Biology Newsletter - The University of Sydney
Biology Newsletter - The University of Sydney
Biology Newsletter - The University of Sydney
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FACULTY OF<br />
SCIENCE<br />
<strong>Biology</strong> News<br />
ISSUE 24<br />
OCTOBER 2013<br />
Rick with a<br />
cohort <strong>of</strong> his<br />
students.at the<br />
2012 graduation.<br />
Photo by Malcolm<br />
Ricketts.<br />
EUREKA PRIZE IN<br />
MENTORING FOR RICK SHINE<br />
Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Rick Shine has won the Eureka Prize for Outstanding Mentor <strong>of</strong> Young<br />
Researchers. <strong>The</strong> award makes Rick the first Australian scientist to win a Eureka Prize in<br />
three different categories, having won the 2006 Eureka Prize for Biodiversity Research<br />
and the 2011 Eureka Prize for Promoting Understanding <strong>of</strong> Australian Science Research.<br />
“I’m absolutely delighted to win this<br />
award. It was terrific to win the<br />
previous Eurekas – for research and for<br />
communicating with the public – but<br />
mentoring younger researchers is the<br />
core <strong>of</strong> what I do,” said Rick.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Eureka Prize recognises Rick’s<br />
lifelong commitment to assisting young<br />
scientists – during his career he has<br />
supervised more than 70 research<br />
students and 20 post-doctoral fellows.<br />
Rick’s PhD student Joshua Amiel<br />
has just handed in his thesis, so we<br />
asked him for the inside truth <strong>of</strong><br />
Rick’s mentoring style. “His open-door<br />
policy and enthusiasm for exploring<br />
and discussing new ideas (like the<br />
possibility <strong>of</strong> breeding hyper-intelligent<br />
lizards) provided an extremely<br />
rewarding research environment,” Josh<br />
said. “His ability to adapt his mentoring<br />
style to suit each student’s specific<br />
needs is truly amazing.”<br />
This sentiment was echoed by another<br />
PhD student, Georgia Ward-Fear. “I<br />
think Rick’s mentoring style is driven<br />
by his ability to adapt to the needs<br />
<strong>of</strong> his students and the desire to help<br />
them succeed. This is underpinned<br />
by his skill in people management, his<br />
genial personality, his sense <strong>of</strong> humour<br />
and his bright Hawaiian shirts - it is a<br />
winning combination.” She said, “for<br />
many <strong>of</strong> us, Rick is as much a personal<br />
role model as a pr<strong>of</strong>essional mentor<br />
and I know this award is a career<br />
highlight for him.”<br />
“My students share my enthusiasm for<br />
wildlife, and my desire to conserve<br />
our unique animals – and I think that<br />
has made it a lot easier for us to work<br />
together,” said Rick. “<strong>The</strong>y are a great<br />
group <strong>of</strong> people, and spending time<br />
with them in the field and the lab has<br />
been enormous fun; I’m sure I’ve learnt<br />
at least as much from them as they<br />
have from me.”
IN THIS ISSUE<br />
01 FEATURE ARTICLE<br />
EUREKA WIN FOR MENTORING<br />
02 HEADSPACE<br />
03 SPOTLIGHT<br />
WILL FIGUEIRA<br />
04 LATEST RESEARCH<br />
Koalas, bees and isopods<br />
06 TEACHING NEWS<br />
Kickstart on the Road and<br />
Federal Government citations<br />
07 ALUMNI PROFILE<br />
BRUCE STILLMAN<br />
08 EVENTS<br />
Upcoming alumni social and a free<br />
screening <strong>of</strong> More than Honey<br />
DIARY DATES<br />
FRIDAY 18 OCTOBER<br />
Back to School<br />
Annual biology alumni social<br />
Macleay Building and Botany Lawn<br />
4:30pm-7pm<br />
THURSDAY 24 OCTOBER<br />
More Than Honey<br />
Documentary film screening<br />
New Law LT 101, Law School<br />
6pm-8pm<br />
HEADSPACE<br />
<strong>The</strong> School recently had the pleasure <strong>of</strong> welcoming one<br />
<strong>of</strong> our distinguished alumni, Dr Bruce Stillman (BSc<br />
(Hons) 1976), to deliver the 2013 Murray Lecture on the<br />
mechanism <strong>of</strong> DNA replication. Dr Stillman also spent a<br />
weekend down memory lane at Warrah with our research<br />
students. He is currently Director <strong>of</strong> the prestigious Cold<br />
Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York. You can read<br />
more about Dr Stillman from the Alumni Pr<strong>of</strong>ile in this<br />
newsletter (page 7).<br />
2013 has seen the continued roll out <strong>of</strong> our new <strong>Biology</strong><br />
curriculum. Our first year units continue to be very well received by students and<br />
our record large classes in our new second year have received similar accolades<br />
from students. Our staff have received recognition for both undergraduate<br />
teaching and research supervision. Dr Danny Liu received an Office <strong>of</strong> Learning<br />
and Teaching Citation for his innovative use <strong>of</strong> digital technology in Junior<br />
<strong>Biology</strong> (page 6) and Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Rick Shine won his third Eureka Prize, this time<br />
for mentoring <strong>of</strong> young researchers (front page). Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Shine continues to<br />
mentor many <strong>of</strong> our alumni as they progress through their careers.<br />
I hope to see you at our 2013 Alumni Function Back to School on 18 October (see<br />
back cover for details). You can road test some <strong>of</strong> the laboratory experiences <strong>of</strong><br />
our current students, before relaxing on the Botany lawn with a well-earned drink.<br />
You are also welcome to join us for the screening <strong>of</strong> the movie More than Honey<br />
on 24 October (details also on back cover).<br />
I wish you all the best for the remainder <strong>of</strong> 2013 and the upcoming festive<br />
season.<br />
Best wishes,<br />
Robyn Overall<br />
EDITORIAL<br />
EDITOR:<br />
Dr CECILY OAKLEY<br />
ROOM 227, HEYDON-<br />
LAURENCE BLDG,<br />
THE UNVERSITY OF<br />
SYDNEY<br />
E: biologyalumni@sydney.edu.au<br />
2
RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT:<br />
WILLIAM FIGUEIRA<br />
<strong>The</strong> events in Finding Nemo might seem<br />
farfetched, but tropical fish do indeed travel<br />
the East Australian Current to be found as far<br />
as <strong>Sydney</strong>. Dr William (Will) Figueira studies<br />
the movement <strong>of</strong> these tropical fish and<br />
their potential to survive the winter in the<br />
temperate zone.<br />
“<strong>The</strong>y typically die over the winter,” said<br />
Will, explaining fate <strong>of</strong> the tropical fish<br />
that make it to <strong>Sydney</strong>. “We look at the<br />
mechanisms that kill them <strong>of</strong>f as a way<br />
<strong>of</strong> understanding when they’ll be able<br />
to survive.”<br />
A fish species’ distribution depends<br />
on a number <strong>of</strong> environmental<br />
and biological factors, including<br />
temperature. “I look at benthic fish,<br />
which stay in a particular area for<br />
most <strong>of</strong> their lives. <strong>The</strong>se are the ones<br />
whose geographic distribution may<br />
creep over time as a result <strong>of</strong> changing<br />
climate and warming oceans.”<br />
To study the tropical fish that venture<br />
into temperature waters, Will has the<br />
enviable task <strong>of</strong> swimming the waters<br />
up and down the East Coast. “We do<br />
lots <strong>of</strong> observational stuff - snorkelling,<br />
diving and counting.” Along with David<br />
Booth’s team at UTS, Will conducts<br />
regular surveys around <strong>Sydney</strong>,<br />
Merimbula and at other locations.<br />
Data from these sites has been<br />
collected since 2002. This long-term<br />
monitoring enables them to look at the<br />
consistency <strong>of</strong> tropical fish settlement<br />
patterns from year to year.<br />
But not all tropic fish species are found<br />
south each summer. So which tropical<br />
fish, and in what numbers, have been<br />
appearing in temperate waters? “We’ve<br />
had a paper recently with David Feary<br />
at UTS looking at the characteristics <strong>of</strong><br />
the tropical fish we see here, relative to<br />
the ones we don’t see. We asked the<br />
question, what are the traits <strong>of</strong> animals<br />
that disperse?”<br />
Fishy physiology plays a role. It is not<br />
fixed, as Will explained, “they have the<br />
ability to adapt, either plastically within<br />
a generation or evolutionarily through<br />
multiple generations. That adaption<br />
will change the speed <strong>of</strong> the range<br />
expansion.”<br />
Field-work - flying out to the reef<br />
“To understand the fish’s tolerance<br />
limits and acclimation ability, we take<br />
them into the lab and look at how they<br />
grow, how they swim, etc, when they<br />
are held at different temperatures.”<br />
Will’s group also uses computer<br />
modelling to understand the range<br />
expansion <strong>of</strong> tropical fish. “I’ve done a<br />
fair amount <strong>of</strong> biophysical connectivity<br />
modelling to understand how habitats<br />
are connected by organisms.” He uses<br />
oceanographic flow data and output<br />
from models to simulate the movement<br />
<strong>of</strong> the fish larvae. “<strong>The</strong> quality <strong>of</strong> the<br />
modelling all comes down to how well<br />
you understand how the larvae behave,<br />
how they can swim, how they can<br />
sense things, etc. My new PhD student<br />
Steve Hawes is working on these<br />
connectivity models.”<br />
However range expansion is not a<br />
concept that is restricted to tropical<br />
fish. “Temperate fish and invertebrates<br />
are also heading south and being found<br />
in greater numbers in Tasmania.” Will’s<br />
work may therefore be applicable<br />
across latitudes, with the potential to<br />
use the presence <strong>of</strong> these ‘vagrant’<br />
fish as an index for climate change.<br />
“We have funding to collect data all<br />
along the coast at intensive temporal<br />
and spatial resolutions. Once the data<br />
has been analysed we will know how<br />
<strong>of</strong>ten you need to sample in order to<br />
say ‘the vagrant fish are becoming<br />
more abundant’ and to link it to climate<br />
change”.<br />
So finding Nemo in <strong>Sydney</strong> Harbour<br />
will become a common occurrence.<br />
And Will’s research will be able to<br />
tell us when to expect the clownfish<br />
population to survive year-round.<br />
3
KOALAS CHOOSE SHADE-<br />
TREES TO COPE WITH<br />
EXTREME WEATHER<br />
BY JENNY EATHER<br />
In the first study <strong>of</strong> its kind a research team,<br />
led by Dr Mathew Crowther <strong>of</strong> the School<br />
<strong>of</strong> Biological Sciences, found koalas are<br />
choosing trees different to those in which<br />
they feed in an attempt to survive higher<br />
daytime temperatures and extreme events<br />
such as droughts and heatwaves.<br />
“Koalas need a combination <strong>of</strong> both the right kind <strong>of</strong> shelter<br />
trees and food trees to survive,” Mathew said. “Our<br />
research confirmed koalas shelter during the day in different<br />
types <strong>of</strong> trees to the eucalypts they feed on at night.”<br />
This research, published in the international biodiversity and<br />
ecology journal, Ecography, shows that land management<br />
practices must change to protect vulnerable koala<br />
populations. “Ensuring a habitat has a good supply <strong>of</strong> feed<br />
trees and protecting koalas from predators is not enough to<br />
ensure their survival.”<br />
Forty koalas were tracked using GPS over three years<br />
on Liverpool Plains farmland around Gunnedah in northwestern<br />
New South Wales. “We found the hotter it is during<br />
the day the more koalas will tend to seek out bigger trees<br />
with denser foliage to try to escape those temperatures.”<br />
“<strong>The</strong> koalas studied also showed a preference for trees in<br />
lower lying areas such as gullies which are <strong>of</strong>ten cooler than<br />
trees on open plains or hilltops.”<br />
An understanding <strong>of</strong> how endangered animals use their<br />
resources is critical, especially as extreme temperatures can<br />
be fatal. “One quarter <strong>of</strong> the koalas we studied perished in<br />
a heatwave in 2009 and Australia has just experienced the<br />
hottest year since climate records began,” he said.<br />
But it’s not all doom and gloom. Mathew says that “unlike<br />
their very narrow choice <strong>of</strong> feed trees, koalas chose<br />
a relatively wide variety <strong>of</strong> trees for shelter, including<br />
species such as Belah and Kurrajong.” <strong>The</strong>se results give<br />
conservationists direction on how to carry out their koala<br />
preservation practices.<br />
“<strong>The</strong> implication is that long-standing land management<br />
practices <strong>of</strong> retaining and planting feed trees for koalas<br />
needs to be expanded to include shelter trees within the<br />
home range <strong>of</strong> each koala. This is especially important in<br />
more protected gullies, to try to <strong>of</strong>fset the impact <strong>of</strong> high<br />
temperatures,” he said.<br />
Mathew said his team’s research also highlights the need<br />
for further investigation into the koala’s diet and how other<br />
tree-dwelling species are affected by sustained changes to<br />
climate.<br />
4
CHEATING AND HOUSE HUNTING<br />
IN HONEYBEE SWARMS<br />
BY FREYA HORSWELL<br />
MARINE ISOPODS<br />
HAVE MICROSCOPIC<br />
SATELLITE<br />
DISHES ON THEIR<br />
MOUTHPARTS AND<br />
ANTENNAE<br />
BY MURRAY THOMSON<br />
Cirolana harfordi is a marine<br />
crustacean that lives in shallow<br />
water around beaches and rock<br />
platforms and is a voracious feeder<br />
on flesh from animals dead or<br />
alive. It has been known for some<br />
time that marine isopods such as<br />
Cirolana harfordi are very skilled in<br />
locating fish to eat during the low<br />
light <strong>of</strong> night when it is safer for<br />
them to swim away from shelter.<br />
I have recently identified one <strong>of</strong> the<br />
microscopic anatomical features <strong>of</strong><br />
this animal that may help it locate<br />
food. Isopods do not have noses to<br />
smell fish in the sea, instead they<br />
have tiny bristles called setae about<br />
100 times thinner than a human hair<br />
on their appendages including the<br />
mouthparts and antennae. Some<br />
<strong>of</strong> these sensory setae have an<br />
inner cavity called the lumen lined<br />
with sensory cells. Using a scanning<br />
electron microscope I found that<br />
some <strong>of</strong> these setae have a pore at<br />
the tip and inside this pore there is<br />
a structure that looks like a satellite<br />
dish termed a cupule.<br />
<strong>The</strong> findings have recently been<br />
published in the Journal <strong>of</strong><br />
Microscopy and I have proposed<br />
that the the cupule may help collect<br />
olfactory molecules and regulate<br />
their entry into the sensory cell lines<br />
lumen <strong>of</strong> the setae. <strong>The</strong>se satellitedish<br />
shaped structures therefore<br />
may be an evolutionary adaptation<br />
that allows marine isopods to<br />
find food quickly before other<br />
scavengers get to it.<br />
Many heads are better than one<br />
- at least where honeybees are<br />
concerned. Colony-level problem<br />
solving allows bees to combat<br />
problems which an individual could<br />
not. <strong>The</strong> Social Insects lab has been<br />
investigating the complex behaviour<br />
<strong>of</strong> honeybees in reproductive swarms<br />
to answer some interesting questions<br />
about reproduction and group<br />
decision-making.<br />
House hunting is just one <strong>of</strong> the hard<br />
tasks faced by reproductive swarms<br />
<strong>of</strong> honeybees (Apis mellifera). Scout<br />
bees are sent out to find the best<br />
site to establish the new colony. <strong>The</strong><br />
number <strong>of</strong> scouts sent is usually around<br />
5% <strong>of</strong> the swarm size. So this begs<br />
the question, does swarm size matter<br />
when choosing a new home? Previous<br />
models predicted smaller swarms<br />
would be able to pick higher quality<br />
nest sites because they were slower<br />
and therefore more accurate. However,<br />
these models were based on the<br />
swarm’s ability to choose the better <strong>of</strong><br />
two sites presented. In reality, swarms<br />
may come across many potential nest<br />
sites.<br />
This led post-doc Timothy Schaerf<br />
and PhD student James Makinson to<br />
use a model that included more nest<br />
site choices as well as experimental<br />
fieldwork. <strong>The</strong>ir findings, published<br />
in the Journal <strong>of</strong> the Royal Society<br />
Interface, found that larger swarms<br />
were better at finding and deciding on<br />
a nest site than the smaller swarms.<br />
Probably because larger swarms are<br />
faster and invest in more scouts.<br />
Another interesting feature<br />
<strong>of</strong> reproductive swarms is the<br />
reproductive division <strong>of</strong> labour.<br />
Reproduction in the colony is the<br />
responsibility <strong>of</strong> the queen – not the<br />
workers. This behaviour is described<br />
by the kin selection theory, which<br />
predicts that the worker’s inclusive<br />
fitness is higher if they rear the<br />
queen’s sons instead <strong>of</strong> their own.<br />
But there is a catch; an advantage<br />
does exist for individual reproducing<br />
workers – despite the fact that it may<br />
reduce the colony’s collective fitness.<br />
So how does the colony stop selfish<br />
workers from reproducing? By using<br />
a Police force <strong>of</strong> workers to remove<br />
any worker-laid eggs and harass<br />
reproductive workers. Despite these<br />
policing measures, some worker<br />
reproduction occurs. PhD student<br />
Michael Holmes sampled male pupae<br />
and adult workers <strong>of</strong> seven different<br />
colonies over the reproductive season.<br />
His findings, published in Molecular<br />
Ecology in August, showed that the<br />
worker reproductive output was<br />
forty times higher than in previous<br />
studies. Worker reproduction peaked<br />
when the colony was rearing new<br />
queens... It appeared some worker<br />
subfamilies were making the most <strong>of</strong><br />
this opportunity and producing welltimed<br />
sons.<br />
5
KICKSTART BIOLOGY WORKSHOPS GO WEST<br />
Brains, eye-balls, embryos and live locusts! <strong>The</strong> Kickstart <strong>Biology</strong><br />
workshops engage final-year high school students in interactive<br />
activities aligned to the HSC syllabus. Prohibitive distances mean many<br />
regional schools can’t make the trip to <strong>Sydney</strong>. So this year we packed<br />
up our equipment and drove west to Tamworth, Parkes and Wagga.<br />
“I enjoyed dissecting the eye and the brain and looking<br />
at different specimens under the microscope,” said one<br />
student. While another student preferred the “blood type<br />
testing.” But whatever their preference, it was rewarding<br />
day for both the students and the staff who made the trip.<br />
Whilst in town, the experiments were set-up for public<br />
exhibition in the evening. This also allowed for non-HSC<br />
activities like cocoa analysis (chocolate tasting) and liveanimal<br />
displays (spiders, centipedes and stick-insects – not<br />
for tasting).<br />
Kickstart on the Road is a joint program with the School <strong>of</strong><br />
Physics and, with the support <strong>of</strong> a Widening Participation<br />
Grant from the Social Inclusion Unit, we were able to take<br />
our two most popular workshops, Blueprint <strong>of</strong> Life and<br />
Communication, to year 12 students in regional areas <strong>of</strong><br />
NSW.<br />
Other recent outreach activities have included an<br />
arthropod-filled Gifted and Talented Discovery program<br />
with the Faculty <strong>of</strong> Science and a strawberry-squelching<br />
DNA-extraction extravaganza at the Australian Museum<br />
National Science Week Expo.<br />
sydney.edu.au/science/outreach/kickstart/biology<br />
Photos L-R: Francesca van den Berg dissects a cow’s eye; a student searches for the<br />
locusts ‘ears’; the public exhibition at Parkes attracts a budding biologist.<br />
EXEMPLARY TEACHERS<br />
<strong>The</strong> Federal Government’s Office <strong>of</strong> Teaching and Learning has this year awarded three<br />
citations for ‘outstanding contributions to student learning’ to our staff – past and present.<br />
Dr Matthew Bulbert (Technical <strong>of</strong>ficer 1996-97) – Now at<br />
Macquarie <strong>University</strong>. For designing an innovative teaching<br />
and support framework that enhances student participation,<br />
resourcefulness and creative critical thinking<br />
Dr John Harper (Post-doctoral fellow and lecturer<br />
1994-2001) – Now at Charles Sturt <strong>University</strong>. For an<br />
interdisciplinary science team teaching initiative for oncampus<br />
and distance education students: fostering student<br />
engagement in first year microbiology<br />
Dr Danny Liu (Associate lecturer 2012-present) – <strong>University</strong><br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>Sydney</strong>. For development <strong>of</strong> innovative technologyenhanced<br />
and inquiry-based teaching practises and curricula<br />
that inspire and motivate a new generation <strong>of</strong> scientists<br />
6<br />
L-R: Dr Danny Liu, Dr John Harper and Dr Matthew Bulbert
ALUMNI PROFILE:<br />
BRUCE STILLMAN<br />
Dr Bruce Stillman (BSc(Hons) 1976,<br />
DSc(honoris causa) 2008) has devoted<br />
his research career to understanding the<br />
inheritance <strong>of</strong> the human genome.<br />
Dr Stillman is President <strong>of</strong> Cold<br />
Spring Harbor Laboratory as well<br />
as Director <strong>of</strong> their Cancer Centre.<br />
His studies into the packaging,<br />
duplication and segregation <strong>of</strong><br />
chromosomes, and the cancerinducing<br />
mistakes in the process,<br />
have yielded many accolades.<br />
Including fellowship <strong>of</strong> the Royal<br />
Society and the Australian Academy<br />
<strong>of</strong> Science, election to the US<br />
National Academy <strong>of</strong> Science and<br />
appointment to Officer <strong>of</strong> the Order<br />
<strong>of</strong> Australia.<br />
This year, Dr Stillman was the School<br />
<strong>of</strong> Biological Science’s annual Murray<br />
lecturer. In addition to the public<br />
lecture, he spent time in discussions<br />
with academic staff and a weekend<br />
away with students at Warrah.<br />
What drew you to <strong>Biology</strong> and<br />
Medicine?<br />
I became interested in medicine when<br />
I was 11 or 12, and later joined St. John<br />
Ambulance in Glen Waverley, Victoria.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re I learnt advanced emergency<br />
medical training and even worked in<br />
hospital emergency rooms on weekends.<br />
But later, in my second year at the<br />
<strong>University</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Sydney</strong>, I had to choose<br />
between medicine and science. It<br />
was a hugely difficult choice, but<br />
made easier because I had decided to<br />
pursue a career in research. Pr<strong>of</strong>essor<br />
Spencer Smith-White, a great Australian<br />
geneticist, advised me that I would not<br />
learn much science while training to<br />
become a physician and thus my path<br />
was set.<br />
It was also made easier by the huge<br />
enthusiasm displayed by Dr Keith Brown<br />
who was a faculty member in the<br />
School <strong>of</strong> Biological Sciences, one <strong>of</strong><br />
the few at the <strong>University</strong> keyed into the<br />
then new recombinant DNA discoveries.<br />
I worked in his laboratory in the Macleay<br />
Building during my Honours year – even<br />
though he spent much <strong>of</strong> the time on<br />
sabbatical leave at Stanford <strong>University</strong>,<br />
where Paul Berg, Stan Cohen and<br />
others had discovered recombinant<br />
DNA technology. I learned directly<br />
about these developments and their<br />
application to cancer research. <strong>The</strong>se<br />
events eventually led me to Cold Spring<br />
Harbor.<br />
What are your memories from your<br />
time at the School <strong>of</strong> Biological<br />
Sciences and in the Biological<br />
Society?<br />
<strong>The</strong> best memories were the weekend<br />
trips to Warrah at Pearl Beach. Even<br />
though I did not study botany, ecology<br />
or zoology, I had friends who did and<br />
they went there on field trips. Somehow<br />
I spent many weekends bush walking<br />
and thinking. Later, through connections<br />
with the School’s marine biologists, I<br />
was able to work for two summers at<br />
the <strong>University</strong> <strong>of</strong> Queensland research<br />
station on Heron Island in the Great<br />
Barrier Reef, working on Green and<br />
Loggerhead Sea Turtles. It was so<br />
different from molecular biology in the<br />
lab in Macleay!<br />
Your research has focused on how<br />
DNA is duplicated in the cell. In broad<br />
terms, what have you learnt?<br />
I started research in 1976 at the<br />
Australian National <strong>University</strong> and later<br />
at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in<br />
New York, beginning in 1979. During<br />
the second year <strong>of</strong> my PhD at the John<br />
Curtin School <strong>of</strong> Medical Research,<br />
I spoke at the Cold Spring Harbor<br />
Symposium in New York, which<br />
celebrated the 25 th anniversary <strong>of</strong> the<br />
discovery <strong>of</strong> the double helix structure<br />
<strong>of</strong> DNA (we have just had the 60 th such<br />
celebration). It struck me that despite<br />
25 years <strong>of</strong> DNA, little was known about<br />
how our genome was duplicated. Now<br />
we know a great deal more and together<br />
with my current and former students<br />
and postdocs, we have contributed to<br />
understanding all major steps. We now<br />
know in great detail how the enzyme<br />
machineries work and how DNA<br />
replication is controlled, as well as how<br />
it goes wrong and induces the initial<br />
stages <strong>of</strong> cancer.<br />
What are you working on now? Do you<br />
still have a chance to do research?<br />
Even though my role as President <strong>of</strong><br />
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory keeps<br />
me busy, I still run an eight-person lab<br />
that focuses on the machinery that<br />
replicates DNA and how it integrates<br />
with processes such as chromosome<br />
segregation. We also study how the<br />
proteins bound to DNA are duplicated<br />
and how they influence epigenetic<br />
inheritance.<br />
What have been the highlights <strong>of</strong> your<br />
career to date – either in research<br />
or in your role as President <strong>of</strong> Cold<br />
Spring Harbor Laboratory?<br />
Perhaps the major highlights, and<br />
there have been quite a number, have<br />
been discovering completely unknown<br />
biological processes and proteins in<br />
cells. Coupled with the chance to work<br />
with amazingly talented students and<br />
postdoctoral fellows, the excitement<br />
<strong>of</strong> discovery still drives me today. As<br />
president I get to meet some <strong>of</strong> the<br />
world’s most interesting people, but that<br />
cannot top discovering something.<br />
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EVENTS<br />
ANNUAL ALUMNI SOCIAL - FRIDAY 18 OCTOBER<br />
Come Back to the School <strong>of</strong> Biological Sciences - take a<br />
class, refresh your knowledge, run an experiment and then<br />
relax with a drink.<br />
Do you remember the fun <strong>of</strong> dissections? <strong>The</strong> thrill <strong>of</strong> peering down the<br />
microscope? <strong>The</strong> buzz you get from grasping a new idea? Re-live your <strong>University</strong><br />
days and join us in the lab for the annual alumni social. Bring along family and<br />
friends and share your experiences. Lab work is more fun when there are drinks<br />
at the end (and no exam)!<br />
VENUE Macleay Building and Botany Lawn, <strong>University</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Sydney</strong><br />
TIME 4:30pm-7:00pm<br />
RSVP Register at backtobiology.eventbrite.com.au by Monday 14 October.<br />
For more information call 02 9351 4543 or email biorsvp@sydney.edu.au<br />
MORE THAN HONEY - THURSDAY 24 OCTOBER<br />
A FILM BY MARKUS IMHOOF<br />
Einstein once said,<br />
if bees ever die out,<br />
mankind will die out<br />
4 years later.<br />
BUCH UND REGIE MARKUS IMHOOF SCHNITT ANNE FABINI KAMERA JÖRG JESHEL (BVK) MAKROKAMERA ATTILA BOA TON DIETER MEYER SOUNDDESIGN NILS KIRCHHOFF TONMISCHUNG BERNHARD MAISCH CO-AUTORIN UND REGIE 2. UNIT KERSTIN HOPPENHAUS MUSIK PETER SCHERER SPRECHER ROBERT HUNGER-BÜHLER<br />
HERSTELLUNGSLEITUNG TASSILO ASCHAUER KATHARINA BOGENSBERGER PRODUZENTEN THOMAS KUFUS HELMUT GRASSER PIERRE-ALAIN MEIER MARKUS IMHOOF REDAKTION URS AUGSTBURGER (SF) HUBERT VON SPRETI (BR) SONJA SCHEIDER (BR) HEINRICH MIS (ORF) EINE KOPRODUKTION VON ZERO ONE FILM ALLEGRO FILM THELMA FILM ORMENIS FILM<br />
IN KOPRODUKTION MIT SRF SCHWEIZER RADIO UND FERNSEHEN / SSR SRG BAYERISCHER RUNDFUNK MIT UNTERSTÜTZUNG VON BUNDESAMT FÜR KULTUR (EDI) SCHWEIZ BUNDESAMT FÜR UMWELT BAFU AARGAUER KURATORIUM GEORGE FOUNDATION KULTURFONDS SUISSIMAGE G + B SCHWYZER-WINIKER STIFTUNG ERNST GÖHNER STIFTUNG ZÜRCHER FILMSTIFTUNG FONDS REGIO FILMS<br />
AVEC LA LOTERIE ROMANDE ET LE CANTON DU JURA SUCCÈS CINEMA SUCCÈS PASSAGE ANTENNE FREDI M. MURER FRENETIC FILMS FILMFÖRDERUNGSANSTALT FILMFERNSEHFOND BAYERN DEUTSCHER FILMFÖRDERFONDS ÖSTERREICHISCHES FILMINSTITUT FILMFOND WIEN ORF FILM/FERNSEH-ABKOMMEN EURIMAGES UND DEM MEDIA PROGRAMM DER EU WORLD SALES FILMS BOUTIQUE<br />
www.morethanhoney.ch<br />
Film screening and forum<br />
Worldwide, millions <strong>of</strong> honeybee colonies are dying each year. We do not fully<br />
understand all the factors responsible but we know that there’s more at stake<br />
than just a bit <strong>of</strong> honey. Searching for answers, More than Honey takes us around<br />
the world to meet people living with and <strong>of</strong>f honeybees. We meet almond growers<br />
in California, a Swiss mountain beekeeper, a neuroscientist investigating bee<br />
brains in Berlin and a pollen dealer in China. <strong>The</strong> amazing macro footage allows us<br />
to meet the bees face to face and experience their life in a hive up close.<br />
Join us for a screening <strong>of</strong> the film (95 mins) followed by a panel discussion with a<br />
range <strong>of</strong> biologists working in this crucial area <strong>of</strong> research - including Madeleine<br />
Beekman, Ben Oldroyd and Nathan Lo from the School <strong>of</strong> Biological Sciences -<br />
and Boris Baer and Barbara Baer-Imho<strong>of</strong> from the <strong>University</strong> <strong>of</strong> Western Australia.<br />
VENUE New Law LT 101, Law School, Eastern Avenue, <strong>University</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Sydney</strong><br />
TIME 6:00pm-8:00pm, refreshments provided<br />
REGISTRATION whatson.sydney.edu.au/events/published/sydney-ideasmore-than-honey-film-screening<br />
FACULTY OF<br />
SCIENCE<br />
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT<br />
T +61 2 9351 4543<br />
F +61 2 9351 4119<br />
E biologyalumni@sydney.edu.au<br />
sydney.edu.au/biology<br />
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