Executive Dean's Message - August 2020
Dear colleagues,
Just when we thought teaching couldn’t change more than it did in Semester 1, here we are in Semester 2, delivering our courses in multiple modes. Thank you to everyone who is contributing to this Herculean effort, and for your creativity and resilience. Lots of staff have shared some very positive examples either in the refectory, around campus or by email. A great example is Gurion Ang’s welcome to students joining a BIOL2204 Zoology practical class in the School of Biological Sciences, and Gwen Lawrie’s simultaneous engagement of onshore and onshore students in a chemistry practical class. Please keep sharing these inspiring stories!
A big highlight this month has been the arrival of our new Vice-Chancellor, Debbie Terry AO. I have had the opportunity to meet with Debbie a few times and to hear about her exciting vision for UQ and plans to engage staff across the University. An insight into her priorities can be gleaned from her National Press Club address earlier this year.
In other good news, I am delighted to announce that Hugh Possingham has been appointed as the new Queensland Chief Scientist! Congratulations Hugh! This is very exciting indeed and I look forward to the Faculty being part of the positive future for Queensland science that Hugh will drive in this role. As this is a part-time role, I am pleased that Hugh will continue with his 20% appointment in the School of Biological Sciences and the Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Sciences at UQ.
There are lots more congratulations this month! Congratulations to Dr Guta Motuma Bedane (SAFS) and Poh Wah Hillock (SMP) who were awarded Higher Education Academy (HEA) Fellowships this week. Congratulations to April Reside (SEES) for the Tall Poppies award.
Congratulations also to our 2020 3-Minute Thesis finalists and winners. All videos can be seen here. The 2020 winners are: First Place: Oliver Bellwood (SMP) – ‘The “8 minutes abs” of material physics’, Runner Up: Scott Spillias (SEES) – ‘The Seaweed Revolution’, and People’s Choice: Kate Dutton-Regester (SAFS) – ‘A poo’s purpose: understanding the reproduction of Echidnas’.
There has been many funding successes in the Faculty of Science this month, including the award of an ARC Laureate and Georgina Sweet Fellowship to Cath Lovelock (BIOL), ARC Future Fellowships to Daniel Ortiz-Barrientos (BIOL), Carissa Klein (SEES) and Jonathan Rhodes (SEES and CBCS); and Advanced Queensland Fellowships to Jody Hobson-Peters (SCMB) and David Muller (SCMB). And Gwen Lawrie (SCMB) who has attracted funding from the Global Education Enhancement Fund. Congratulations all!
Amazing research outcomes include Tatsuya Amano (BIOL and CBCS) and colleagues, who have revealed that climate change is pushing species away, Elisa Bayraktorov (BIOL and CBCS) who has led a large research collaboration on coral reef restoration, and Mark Schembri (SCMB) and colleagues with their discovery of the mechanism underlying the transfer of antibiotic resistant genes between superbugs. See here for a report on Mark’s discovery on ABC news.
It was wonderful to celebrate National Science Week last week and enjoy some of the great resources developed by staff in the Faculty of Science. Congratulations to Kirsty Short, Marloes Dekker and Marina Fortes (SCMB) for developing the Women in Science podcast series, featuring interviews with inspiring researchers who are breaking barriers in their fields and making remarkable contributions to science. Interviewees include Christine Beveridge, Tamara Davis and more. Please also take a look at all the great activities and resources, including a video on 'Pandemic proofing' with Ian Frazer, and Kirsty Short and Paul Young (SCMB).
The UQ Workplace Diversity and Inclusion Division have created some fantastic new videos which, whilst made pre-COVID, have been launched to celebrate UQ's ‘Wear It Purple Day’. A number of videos feature staff from the Faculty of Science, including Margie Mayfield and Jacqui Romero.
Thanks also to everyone who contributed to our first online UQ Open Day on 3 August 2020. UQ welcomed 6028 students virtually attending this event, ~17% of whom were international students.
And in case you haven’t seen it already, UQ also did a fantastic job of celebrating our mid-year graduations online, take a look and note some sightings of Faculty of Science staff at both St Lucia and Gatton!
It’s been a big week in higher education politics this week with draft legislation to implement the ‘Job-ready Graduates Package' being considered by parliament. During a one week consultation period, submissions were made by multiple peak bodies including Group of Eight Universities (Go8), the Australian Academy of Sciences (AAS) and the Australian Council of Deans of Science (ACDS).
More good news from the UQ COVID-19 vaccine team including more positive results from preclinical testing. And just a reminder about the call for volunteers aged 56 years above.
I am always keen to hear and share good news stories about anything at all – please keep them coming!
Kind regards, Melissa.