In this edition:
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News From the Dean |
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ELS Farewells a Dean |
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Interesting Collaborative Paper from the Genes to Geosciences Group |
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ELS Congratulates Dr Ross Peacock ...who has been awarded the 2007 Ecological Society of Australia Member Services Prize. |
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Opportunities |
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Events |
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Snippets | |
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Science News Archive | |
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News from the Dean |
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Dear Colleagues A busy week in the Division with plenty of student enquiries, enrolments, renovations starting, as parts of E7A are re-carpeted and painted, and some renovations have been completed. The offices on the ground floor of E8A have been refurbished and staff are busy moving back into them. The labs in E7B level 3 have also been refurbished and will be available for teaching for the start of semester as a wonderful facility for CBMS students. There is no doubt that 2008 will see some important developments in Macquarie as a great place to be - as well as some significant trials to our patience. On the plus side, keep an eye out for linkages into volunteer services in environment and social inclusion. Did you just renew your subscription to New Scientist? If so, you will have received their 2008 Calendar. Amongst the 12 international photographs, the month of May makes use of Ron Oldfield's Eureka Prize entry of last year - a polarisation micrograph of yarn from the oldest existing textile from Egypt. You'll find a copy of the photograph at the end of my blurb (so keep reading!)..... And talking about the Eureka Prizes, entries close for the 2008 Australian Museum Eureka prizes on 2 May 2008. Details are available at www.australianmuseum.net.au/eureka. 2008 will be the first year for some time that Macquarie has exceeded our target in Science enrolments, so we might look forward to some good retention figures into higher levels too. For new staff and casual teaching staff amongst the graduate students and elsewhere, can I remind you about the Learning and Teaching Centre's excellent FILT (Foundations in Learning and Teaching) program. Highly recommended to orient you to quality teaching. http://www.mq.edu.au/staff/sessionalstaff/ RACI awards to 2007 Honours Students for the best thesis that shows originality, creativity and innovative use of chemistry to solve problems. Closing date is March 31 2008. Eligible students will have had a residential address in the Western Sydney area during their honours program and used chemistry to help them solve their research problems. Details from Dr Deidre Tronson (FRACI), tel: 4653 1430, email: deidre@bowtie.com.au or leave the thesis, clearly marked "WSS Honours Prize" at the RACI office, UNSW. Honours students in geography and related areas are eligible for the Institute of Australian Geographers ' Honours Prize, which is awarded for a paper from an honours thesis submitted to the journal Geographical Research. Details are available on the IAG website (iag.org.au) and all geography honours graduates should target this award. We have been asked to promote the following position - please bring it to the attention of anyone you think may be interested:- Geomorphologist/Geospatial Data Officer: Closes 24 Feb 2008 The Coastal Vulnerability Project at Geoscience Australia requires a coastal geomorphologist, with demonstrated GIS skills, to compile coastal datasets to create a GIS map of Australia 's coastal geomorphology. The position will have responsibility for the management of the relevant datasets and may involve the management of a small mapping team. Position based in Canberra . For more information see Employment Opportunities at Geoscience Australia 's website http://gacareers.nga.net.au Finally, Liz Deane has asked me to pass on her thanks to the IT group, Rees Griffiths, Phil Ingram, Michael Baxter, Paul Rohozky and Michael Bastion for all they have done to keep us connected. It is much appreciated - and please continue the excellent work! Kevin is on leave for the next week and I have inherited the "hot seat" in his absence. Thanks to the ELS Centre team for their patience with my "L" plates! Till next time Richie
"Fayum" by Ron Oldfield which appears as May in the New Scientist calendar. The photo is a polarisation micrograph of yarn from the oldest existing textile from Egypt. |
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ELS Farewells a Dean
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After seven and a half years, the Division of ELS last week said farewell to its Dean of Division, Prof Liz Deane as she headed south to take up a position at the Australian National University in Canberra. The following photos were taken from Liz's farewell drinks and as we welcome our new acting Dean, A/Prof Kevin McCracken, we wish Liz and family all the best with the new appointment and the new environment.
Liz wearing the research supervisor hat, surrounded by her PhD and Masters student posse...
An endangered species - the only two "former" Deans of the Division of ELS in existence!
Liz, taking the cake...
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Interesting Collaborative Paper from the Genes to Geosciences Group
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| "Hardwick, SA, Stokes, HW, Findlay, S, Taylor, M, and Gillings, MR (2007) Quantification of class 1 integron abundance in natural environments using real time quantitative PCR. FEMS Microbiology Letters, 287:207 DOI:10.1111/j.1574-6968.2007.00992.x"
This paper results from a collaboration between the Departments of Biology, Chemistry and Biomolecular Sciences and Physical Geography. It articulates one of the themes of the Genes to Geoscience Research Center, this being the linking of data from molecular genetics to landscape scale processes. In this case, the authors have shown a good correlation between the ecological health of an urban waterway (Cowan Creek) and the presence of a genetic element known to have a role in bacterial adaptation to strong selective forces, such as disinfectants, antibiotics and heavy metals. The Senior author is a biology Honours student, and a Physical Geography Masters student (Findlay) is also named. Sound interesting? Read more about the Genes to Geosciences group at http://www.bio.mq.edu.au/research/g2g/contact.html
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_________________________________________________________ ELS Congratulates Ross Peacock from Biological Sciences |
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Dr Ross Peacock from Biological Sciences, has been awarded the 2007 Ecological Society of Australia Member Services Prize. The purpose of the prize is to recognise outstanding contributions to ecology made by Ecological Society of Australia members, either within the ESA or the wider Australian community, when acting on behalf of the ESA. Ross was awarded the prize in recognition of his exceptional efforts in the communication of ecological principles and concepts to national forest policy makers and forest industry leaders during the long and often difficult negotiations in reviewing the Australian Forestry Standard since 2003. Ross, as a member of the Australian Forestry Standard Technical Reference Committee, a standards setting organisation governed by Standards Australia, worked tirelessly to improve the ecological principles and concepts surrounding biodiversity assessment, threatened species management and ecological monitoring. The revised Standard now ceases to approve broad scale land clearing for plantation establishment which is a major departure from the interim Standard.
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Opportunities |
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_________________________________________________________ The AUC Honours Scholarship is available to domestic full- and part-time students of AUC member universities (this includes MU) who are in their honours year. Applications are accepted from students enrolled in a broad range of disciplines, including the Sciences, Information Technology, Humanities, Engineering, Arts, Health and Business. Applicants must be undertaking a full-year research project that in some way depends on or uses uniquely Apple technologies. For example, a project that implements a solution using Apple's Xgrid technology would likely be considered a suitable application for a scholarship. Incidental use of a Macintosh does not, in and of itself, qualify. For example, research conducted using a general cross-platform application (such as MATLAB, Office, or SPSS) that was coincidentally conducted on the Macintosh would not attract support. For further info see http://www.auc.edu.au/Honours+Scholarships
_________________________________________________________ Job Opportunity: Regional Ecologist, Far West Region Parks & Wildlife Group of the NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change. This position will participate in the development and implementation of objectives, priorities and programs for the protection and conservation management of the biodiversity of the Far West Region, which incorporates the western 25% of NSW. The position is based in Broken Hill, and will involve regular travel within the Region and occasional travel throughout NSW. Additional working conditions relevant to the Far West of NSW are not included in the information pack. These include an extra week of recreation leave, plus a remote area allowance. The closing date for applications is 29 February. Please contact Paul on 08 8080 3224 for further information.
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Events |
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National Science Week and National Engineering Week are excellent opportunities to communicate with potential students and their influencers (e.g. teachers, career advisors, parents) the joy and satisfaction of tertiary study, careers and research in science, engineering and technology. This year, we’d like to take an integrated approach to promoting Macquarie University's National Science Week and National Engineering Week activities. So what are you up to? Please let Rachel Rizk know via phone on 9850 6045 by COB 13 February if you have plans (even seeds of plans) for Australia's big weeks of science and engineering. Want to know more about National Science Week and National Engineering Week? Go to: _________________________________________________________
6pm -7.30 pm Wednesday 13th Feburary 2008, Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts, 280 Pitt Street Sydney. Phil Dooley, NSW Australian Science Communicators, and John August, President of the NSW Humanists will briefly comment on Humanism, science communication and the significance of Evolution in both informing us about the incredible past and our own origins. Dr. Anne Musser, Palaeontologist and Palaeo-artist with the Australian Museum, will report on "The evolution of Australia's Megafauna: Hunter and Hunted" - Pleistocene Australia, its marvelous megafauna and possible causes for its extinction. During the Pleistocene, Australia - like other continents worldwide - had a fauna comprised of many large animals that are now extinct. Collectively they were the megafauna, and in Australia this included the massive Diprotodon (the largest marsupial that ever lived), the marsupial 'lion' Thylacoleo, the giant goanna Megalania, and many others. Many types of megafauna lived at the same time as early aboriginals in an Australia very different from that of today. Causes of the extinction of almost all megafauna are the source of much debate: was it climate change, a human-induced catastrophe, or a combination of factors? Dr Darren Curnoe is an anthropologist, anatomist and archaeological scientist at the University of New South Wales. His talk with consider the biology of humanness: when did our uniquely human features evolve and why? His talk will cover recent evidence from the fossil and archaeological records as well as exciting new discoveries in genetics. Darren is an expert in the study of human origins. His interests include the origins of modern humans and the palaeobiology of early hominins. He currently directs major field research programs in palaeontology and archaeology in China and South Africa.
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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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SnippetsGenetics help speed up Internet Public find organic pricey Groundwater discovers gold Marijuana may cause gum disease Hormone crucial for skeletons Stimulated brains won't self destruct Formula for stock pricing found Gas 'finger' points to galaxy's future
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