News From the Dean |
Dear Colleagues,
The Australian Museum Eureka Prize Award Ceremony (“Rewarding Science”) was held last Tuesday evening and ELS had a very pleasing visibility. Joanne Jamie, Ian Jamie, David Harrington and Subra Vemulpad were finalists in the Australian Government Prize for Promoting Understanding of Science for their innovative Indigenous Science Education program, while Sue O’Reilly was a finalist in the CSIRO Eureka Prize for Leadership in Science. Congratulations to all on receiving such high level recognition. Our standing in the Australian science community was also shown in the selection of several present and former ELS staff to serve on the judging panels – Andrew Simpson, Ruth Mawson, Alistair Gilmour and Michael Gillings. In addition, the winner of the Prize for Scientific Research that Contributes to Animal Protection – Maxine Piggott – will be well known to many people in the Division, having spent many years in the Department of Biological Sciences developing her now internationally recognised novel remote DNA sampling methods.
We received notice last week of a new research funding round by the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC) that may be of interest to some in the Division. More details and a contact URL are given in the body of this issue.
For your diaries, the Learning and Teaching Centre is organising an L&T forum for Tuesday, 23 September. The forum will focus on assessment. With the new Assessment Policy coming into operation next year it will be a useful session to attend.
Next, a favour please … during the course of this week a short (I promise!) questionnaire will be sent around all unit convenors in the Division to ascertain the “internationalisation” (content, students, off-shore components) of our teaching programs. This is to have us well prepared for the internationalisation component of the AUQA audit of Macquarie in May next year.
Another date for the diary, on Monday 22 September 2008, MU's Department of Statistics is hosting a one-day short course on "Generalized Additive Models for Location, Scale and Shape" (GAMLSS) presented by Dr Mikis Stasinopoulos, London Metropolitan University. Registration details can be found at www.stat.mq.edu.au/conf/GAMLSS. Earlybird deadline for registration – 23 August. Enquiries should be directed to Gillian Heller, email: gheller@efs.mq.edu.au, phone (02) 9850 8541
Finally, a thank you to Peter Nelson for serving as Dean while I was away the week before last.
Till next week,
Kevin
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Education for Sustainable Development |
Last week there was a visit by the UNESCO Chair of Education for Sustainable Development, Professor Chuck Hopkins from Canada. Below is a list of documents mentioned during his visit on various aspects of reorienting education to sustainable development and on teacher education. These may be of interest to us in our thinking on bringing about change in learning and teaching at Macquarie. The toolkit may have activities that could be adapted for teaching in different areas.
The list was put together by Jenny Tomkins from the Australian government (DEWHA) who organised Professor Hopkins’ visit.
Professor Hopkins’ powerpoint is at:
http://www.lucsus.lu.se/vhu/Lund_Presentation_by_Charles_Hopkins.pdf
Professor Hopkins was involved in the preparation of UNESCO Guidelines and Recommendations for Reorienting Teacher Education to Address Sustainability, 2005, available at:
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001433/143370e.pdf
This document provides information on a range of initiatives including many case studies, an assessment of the challenges and enablers of change, and a series of recommendations on practical ways of reorienting teacher education to address sustainability, from personal and local to national scales.
This describes Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) as a tool to address issues such as retention, justice, equity and other social issues, as well as environmental sustainability, and the importance of local relevance. ESD is not seen as an "add-on" but a fundamental part of teaching and learning to prepare students for the challenges of the future, and an approach to be delivered through every subject of the curriculum.
A second document in the series provides a toolkit of ESD exercises and activities for teachers, the community and other stakeholders involved in reorienting education to address sustainability. The Education for Sustainable Development Toolkit, 2006, can be found at:
http://www.esdtoolkit.org/about.htm#download
A third document, Good Practices in Teacher Education Institutions, 2007, provides case studies that illustrate good practice in ESD, in reorienting curriculum, programs, practices and policies to address sustainability. See: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0015/001524/152452eo.pdf
Professor Hopkins is hoping to expand the international network of teacher education institutions, and has spoken with a number of Australian universities during his visit.
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Opportunities |
- Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC) Funding
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Please be advised that the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC) is now calling for applications for preliminary research proposals to meet our program adjectives.
RIRDC invests in the knowledge needs of our three portfolio areas:
* New rural industries;
* Specific established industries; and
* Cross-sectoral national rural issues
Our investments are driven by Five-Year R&D plans which address the needs of each industry and ensure our priorities are industry and government-driven. Overall, our aim is for a more profitable, dynamic and sustainable rural sector.
RIRDC welcomes proposals that will meet the specific objectives, or a number of objectives, as outlined on our website and in more detail in program Five-Year Plans. The Corporation also welcome and encourage your collaboration with other research providers to build the critical research mass necessary to meet our objectives.
Please go to http://www.rirdc.gov.au/business/ for more information.
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- Australian Institute for Nuclear Science and Engineering Research Awards
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Applications for the 2009 AINSE Research Awards are now open. further information is at http://www.ainse.edu.au/ainse/for_academic_researchers/ainse_awards.html. In addition to the on-line application form, there are links on the Research Awards page to other key documents which are vital to creating a valid application. The closing date for applications is 15th September, 2008.
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Events |
- Biological Sciences Seminar this Wednesday
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"THE RED QUEEN REVISITED"
by Dr. Andrew Allen, Macquarie University
In 1973, Van Valen proposed the now-famous "Red Queen" Hypothesis, which states that each evolutionary innovation by one species in an ecosystem results in a deterioration of the environment for all other species. Consequently, to avoid extinction, each species must continuously evolve just as Alice and the Red Queen had to run continuously just to stay in place. Van Valen's inspiration for developing the Red-Queen hypothesis was the frequency distribution of species lifetimes in the fossil record. Here I reanalyze and reinterpret Van Valen's original compilation of fossil data in light of recently-proposed biodiversity models that attempt to explicitly link biodiversity to the processes of speciation and extinction based on stochastic population dynamics. I highlight points of intersection between these new biodiversity models and the original Red Queen Hypothesis, and conclude by speculating on how such models may in the future inform various branches of evolutionary theory.
Where: E8A 290 (Biology tearoom)
When: 1 to 2pm, Wednesday 27 September
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- ANZSES Talk: Making Apartments More Sustainable
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Architect Graham Hunt, Building Designer Tracey Graham and Lawyer Rosemary Hall examine opportunities to make apartment living more sustainable, including energy and water systems, healthy materials and efficient management.
Time: 6:00pm-9:00pm Thursday Aug 28
Cost: Free
Venue: Baroda Room, Rex Centre, 58A Macleay St, Kings Cross
Bookings: Australian & New Zealand Solar Energy Society www.anzses.org 02 9918 9613
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- Buy Recycled Business Alliance Talk: "Businesses Buying Recycled"
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Lyndall McKernan, Buy Recycled Business Alliance, talks about how business can reduce it's environmental impact by sourcing recycled products including furniture, stationery, hardware and packaging materials.
Time: 6:00pm-8:00pm, Monday Aug 25
Cost: $5 incl a hot drink
Venue: The Fair Trade Cafe, 33 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe
Enquiries: GreenBizCafe greenbizcafe.com.au (02) 96603303
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- Art Meets Science at the Sydney Aquarium
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Marine Ecologist Dr Nathan Knott discusses the potential threats to the biodiversity of Sydney Harbour. Paintings by Ken Done will also be on display.
Time: 6.30pm, Wednesday 27 August
Cost: $10
Enquiries: Sydney Aquarium, 02 8251 7875, www.sydneyaquarium.com.au
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Snippets |
Subterranean water running out
Western Australia's underground water supply is not recharging fast enough to keep up with demand, according to data from a groundwater monitoring network.
Golden windows remove toxins
Stained glass windows that are painted with gold nanoparticles purify the air when they are lit up by sunlight, researchers have discovered.
Warming endangers sea sponges
Research has found that sea sponges are at risk from global warming, as their symbiotic relationship with microbes breaks down at 33 degrees Celsius.
Hormone therapy improves quality of life
Hormone replacement therapy can help post-menopausal women sleep better, improve their sexuality and ease joint pain, the results of a new study have found.
Eye problems hospitalise thousands
Between 2005 and 2006 the number of hospitalisations for eye problems rose to a quarter of a million in Australia, according to a new report.
South Australians fear cancer myths
Research has found that most South Australians falsely believe pollution and stress are major causes of cancer, ignoring main concerns such as UV exposure.
Med students need prescription practice
Junior doctors need to be taught how to tailor drug dosages and frequency to individual patients in order to reduce prescription errors, research has found.
Rainwater tanks can kill children
An increase in household rainwater tanks due to the severe drought and accompanying water restrictions across Australia could be a risk for children. |
