UWA Logo What's On at UWA
   UWA HomeProspective Students  | Current Students  | Staff  | Alumni  | Visitors  | About  |     Search UWA    for      
 

What's On at UWA

* Login to add events... *
Today's date is Friday, March 29, 2024
Events for the public
 September 2012
Wednesday 26
16:00 - SEMINAR - CWR Presents : Corals form characteristic associations with symbiotic nitrogen fixing bacteria Website | More Information
A. Kimberley Lema1,2, Bette L. Willis1, and David G. Bourne2

1ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and School of Marine and Tropical Biology, James Cook University, Townsville 4811, Australia ([email protected]; [email protected]) 2Australian Institute of Marine Science, PMB 3, Townsville MC, Townsville 4810, Australia ([email protected];[email protected])

Scleractinian corals live in a close symbiotic relationship with a diverse group of dinoflagellates (Symbiodinium or zooxanthellae), but corals also harbour highly diverse, abundant, and stable, microbial communities. The discovery of bacterial communities as symbiotic partners in corals is surprisingly recent and the ecological function of these bacterial communities is still poorly understood.

Elucidating the functional role these mutualistic bacterial communities play in the corals’ multi-partner symbiosis (i.e. the holobiont) is essential to understand their importance in coral health. One important proposed functional role for coral associated bacteria is nitrogen fixation. Nitrogen fixation can only be accomplished by diazotrophic bacteria and is fundamentally important because it makes gaseous dinitrogen (N2) available for nitrogen limited ecosystems such as coral reefs.

In this study, we investigated the diversity of diazotrophic bacterial communities associated with corals of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) by profiling the conserved subunit of the nifH gene, which encodes the dinitrogenase iron protein. We looked at the diversity of diazotrophs in different: coral species, coral microhabitats (mucus and tissue), life stages and geographical regions. Coral mucus nifH sequences displayed high heterogeneity, and many bacterial groups overlapped with those found in seawater.

In contrast, the dominant diazotrophic bacteria in tissue samples in all coral species, through all life stages and at different locations were closely related to the bacterial group rhizobia, which represented over 67% of the total sequences in all cases. Our results suggest that, as in terrestrial plants, rhizobia have developed a mutualistic relationship with corals and may contribute fixed nitrogen to Symbiodinium.

Bio,

Kim was born and grew up in Mexico City. She completed her BSc in Marine Science at the Centre d’Océanologie de Marseille, Université Aix-Marseille II (Marseille, France), with a thesis on a mathematical model for marine protected areas.

Stayed in France for some months after completing her BSc and worked with deep-sea bioluminescent bacteria at the LMGEM Marine microbiology and biogeochemistry laboratory, CNRS (National Centre of Scientific Research). Then, returned to Mexico, Yucatan Peninsula, and worked on migration models of marine turtles and whale sharks at the CINVESTAV (Centre of Advanced Research, Mexico) and PRONATURA(NGO).

Finally, felt ready to go further from home and flew to Australia. Completed a Master of Applied Sciences at James Cook University (Townsville, QLD) and went on to do a PhD. Kim is currently finalizing her PhD on “ Coral nitrogen Fixing bacteria” under the supervision of Prof. Bette Willis (JCU) and David Bourne (AIMS). One component of her thesis is through collaboration with Prof. Peta Clode at the CMCA (Centre of Microscopy) at UWA.

PS* This seminar is free and open to the public & no RSVP required.

****All Welcome****
Thursday 27
13:00 - SYMPOSIUM - Symposium of WA Neuroscience : Symposium showcasing student and early career neuroscience research presentations Website | More Information
The Symposium of WA Neuroscience 2012 will be held in conjunction with the Neurotrauma Research Program of Western Australia on the 27th of September, 2012. The Symposium will showcase research presentations by Honours and PhD students as well as early career researchers, who will compete for cash prizes. The Symposium will run from 1 to 5 pm in lecture theatre G33 of the MCS (Bayliss) Building, followed by a Sundowner. Registration is free and open to staff, students and the general public, but requested for catering purposes: please email [email protected].

18:00 - PUBLIC TALK - 10 Things I Hate about America: Reflections of a Bi-Hemisexual Website | More Information
A public lecture by Susan Maushart, author and journalist.

In early 2011, inspired by Henry David Thoreau's exhortation to "live the life you have imagined" – and also the exchange rate - Weekend Australian Magazine columnist Susan Maushart moved back to the US after 25 years in Western Australia. She thought she was going home again. But it turns out Heraclitus and Ginger Rogers were right. You really can't step in the same river twice, going backwards and in high heels.

In this funny, free-range and 100% hormone-free talk, Maushart ponders the paradoxes of her culture of origin from the privileged perspective of a born-again alien, from the dark arts of teeth bleaching to the high drama of the Weather Channel (her mother's favourite reality TV show) to the endurance sport of Extreme Commuting.

Cost: Free. RSVP to [email protected].

18:00 - PUBLIC LECTURE - A Proper Sense of History : Former Prime Minister John Howard will present The Sir Paul Hasluck Foundation Lecture More Information
As Minister for External Affairs and Minister for Defence, Sir Paul Hasluck was integral in formulating Australia’s post war security and foreign policy. He was a strong advocate for our nation’s indigenous people, particularly in health and education. He was a prolific writer, authoring volumes on politics, foreign affairs, public policy and poetry.

Following his graduation from UWA, Sir Paul became a journalist, a diplomat and then a Member of Parliament and a term as Governor-General and remained active in public life following his retirement. Sir Paul died in Perth in 1993.

The Sir Paul Hasluck Foundation was established this year to promote and inform conservative thought and debate of key issues facing Australia. It seeks to celebrate the central insight of Sir Paul’s life: that learning and ideas matter.

The lecture will rotate around Australian states, and will feature a renowned speaker addressing a significant contemporary issue, drawing on Sir Paul’s interests and principles
Friday 28
15:00 - SYMPOSIUM - Symposium with APS Visitors : Visitors participate in Mini Symposium Website | More Information

15:00 - PUBLIC TALK - Can science be successfully 'performed' or are we just kidding ourselves? : Public talk with Vivienne Glance Website | More Information
If theatre is conceit, can science really be performed or are playwrights and performance makers up to something else?

Vivienne Glance has recently returned from a writer's residency with The Arts Catalyst London and will share that experience with you as well as outline some of the writing techniques, provocations and dramaturgy behind successful science plays and performance works. She will also talk about her own works, Staring at the Sun, which had a reading in London in 2012, and The Cat in the Box, which performed to full houses at The Blue Room Theatre in WA this year.

Vivienne Glance is a writer and theatre practitioner with over 20 years experience. She also has a Bachelor of Science degree. Combining science and performance has been a focus of her theatre practice for many years, and she recently consolidated this through her PhD research.

 October 2012
Monday 01
14:00 - GUIDED TOUR - UWA Crawley Campus Tour 1 October 2012 : An enjoyable and informative walking tour of UWA's Crawley Campus Website | More Information
The Prospective Students Office is providing a guided walking tour of UWA's Crawley Campus on the Queen's Birthday long weekend Monday public holiday (1 October 2012).

These tours are for prospective students who would like to find out more about studying at UWA whilst taking in the beautiful gardens and buildings at the Crawley campus.

The tour will include a stop at the Admissions Centre & Prospective Students Office, where you will be able to collect information and course brochures, and find out more about what life is like for our students.

Parents are also welcome to attend.

Tours run for approximately one hour and are available at various times throughout the year after business hours, in the school holidays, and on public holidays, so there is bound to be a time that suits you and your family!

19:00 - EVENT - UWA Information Session in Melbourne : The University of Western Australia invites prospective Australian and international students residing in Melbourne to attend an information evening to learn more about studying at UWA. Website | More Information
If you reside in Melbourne and are considering applying for an undergraduate, postgraduate coursework or research degree at the University of Western Australia, you may wish to attend our information session on Monday, 1 October 2012 at the Crowne Plaza, Melbourne.

You will have the opportunity to learn about the range of undergraduate, postgraduate and research courses offered at the University and hear from staff and graduates about the advantages of studying at UWA and living in Perth.

University staff from the following areas will be presenting and available to meet one-on-one:

* Domestic and International Admissions Centres

* The UWA Business School

* Architecture, Landscape and Visual Arts

* Arts

* Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

* Life and Physical Sciences

* Natural and Agricultural Sciences

Prospective Australian and international students are welcome to attend.
Tuesday 02
18:00 - PUBLIC LECTURE - Neurodevelopmental disorders: Are our current diagnostic labels fit for purpose? Website | More Information
A Public Lecture by Dorothy Bishop, Professor of Developmental Neuropsychology, University of Oxford.

Many children have specific developmental difficulties affecting specific areas such as reading, language, maths, motor co-ordination, attention or social skills. A range of diagnostic labels are used: dyslexia, dyspraxia, ADHD, and so on. These give the impression that we are dealing with distinct medical entities, but this is very far from the truth.

In this lecture, Professor Bishop will illustrate with the case of dyslexia. This is defined on the basis of behavioural tests, and there is no sharp dividing line between dyslexia and normal variation in reading ability.

The lecture will contrast dyslexia with specific language impairment (SLI), which is at least as important but is largely unknown, and consider how far this may be the consequence of the fact that dyslexia is a good ‘meme’, whereas SLI is not. Our current labels may be worth preserving, provided we do not let them mislead us.

Cost: Free. RSVP to [email protected]
Wednesday 03
16:00 - SEMINAR - CWR Presents : Extreme rainfall over the south and north Website | More Information
Extreme rainfall over the south and north-west of Western Australia and the Sydney region of NSW over the last fifty years has been modelled using a Bayesian hierarchical approach based on statistical extreme value theory. Spatial variability of the extreme rainfall distribution is modelled using a Gaussian process, derived from a convolution kernel approach.

This is a flexible approach, accommodating rainfall measured over different durations (from sub- to super-daily) and also allowing for the possibility of linking the extremes to external drivers.

The approach can be used to characterize the behaviour of extremes under present day and projected future conditions. It can be used to derive intensity-frequency-duration curves • together with estimates of their associated uncertainties, • for specific locations that can be either gauged or ungauged, and • provide information for the design of engineering structures such as culverts, bridges, and stormwater and sewerage systems. Extensions to model extremes of areal rainfall, with applications to depth-area curves for example, will be described.

This talk will focus more on the methodology than the application.

Bio,

Mark is a senior statistician with CSIRO, in the Division of Mathematics, Informatics and statistics. He has applied statistics to problems of spatial modelling for many years, in particular the modelling sediment composition in rivers, estuaries and dams. Recently he has been developing spatial approaches to the analysis of extreme rainfall for the Indian Ocean Climate Initiative,

The Upper Parramatta River Catchment Trust and the federal government Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency. His statistical interest also include the application of Bayesian methodologies and hierarchical modelling.



PS* This seminar is free and open to the public & no RSVP required.

****All Welcome****

18:00 - PUBLIC LECTURE - Growth headwinds in China and Japan: implications for the Australian economy Website | More Information
An ‘Inquiring Minds’ lecture by Rod Tyers, Winthrop Professor of Economics, UWA Business School.

This lecture will review recent economic development in China and Japan and will examine the likelihood that either country will overcome barriers to further economic growth. It will draw on research using models of the global economy and associated projections of economic performance to suggest the consequences for the Australian economy during the coming decade.

Free, but RSVP required. Book a seat online (unreserved):http://www.ias.uwa.edu.au/lectures/tyers
Thursday 04
13:10 - PERFORMANCE - School of Music Presents: Free Lunchtime Concert: UWA Guitar Ensemble Website | More Information
Be transported away from the everyday with our exciting line-up of Thursday 1.10pm, free lunchtime concerts. This year's revamped Lunchtime Concert series features the best of our students in solo and small ensemble performance.

18:00 - PERFORMANCE - Winthrop Singers Choral Evensong : Evensong at St George's College Chapel Website | More Information
Responses: Smith

Canticles: Gibbons Short Service

Anthem: The words to say I love you - Jacqui Ellison (UWA composition student)

19:00 - FREE LECTURE - Ronald M & Catherine H Berndt Biennial Lecture 2012 : The rights and blights of the politics of Indigenous higher education More Information
Prof N M Nakata (B.Ed.Hons. PhD) is the first Torres Strait Islander to receive a PhD in Australia. He is Director of Nura Gili Centre for Indigenous Programs and Professor of Australian Indigenous education at the University of New South Wales. RSVP by Thursday 27 September (essential for catering purposes: 6488 3707 or [email protected]
Friday 05
8:30 - CONFERENCE - 7th Annual National Indigenous Legal Conference : Pathways to tomorrow: innovations and intersections in law, land and justice Website | More Information
The National Indigenous Legal Conference Committee invites you to attend the seventh annual National Indigenous Legal Conference to be held on the 5th and 6th of October.

The conference will be held at the University of Notre Dame, Fremantle and The University of Western Australia, Perth.

This year’s conference addresses two key themes, New Approaches to Justice, and Cultural and Natural Resources Management. Within these two main themes, the conference features a number of fascinating sessions, including discussions on the Noongar Claim, Stolen Wages, Joint Management of Country, and Youth Diversionary Programs in criminal justice.

The conference also examines the current and highly significant issues of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and the Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. The program is varied and focused on prospective pathways for Indigenous peoples in Australia, and to this end it specifically focuses on the innovative work being undertaken across diverse areas of practice.

The conference has attracted a number of highly regarded experts in Indigenous law and policy, and promises to give attendees an insight into current and developing strategies in connection with the promotion and protection of Indigenous people’s land, law, culture and country.

Day One (UNDA): Tannock Hall of Education, The University of Notre Dame, Cnr of Cliff and Croke Streets, Fremantle

Day Two (UWA): School of Law, The University of Western Australia, Hackett Drive Entrance 1, Crawley, Perth

15:00 - PUBLIC TALK - The Evolutionary Biologist's Nightmare: Sex, Sperm and Society : Public talk with Boris Baer (CIBER) Website | More Information
The reproductive biology of social insects, being the social bees, ants, wasps and termites is truly spectacular, as a number of characteristics reported are either absent or very rare in other species. For example, social insect queens are the world’s record holder for long-term sperm storage and some of them are capable to keep sperm alive for several decades. Furthermore males deliver an ejaculate to the female's sexual tract that consists of sperm and seminal fluid, the latter being also used as weaponry against competing males and to manipulate female reproductive behaviour. However the molecular details of sperm storage, long-term fertility or the chemical warfare between the sexes remain unknown. I provide an overview of ongoing research conducted at the University of Western Australia that uses state of the art molecular technologies as well as field based experiments to unveil some of the secrets of social insect reproduction.

Boris Baer, born in 1969 is an Evolutionary Biologist. He studied Biology at the University of Zurich in Switzerland. After fieldwork on primates in South America (French Guyana) he performed a PhD 1997-2000 at the Swiss Federal Institute for Technology (ETH) in Zurich. He then moved as a Postdoctoral Fellow (2001-2004) to the University of Copenhagen (Denmark) and was invited as a Junior Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study in Berlin (Germany). He received a Queen Elizabeth II fellowship and a ARC Future Fellowship from the Australian Research Council, which allowed him to continue his research at the University of Western Australia in Perth. Since 2007 he is also an external collaborator of the Centre for Social Evolution based at Copenhagen University. Since 2008, he coordinates a newly initiated honeybee research group at the University of Western Australia, known as CIBER (The Centre for Integrative Bee Research, see www.ciber.science.uwa.edu.au). The main scientific interest of Boris Baer is the study of sexual reproduction in social insects, especially the way evolution has shaped some of these spectacular mating systems. He uses several social insect models systems for his work such as bumblebees, honeybees and leaf cuttings ants.
Tuesday 09
9:30 - EVENT - A Day in the Life of an Arts Student : Experience a typical day in the life of a UWA Arts Student : Have you ever wanted to know what it's like to be an Arts student at UWA? Website | More Information
"A Day in the Life of an Arts Student" gives year 10-12 students the opportunity to explore some Arts majors currently available at UWA, particularly Archaeology and Anthropology.

Students will participate in a wide range of hands-on activities that will be interactive, fun and very rewarding.

Please head to the webpage listed below to download the brochure and application form. Applications close on Wednesday, 19 September.

Note: times shown are a guide only and are subject to change. Refer to the event brochure/application form for detailed information.

17:30 - PUBLIC LECTURE - CMSS lecture on Pakistan-Us Relations : Where are they heading? Visiting Fellow from Deakin University Dr Claude Rakisits More Information
Bilateral relations between Pakistan and the US have never been easy at best of times. However, in recent times these have become tense and difficult. Given Pakistan’s critical role in the lead up to 2014, when the Coalition forces will be leaving Afghanistan, what sort of bilateral Pakistan-US relationship can we expect until then and beyond?

18:00 - PUBLIC LECTURE - Looking at Japan through Masculinity: From Salarymen to Herbivores Website | More Information
A lecture by Romit Dasgupta, Assistant Professor, Asian Studies, UWA.

This public lecture looks at the tremendous social, cultural, and economic changes Japan has undergone over the six decades since the end of World War Two, not through conventional frameworks, but through a lens of gender, specifically masculinity. It draws upon Dr Dasgupta’s recently published book, 'Re-reading the Salaryman in Japan: Crafting Masculinity' (Routledge, 2012) to look at the ways in which the salaryman came to embody Japanese national identity from the 1950s until the 1990s, and how, even in the recessionary post-1990s context, the discourse of salaryman masculinity continues to be a visible presence on the social landscape.

Book a seat online (unreserved):http://www.ias.uwa.edu.au/lectures/dasgupta

19:00 - VISITING SPEAKER - Friends of the Library Speaker : Engaging with strangers in a violent era: stories from the Solomon Islands More Information
The late nineteenth century was a time of violence throughout the Solomon Islands and nowhere was this violence more devastating than the Western Solomons. Even as they remember this violent past, however, people of the Western Solomons today also remember war captives who were incorporated into the families and clans of their captors. Stories about particular territories throughout the region inevitably focus on how the original people of the place welcomed strangers from across the sea, making them friends and allies. How do we make sense of this unsettling mix of violence and friendship in stories about the past? And how might this challenge the conventional ways that we Australians see our near neighbours?

Alternative formats: Default | XML


Top of Page
© 2001-2010  The University of Western Australia
Questions? Mail [email protected]