Biology Today

On how to milk a Yak

Head of School's Report

SOBs Script

Publications

Seminar Series for Semester II

 

 

Biology Today

1500 BIOLOGY TODAY, PROGRESS REPORT

The New Unit of Study was launched on the 11th June, 2000. It opened up without a glitch. We are very pleased with the course, its philosophy, its content and design, and with WebCt. A Show and Tell was presented on June 20th

We make several recommendations

1. The School should offer 50% of the costs to Central Bookings to hardwire a computer and modern projector into DTA and Old Geology lecture theatres
2. The School should give serious consideration to using WebCT to manage all of its Units of Study

Lecture theatre facilities: On 11th June the first lecture was given in Chemistry LT3, with on line projection facilities. This is a necessary element for a course which is completely based on internet-mediated teaching, rather than a course which uses the internet in an ancilliary fashion. The lecture went smoothly, and the complete lack of hassles indicates that this level of equipping lecture theatres will not only save time and temper, but it will also allow the school to change the way it presents and manages its Teaching.

WebCT Software: The course uses a software package called WebCT to manage the course. As the Unit of Study was being assembled, we cursed this software as we ran up against its limitations. Now that the Unit of study is in operation, we are beginning to acknowledge the efficiencies created by it. It deals with one third of the assessment. It provides us with integrated feedback from student surveys within an hour of a lecture. WebCT can enhance consistency of material, promote best practices, improve fidelity in the marking procedure, as well as facilitate flexible and distance learning. The School should give serious consideration to using this or a compatible system to hold all of its teaching materials, as well as for student management. WebCT is used in various other departments. Blackboard is a less widely used alternative.

Thanks: The course has been blessed with a wonderful team. Keryn Wilkes (the AL), Ben Oldroyd (CEO), Andy Barron, Peter McGee (TDU) and Debbie Eriksen (Badman Library) have all been supportive and influential. Most significant though are the people who helped us realise the vision - Rob Mackay-Wood and Aida Yalcin of the TDU. Also, George Barrett, Hamish Mackenzie, Ralph Maddox, Rosanne Quinnell, Greg Good, Steve Lapidge, David Lowe and Eva Lewy have all made useful and positive contributions.

EKnox: The course has many interesting features which can only be properly demonstrated by a 'Show and Tell'. We are very impressed with eKnox - the electronic version of Biology by Knox, B, Ladiges, P and Evans, B (McGraw Hill). The book has been converted (by us) into over 1180 html files, the text amended to suit the way the information will be accessed, figures remade to suit delivery via computer screens, and so on. The files are inserted into a path structure in WebCT so the result can work like a book. A key element of this is the glossary/index. This is a dynamic structure so that it can continually be upgraded in response to student needs. We have configured the glossary function within WebCT so that students can use the glossary to obtain a definition of a word and to get to the part of the book which discusses the concept in greatest detail. It therefore serves as an index. A classification tool also allows students to explore the identity and nature of groups. We hear both publishers and authors are impressed. We also believe it is as good as any other product on the market - and probably better than all of them.

The course's philosophy: Now that we have started, it would seem that the Unit of Study is consolidating its approach and philosophy. We now make much more assertive statements that we are not trying to development a bank of knowledge among the students. It is important for students to access knowledge, understand it, repackage it, and communicate it. After that they can let it go and move on. Our aim has more clearly become that of developing skills in knowledge acquisition, knowledge synthesis and knowledge communication - especially those appropriate to the electronic environment. We are blessed with enthusiastic support from the Badham Library - in the form of Debbie Eriksen. Thanks to her efforts, the curriculum contains a subcurriculum which promotes a structured development of internet learning skills among the students.

Finances: We were aggressive in seeking development funds, and the course has been assembled within budget. We have about 21 students. Probably only three of these are drawn from a cohort who might have taken Living Systems or Human Biology. The result is a course which will bring to the School income in excess of all outgoings. If our market survey was a fair predictor, next year the Unit of study will have as many as 200 students and final enrolments may be as high as 400.
McGraw Hill, providers of Knox, are now beginning to talk about marketing issues for eKnox. The course is also suitable for use by other elements of the University (such as the Orange Campus) or for selling on to other institutions.

Evaluation: The Unit of Study was made visible in April when the overall structure had been assembled. We have held dummy runs, and taken considerable advice in the pedagogical design and internet design. The course includes 9 surveys which are used to assess the performance and skills of the students, and to amend the structure and content of the course as required. Although still a bit rough, we believe we have covered virtually all bases. Using WebCT to provide integrated feedback from student surveys within an hour of a lecture is a fairly impressive phenomenon. So far, the feedback has been enthusiastically positive.

PROBLEMS
· We were dismayed by the failure of the Faculty of Arts to publicise the Unit of Study and the student enrolment system provided an unsympathetic message, and rumours were going round that the course would not be running. These two things kept numbers low, but we are somewhat relieved as we prefer for the inaugural year to be used to bed the course down.
· Patrick Tooth of Badham library has left and is unavailable to assist with the Internet Learning Skills subcurriculum, his role will be taken on board by Debbie Eriksen
· Julie Gordon has left and is unavailable to assist with the development of the team-skills subcurriculum. We have had discussions with the ITL, and are unclear how they will meet their obligations to the Unit of Study
· Paul Griffiths (HPS) will be leaving, and so his input on ethical issues has been lost, we have made contact with his replacement.

D. Patterson


 

Head of School's Report

July '00


Staffing

Academic
Associate Lectureship/Lectureship (vice Harvey)
The position is still under offer.

Associate Lectureship/Lectureship (vice Danckwerts)
Interviews will be held on 7 July and presentations earlier in that week.

Lectureship in Bioinformatics
The position has been advertised as a 3-year, fixed-term appointment, and closes on 20 July 2000.

 

 

 

Publications

Publications submitted to the School Database since the last Newsletter

Chapter

Gillanders, B. (1999). Blue Groper. Under Southern Seas: the ecology of Australia's rocky reefs. Univ. NSW Press. 190-195

Henry, G. & B.M. Gillanders. (1999). Snapper and Kingfish. Under Southern Seas: the ecology of Australia's rocky reefs. Univ. NSW Press. 160-165

Patterson, D.J. & W.J. Lee. (2000). Geographic distribution and diversity of free-living heterotrophic flagellates. The Flagellates. Taylor & Francis. 269-287

Conference

Jakobsen, I.B., Saleeba, J.A., Poidinger, M. & T.G. Littlejohn. (2000). TreeGeneBrowser: A phylogenetic approach to sequence databases. Genetics Society of Australia. Canberra, Australia

Saleeba, J.A., Downs, K., Ho, K., Lyon, B.R. & M.J. Henwood. (2000). Ribosomal DNA sequences resolve the plant genus Astrotricha (Araliaceae). Genetics Society of Australia. Canberra, Australia

Journal

Fraser, V.S., Kaufmann, B., Oldroyd, B.P. & R.H. Crozier. (2000). Genetic influence on caste in the ant Camponotus consobrinus. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 47:188-194

Gillanders, B.M., Ferrell, D.J. & N.L. Andrew. (1999). Aging methods for yellowtail kingfish (Seriola lalandi) and results from age- and size-based growth models. Fish Bull. 97:812-827

Gillanders, B.M., Ferrell, D.J. & N.L. Andrew. (1999). Reproductive biology of the yellowtail kingfish (Seriola lalandi, Carangidae) in New South Wales, Australia. New Zeal. J. Mar. Freshwater Res. 33:457-468

Hart, J.M. (2000). The taxonomy of Xanthosia huegelli and closely related species (Apiaceae: Hydrocotyloideae). Telopea. 8:441-453

Henwood, M.J. (2000). Actinotus periculosus (Apiaceae): a new perennial species from eastern Australia. Telopea. 8:455-459

Oldroyd, B.P. & F.L.W. Ratnieks. (2000). Evolution of worker sterility in honey-bees (Apis mellifera): how anarchistic workers evade policing by laying eggs that have low removal rates. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 47:268-273

Palmer, K.A. & B.P. Oldroyd. (2000). Evolution of multiple mating in the genus Apis. Apidologie-31:235-248

Wang, S. & M.J. Henwood. (2000). The taxonomic utility of micromorphological characters in Australian and New Zealand Elymus species (Poaceae). Telopea. 8:351-362

Seminar Series for Semester II

THE YEAR 2000 SPECIAL GUEST LECTURE SERIES

HUMAN BIOLOGY ADVANCED

TO PARTICULARLY ACKNOWLEDGE THE SEQUENCING OF THE HUMAN GENOME

DT ANDERSON LECTURE THEATRE (A08), TIME: 9AM

21 July Dr Murray Thomson, School of Biological Sciences, University of Sydney The psycho-neuro-endocrinology of the placenta
28 July Dr Anne Underwood, Senior Principal Research Scientist, Molecular Science, CSIRO, Ryde Biomaterials
4 Aug Prof. John Pollard, Bushell Professor of Neurology, Institute of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Sydney Electric eels, antibodies and eyelids
11 Aug Prof. Ron Skurray, School of Biological Sciences, University of Sydney Antibiotic-resistant bacteria; genetics and evolution
18 Aug Ms Emily Mathey PhD student, School of Biological Sciences, University of Sydney Biomedical research and the School of Biological Sciences - a research student perspective
25 Aug Prof. John Shine Executive Director The Garvan Insitute To be announced
1 Sept Dr Richard Kefford Director, Westmead Insitute for Cancer Research Molecular Genetics: Keystone of 21st century cancer treatment
30 Oct Poster presentations by Human Biology Advanced students, and celebrations (Carslaw labs)

 

SOBScript

The last month appears to have been another huge month for awards to vraious members of staff. Malcolm Ricketts attended the 7th International Australian Institute of Medical and Biological Illustration (AIMBI) conference- June, 24th till 27th, held at Women's College Sydney University. At the conference he had entered several photos in the Professional exhibition and was awarded a 1st and a Merit prize in the Natural History division. Here are Malcolm's prize winning photographs, frill neck; cactus.

Also, Ian Hume's new book "Marsupial Nutrition" (Cambridge University Press) has just been awarded the Whitley Medal for 2000. The Whitley Medal is one of the most prestigious awards in Australian publishing, and is presented by the Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales for the best zoological book of any type, and may not be given in every year. The award was established by the Society to honour the memory of the distinguished Australian zoologist and Fellow of the Society, Gilbert Whitley. The Medal will be presented in an award ceremony at Taronga Zoo on September 1. CONGRATULATIONS IAN

Sue Franklin has asked for the following plea to be included in the newsletter - Dear member of sobs, Courses and Careers day is on Sat August 26th from 9.30am to 4pm. It is essential to attract good students that the school be represented in the Great Hall to advise prospective students on our units of study and that we have an exciting display in the Chemistry Bld with the other schools. Please can you email me (sue@bio.usyd.edu.au) with the time you can be available in the Great Hall booth by the end of next week. Malcolm Ricketts will be organising you all to help with the Chemistry displays and asking you to be there to talk to students. He is requesting volunteers (academic or Phd student or post docs) to person the display in the Chemistry building on Courses and Careers - please contact him. I am organising the FYB display in Chemistry and the FYB staff to look after it.

Thanks,

Sue Franklin.

George Humphrey reported that on 10/7/00 he received paper No. 1000 for editing and submission to "Marine Biology"!

The Terrestrial Ecology field trip to Dungog proved to be just far too much for the assigned member of the Technical staff, as well as our SUPRA rep.

The Dickman people have been making the news around the world with Tanya Rankin featuring in a lovely expose about her and her plats, although Alfie Meats would like to view the personality data, whilst Chris featured in an article about feral cats found in an inflight magazine on an intra- european flight by globe trotting attendant Julio Pena.

And lastly, I have recieved a insightful quote from Caius Petronius (AD 66), which illuminates the underlying strategy in upper University management.

" We trained hard, but it seemed that every time we were beginning to form up into teams, we would be reorganised. I was to learn later in life that we tend to meet any new situation by reorganising, and a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency and demoralisation."

 

On Being a Museum Curator or How to Milk a Yak

Angela Low, Curator of the Haswell Museum

Last April marked 16 years since I first arrived in the School of Biological Sciences, employed as half time curator for The Haswell Museum. Whenever people ask me where I work they always say "Oh, that must be interesting." as their eyes glaze over trying to imagine what on earth a curator of zoological specimens actually does. Well apart from a lot of filthy cleaning and endless counting out and back of specimens on loan there has been a small steady stream of enquiries, often from other parts of the university or the general public. These I have tried to satisfy in the interests of school P.R. with varying success.


The most common enquiries have always been about spiders. Is it a funnel web? One of the first arrived alive in a jam jar with the label mostly obscuring the contents, the metal lid grittily screwed down and the spider generously mixed with soil and leaf litter. To identify it I had to unscrew the lid, hoping that funnel web spiders cannot jump 6 feet as reported in the press (they can't), pour boiling water into the jar in a sink and then seive out the hopefully dead specimen. That one was a fine male Atrax robustus and is preserved as a good teaching specimen. The boiling water acts to spread the legs as the animal dies to spectacular effect. The largest female specimen in the collection was similarly preserved and put into a round jar with alcohol which magnifies it somewhat. When Rudy Raff from Indiana asked if I had any of those Funnel Web spiders I showed him this specimen collected the week before from my own garden and he said, "My God, I had no idea they were that BIG!!" For the record I estimate that 9 out of 10 of the big hairy spiders I've seen from all over Sydney are Sydney Brown Trapdoors Dyarcyops fuscipes now called Mysgolas rapax. They are easily distinguished even from squashed, dried, insect sprayed or stomped on material. Once, however, I did see a true Funnel Web found live on campus.


I don't like snakes at close quarters. My very first curatorial job ever was to re-bottle a pair of pythons whose glass container had been broken in a practical class. Wrestling a metre or two of rigor mortis curled snakes free of broken glass and rearranging them in a new display vessel took a little courage even severely reminding myself they were both non-venomous and dead. I knew very little about snakes so when a gentleman came to see me to identify a snake I took him to see the experts in the Shine lab. Standing behind him I could not keep a straight face as Rick Shine and Dave Slip struggled to name the snake from a pencil sketch of the tail end as it was seen disappearing down a hole, and had their every suggestion disputed. No, the colour was not so brown as that, the pattern was more square than diamond shaped, etc.etc.They could not satisfy him.

Another time I had a letter from America requesting information on the Fierce Snake from a mother and her son as it was his favourite animal in the world, and where could they see one when they came to Australia. Always keen to encourage young biologists I did some research and wrote a reply. Had a nice note of thanks too especially on behalf of the boy who was three!!
Insects and other invertebrates are more my line so when I had a phone call from a woman troubled by bites in her rental accommodation I agreed to help. Thinking along the lines of fleas or possibly bird lice I asked some questions but the answers became a bit weird and I found I was dealing with a nut with a landlord dispute. Pest exterminators had not found anything so she wanted me to try. I suggested she collect some material and post it to me to identify. Two days later I received underwear, hers and her daughters, in a plastic bag. A cursory examination with a microscope revealed no animal matter.


My favourite letter came from a little old lady up the north coast who was a very keen shell collector but kept finding purple fragments of shells she could not identify from any book. She even taped some to the bottom of the page. They were clearly pieces of the sub-tidal barnacle Balanus imperator, never seen whole as the plates would separate when washed up and not featured in any book on molluscs. At least that was one easily satisfied customer.


Another day a man arrived with a cake tin containing a mammal he thought was a small marsupial from bush behind his garden. He assured me it was dead, just as well because on removing the lid I found a large (and smelly) rat. Shades of Fawlty Towers; but at least he was concerned about native animals and I could give him information for future animal identification.


On five separate occasions I have been asked to loan specimens as props for films or advertising. The art directors' eyes light up as I show them my Aladdin's cave of suitably grotty, aged, bottled animals. I usually limit the volume of loans by suggesting for the short term the same effect can be achieved with some fish market purchases in water! Packing and transporting large numbers of bottles is difficult and runs risks of breakages, though so far everything has been returned in good order. One film plot needed "one of everything in the animal kingdom" though the producers went a bit vague when I started with sponges. The moral of the story involved a collector who wanted to complete his zoological collection with a human foetus.

But the most bizarre request came from a man who turned up out of the blue and was brought down to see me by Sylvia because he wanted to know about earthworms and "ajitulture", which I gradually deciphered to mean agriculture. I started to talk about earthworms and worm farms but he seemed to pay scant attention. On some excuse I took him up to the front hall to see the display on earthworms, at which point he abruptly changed the subject and asked if I knew how to milk a yak. I thought I had misunderstood but he went on to explain his revolutionary idea for Australian farming: Yaks!! They were the ideal animal supplying not only milk but also meat, wool and leather. Sadly I was unable to help.