Division of Environmental and Life Sciences

News From the Dean
The weekly update from the Dean of Division, A/Prof Kevin McCracken

A Celebration of Environmental and Life Sciences at Macquarie
Researcher Profiles reproduced (just in case you missed them!)

Opportunities
- Churchill Memorial Trust Fellowship: taking applications now
- Call for Abstracts "Lumpen-City: Discourses of Marginality | Marginalizing Discourses"

Events
- Art after hours: Sandman and Flacco "Show me the Monet!"
- Ecology Exhibition at University of Sydney

News From the Dean

Dear ELS Colleagues

Well, this is the last Science News for the year and also the last coming out under the ELS banner. So I will keep things fairly brief.

Looking back over the year and all the staff and student awards and other achievements that I have been able to report in Science News I think we can claim that the Division is going out in high achieving style. The most recent reminder of that was news the other day that we had achieved 49 HDR completions for the year against a target figure of 44. And at Senate last week Dave Briscoe and I were able to take considerable pleasure from seeing in the tabled papers that ELS staff had supervised 13 of the 29 most recent completions. Congratulations to all the students and staff who have helped bring this about. The price of all that success of course is that even more completions will be expected next year. But I have no doubt that you will achieve that.

With all the things that have been on the go during 2008 - transitioning to the new Faculty structure, curriculum review, PDR, etc. - it has been a full on year for everyone and I would like to thank you all for your contributions. As I said at the BBQ a couple of weeks ago, everyone associated with the Division should look back with pride on what they've been part of and have contributed to. I don't believe there has been a more successful Division in the University.

It has been both a privilege and pleasure to serve as your Dean and I wish everyone the very best for 2009 and beyond. A few of our staff have had a difficult year due to health problems and on behalf of the Division I would particularly like to extend our best wishes to them and hope that 2009 brings those colleagues and friends better times.

Warm regards

Kevin

Kevin McCracken retires at the conclusion of 2008. On behalf of everyone in the Division we extend heartfelt thanks and warmest wishes for the future (Ed)

Environmental and Life Sciences Research Profiles

The environmental and life sciences at Macquarie are home to a large proportion of the University’s elite researchers. Many of our staff rank in the top international echelons of their research fields, being amongst the most highly cited by their fellow researchers around the world.

Over the past couple of months we have been building up a web site featuring just some of our research staff. These have been reproduced below, just in case you missed any of them! Our research profiles can also be accessed from www.els.mq.edu.au/profiles

Bush medicine database may hold key to more effective treatments

Researchers from the Indigenous Bioresources Research Group (IBRG) have worked closely with the Yaegl people in northern NSW to document their medicinal plant knowledge, and have also begun phase two of their study - examining the chemical and biological properties of the plants.

Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemist Associate Professor Joanne Jamie said the research aim was to conserve customary Aboriginal knowledge, and apply this to the discovery of new evidence-based alternative medicines.

"People in developing countries understand the value of traditional medicines - roughly 80 per cent of them see these customary medicines as their primary form of healthcare," Jamie said.

"In Australia we are only now beginning to regard traditional knowledge as a significant medicinal resource - the increase in microbial resistance, emergence of new diseases, side effects of medicines and high cost of drug development have forced us to take a fresh look."

Central to the success of the bush medicine research is the strong relationship between the researchers and the Elders, which has been forged over many years and has culminated in a collaborative partnership agreement to work together on the study.

PhD student in the University's Department of Chemistry and Biomolecular Sciences Jitendra Gaikwad has played a key role in the design of the database and has collated medicinal plant information from Yaegl Elders of Maclean and the surrounding region. He is now preparing to visit the Elders later on this month to identify further medicinal plants. He hopes to also test some of these for their biological properties.

"We have already found plants with significant antibacterial properties - plants that have traditionally been used to treat a wound or skin infection," Gaikwad said.

"The most amazing discovery though has been the people themselves - it's a complete change of culture for me. The Aboriginal people are very kind and knowledgeable."

The IBRG study has become a model for collaboration between Australian Aboriginal communities and research scientists. The University has worked closely with the Elders involved to identify ways that their communities can gain real benefit from the partnership - such as creating educational opportunities for Aboriginal high school students.

The IBRG's bush medicine study is funded by a grant from the National Health and Medical Research Council, awarded to the Macquarie University team consisting of Dr Subramanyam Vemulpad, Associate Professors Joanne Jamie and Jim Kohen and Professor Shoba Ranganathan.

This article adapted from an article release by the Macquarie University PR and Marketing Unit on 19 December, 2008.

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Opportunities

• Churchill Memorial Trust Fellowship

Churchill Fellowships enable Australian citizens from all walks of life to travel overseas to undertake an analysis, study or investigation of a project or an issue that cannot be readily undertaken in Australia. Currently the average Fellowship cost is $25,000. See http://www.churchilltrust.com.au/ for further information.

The closing the for receipt of applications under the current round is no later than 27 February 2009.

• Call for Abstracts "Lumpen-City: Discourses of Marginality | Marginalizing Discourses"

Interdisciplinary Conference at YorkUniversity, Toronto, Canada
March 12-13, 2009
www.lumpencity.com

Research on marginalized urban residents has been an academic cottage industry throughout the history of the social sciences – addressing social problems related to issues such as poverty, crime, youth, race, ethnicity, gender, health, and employment. To apprehend these notions of difference, conceptualizations of the poor, the underclass, the outcast, the ghetto, exclusion, marginality and others have been developed and applied. Inevitably, research defines and represents a group and, as such, influences everyday preconceptions and politico-administrative strategies, including policies, regulations and laws.

This conference challenges academics and activist-scholars alike to reflect upon the realities and potentialities of research on marginalized urban populations in the context of their struggles. We invite scholarly contributions which illuminate issues of representation by exploring multiple axes of identity such as class, race, gender, ethnicity, age, ability / disability, and sexuality.

The York University Sociology Graduate Students' Association (YSGA), in conjunction with the City Institute at York University and the Collaborative Urban Research Laboratory (CURL) invite academics and activist-scholars to participate in the interdisciplinary debates of this conference on Thursday, March 12th and Friday, March 13th 2009 in Toronto, Canada.

The deadline for proposals / abstracts (approx. 250 words) is January 5th, 2009.
Submission materials and general inquiries should be addressed to:
LumpenCity2009@gmail.com

Selected papers will be considered for publication.

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Events

• Art after hours: Sandman and Flacco "Show me the Monet!"

The Sandman and Flacco poke their generous proboscii, Holmes and Watson style, into places best left unsniffed as they shed light on the works of the great master and ask, if Monet is such a great impressionist, how come he can't do Cagney?

Time: 6:30pm-7:00pm Jan 07 Cost: Free
Venue: Art Gallery of NSW, Art Gallery Rd, The Domain, Sydney
Enquiries: Art Gallery of NSW www.monet.org.au 02 9225 1744

• University of Sydney Ecology Exhibition "It's only natural: ecology in Australia"

25 November 2008 to 30 April 2009

Inspired by illustrations of creatures from new worlds, natural history texts have fired imaginations for hundreds of years.
The exhibition 'It's only natural' uses the University of Sydney's Rare Books and Special Collections to track the emergence of ecology as a scientific discipline from its foundations in natural history.

Time: Open Monday to Friday 9:00am - 5:00pm until 30 April (closed Christmas day)
Location:Rare Books and Special Collections, Level 2 Fisher Library, University of Sydney
Cost: Free
Contact: Rhonda Myers
Phone: 9351 7266
More info: http://www.library.usyd.edu.au

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Snippets

Headbanging injury could be avoided
A study has found that people who are headbanging while listening to music may be able to avoid neck injuries by slowing or restricting the angle of head movement (are they serious??!)

Breakup produces seafloor roughness
Research has explained why the seafloor is rough in some places and smooth in others - it's partly to do with the break-up of supercontinents.

Solar-diesel fills remote energy gap
A solar system could reduce the energy needs of remote areas such as mine sites, switching to diesel to keep generating power when the weather is cloudy.

All baby loss causes similar problems
A study has found that women who have lost a baby are more likely to have drug or mental health problems, whether the loss was due to miscarriage or abortion.

Combined illness tougher to deal with
According to recent research, people who have both diabetes and heart problems often have trouble managing both conditions, though confidence helped.

1 in 6 Aussies have osteoarthritis
Arthritis and osteoporosis affect one in six Australians and are two of the nation's most common long term health problems, a new report has found.

'Intervention' isn't shifting Indigenous
Indigenous Territorians may be migrating, but it isn't because of the Government's 'Intervention' as suspected, new research has found.

NZ houses now more affordable
Fist-time buyers in New Zealand will have some good news this Christmas as a study has revealed house affordability has improved 4.6 per cent in the past year.

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