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July 2011
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INTRODUCTIONS
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Visiting academic
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Professional Staff
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Rodd Hills
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Rodd is the new the Customer Service / Student Services Assistant, located at the Carslaw Building. He is replacing Chris O'Neil, who left on 3 June, and is working with the Administration and FYB Teams in the School. Rodd has over 10 years experience in education, having worked at UWS, La Trobe University and TAFE NSW (both with local and international students).
His personal interests are aquaculture, aviculture (he has kept and cared for a large variety of species including parrots, finches, doves and quail species), animals, ecological/conservational studies, palaeontology, archaeology, cryptozoology and fantasy /sci-fi (his self-professed nerdy streak).
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Postdoctoral staff
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| Dr Agustin Zsogon |
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Agustin is a postdoctoral researcher working with Dr Mary Byrne until next year. In Sydney, his research will aim to characterise Arabidopsis ribosomal protein mutants. Agustin's background includes an MSc in plant physiology from the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, and a PhD in plant biology from the ANU. His interests are plant physiology and breeding, evolutionary biology and, being Argentinean, soccer.
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FAREWELL
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Daniela Barreto |
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Daniela - our Technical Officer in the Genetics team - has left the School to take on a job at Westmead Children's Hospital. We thank Daniela for her assistance in supporting teaching and wish her all the best for her new role in medical science.
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Basil Panayotakos |
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After more than 30 years as Workshop Technical Officer, Basil will be leaving the School to take an extended period of Long Service Leave from 9 August 2011 to 3 August 2012. An indispensible part of the School's research and teaching portfolio, Basil's absence will represent a challenge to many people in the School who have come to rely on his technical expertise on an enormous range of equipment. Head of School, Professor Robyn Overall, says Basil's year of absence will represent a "trial retirement, to give the School a chance to get used to life without Basil while still having the safety of calling on him in peak periods." In Basil's place at the helm of the workshop will be Rattan Bhandari, who commenced in the School in May. We wish Basil all the best for his long service leave - it is richly deserved!
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Suzan Ramsey |
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On August 3, Suzan Ramsey will be leaving after 12 years of dedicated service to the School. In her role as Executive Assistant, followed by Administration Manager, Suzan has provided administrative support for three Heads of School - Roz Hinde, Mike Thompson and Robyn Overall - as well as almost every other member of the school at one time or another. At the morning tea in July, Head of School, Robyn Overall thanked Suzan for all she has done for the School, saying: "Suzan will be sorely missed by us. She is forever gracious, pleasant and extraordinarily thorough in her work. We wish her all the best and hope she will give us at least a fleeting thought from her poolside deck chair in Queensland." The School will celebrate with Suzan at a lunch on her last day at work.
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Dr Peter Oxley |
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Peter concluded the position of Teaching Focussed academic / Associate Lecturer in the School on 24 June to take up a postdoctoral position in the US. |
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CONGRATULATIONS
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| Fisheries Society award |
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Associate Professor Ashley Ward has won the prestigious FSBI medal from the Fisheries Society of the British Isles (FSBI), which recognises distinction in early career research. Ashley will be presented with his medal at the annual FSBI conference, held this year in Bournemouth, UK.
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Early career award |
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Dr Simon Ho has been awarded the "Early Career Researcher Award" from the Genetics Society of Australasia (GSA) at their annual conference during July in Melbourne.
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Learning and teaching award |
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Dr Charlotte Taylor was awarded an Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC) Citation for sustained innovation, evaluation and sharing of teaching initiatives and learning experiences for very large first year cohorts in the biological sciences.
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RESEARCH GRANTS
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| Future fellowship |
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Associate Professor Charles Warren was awarded an ARC Future Fellowship, for $802,592 over four years, for the project titled: "The metabolic footprint of plants ".
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Linkage Grant |
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Professor Rick Shine was awarded an ARC Linkage Project Grant, for $530,000 over five years, for the project titled: "Ecology, impact and control of cane toads on the southern invasion front".
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Dr Will Figueira was awarded an ARC Linkage Project Grant, for $98,166 over three years, for the project titled: "Closing the loop: understanding the relationships between recreational fishing surveys, fishing regulations and fisheries management objectives".
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Learning and teaching grant |
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Dr Charlotte Taylor was awarded $100,000 by the ALTC to establish a Discipline Learning & Teaching Network: "Vision and Innovation in Biology Education (VIBE.net)".
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DIVISION OF NATURAL SCIENCES
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Curriculum retreat
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On 18-19 July, Robyn Overall and Mike Thompson attended a Division of Natural Sciences retreat to focus on the curriculum issues between the faculties of Science, Veterinary Science and Food and Agricultural Resources. A number of potential teaching synergies between Vet, Biology and Agriculture were identified which we will explore further in the coming months. |
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Back to top
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EVENTS
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Synthetic Biology: next gen of GM
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Wednesday, August 10 | 5:45pm - 7:00pm
Presented by 2011 Murray Lecturer, Dr Jim Haseloff, this lecture will take you on a journey into hyper-coloured plants cells through award-winning images to explore the exciting future of the science that is changing life as we know it - synthetic biology. Enjoy a complementary cocktail reception and plant extravaganza after the talk. Please RSVP to Sydney Science Forum
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The foraging tight-rope between predation risk and plant toxins: a matter of concentration
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Friday, August 5 | 3:30pm - 4:30pm
Presented by: SoBS staffer, Assoc. Professor Clare McArthur. Join us for drinks and nibbles in the A08 foyer after the talk.
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IN FOCUS
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Dr Jim Haseloff is the 2011 Murray Lecturer
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From 8 - 25 August, Dr Jim Haseloff, from the Plant Sciences Department at the University of Cambridge, will be visiting the School of Biological Sciences to give a public talk and to engage in mentoring activities with our students.
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MEDIA
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EVENTS
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Wednesday, August 10 | 5:45pm
Synthetic Biology
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Friday, August 5 | 3:30pm
Friday Seminar
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