venue: Stanton Library, 239 Miller Street, North Sydney

Enquiries: Stanton Library www.northsydney.nsw.gov.au 02 9936 8400

_________________________________________________________

Our Responsibility to Future Generations

Prof. Ian Lowe AO, Emeritus Professor of Science, Technology and Society at Griffith University states that '...our current choices are determining the sort of world future generations will inherit. An obsession with short-term economics has driven a systematic neglect of such issues as resource depletion, environmental damage and social cohesion.' . Inaugural ISAA Annual Lecture.

Time: 5:30pm-7:00pm Nov 21 Cost: $22/$20 (seniors)/$15 (ISAA, Friends & students) incl.light refreshments

Venue: Dixson Room, State Library of NSW, Macquarie Street , Sydney

Bookings: State Library of NSW www.sl.nsw.gov.au (02) 9273 1770

_________________________________________________________

Advanced Warning - Special Biological sciences Seminar NEXT week

"EVOLUTION OF SPIDERS ON THE REMOTE ISLANDS OF OCEANIA: CONNECTIONS, CONTIGUITIES, AND CONVERGENCES"

Dr. Rosie Gillespie, University of California at Berkeley

Summary: Oceanic islands have played a key role in the integration of phylogenetics and evolutionary biology into studies of community composition. I will discuss research on the formation of spider communities on remote high islands of the Pacific (the Hawaiian Islands and French Polynesia in particular), and examine (1) the effect of island age and ecological precedence on community composition; (2) the relative roles of dispersal and evolution in the origin of species; and (3) the importance of phylogenetic affinity versus convergent evolution in the formation of similar communities.

Wednesday 28 November 1 pm, Block E8A room 290 (Biology tearoom)

_________________________________________________________

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.

_________________________________________________________

[Back to top]

Snippets

World's most accurate 'ruler' created
Physicists have revealed a breakthrough technique that uses single photons to measure lengths as accurately as the laws of physics allow.

Australia: fifth fattest country
A new report has shown that Australia has the fifth lowest smoking rates in the developed world, but also has the fifth highest obesity rates.

Allergies cost Australia billions
Allergies cost the Australian economy over $7 billion a year, and allergic conditions are on the rise in the population, according to a new report.

Cancer drug targets cell death inhibitor
Researchers have discovered the way in which a new drug kills cancer cells by targeting proteins that inhibit the normal process of cell death.

Thousands refuse genetic cancer tests
Over 60 per cent of Australians with a high familial risk of cancer are declining offers for genetic checks that could save thousands of lives.

Workers unaware of number skills
A report has shown that many people are using numeracy skills at work unknowingly, research that has important implications for personal development.

Accidents cause most back pain
Traffic accidents and falls are responsible for over three-quarters of all cases of spinal cord injury in Australia , according to a new report.

Insufficient support hinders students
Research has shown that ineligibility for Youth Allowance and the insufficient support it provides is keeping many regional Australians from tertiary study.

[Back to top]

__________________________________________