MQ PhD student, Julianna Kadar is currently completing research at The Fish Lab within Macquarie University, tagging and tracking Port Jackson sharks around NSW.

Recently, Julianna was selected to be part of the Homeward Bound Program for 2020 as a result of her research with sharks and work in STEMM (science, technology, engineering, math and medicine).

Launched in 2016, the Homeward Bound Program is a yearlong ground-breaking program for women with STEMM backgrounds that develops their leadership skills and strategic capabilities, using science to promote the conviction and importance of their voices.

Julianna’s research specifically looks at Port Jackson sharks. She uses accelerometer tags which are like “Fitbits for sharks” to track motion and build a picture of shark movements and behaviour in the ocean.

“Sharks continue to make headlines for attacking humans. The probability of an attack remains very low, in fact, you are twice as likely to win the lottery than be attacked by a shark!” says Julianna.

To try and help people understand that sharks are not bloodthirsty killing machines and are just like any other animal, Julianna visits schools and educates students about the secret lives of sharks. Most recently, a year 7 class attached a real shark tag to a student. He then swam around in a pool performing ‘shark’ behaviours like diving and foraging. Afterwards, the class downloaded the tag data and analysed it using the same techniques marine biologists are using today to find out more about sharks.

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Nick embarked on the University-sponsored trip to London as an Associate Fellow of the Royal Commonwealth Society. Here, he shares his first-hand account of the event.

“It was such an honour to be in the presence of HRH Camilla, The Duchess of Cornwall, alongside each High Commissioner posted in the United Kingdom. It was fascinating to hear of their diverse professional experiences and witness diplomacy firsthand as they represented their respective nations.

I also had the great privilege of an inspiring and informative one-on-one chat with His Excellency George Brandis QC, Australia’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom over coffee at Australia House a few days later.

It says a lot about Australia that after essentially ambushing one of our highest diplomats as he left his diplomatic car, he would not only proceed to – for want of a better word – babysit me through introductions to a number of notable guests, but also invite me to pick his brain after discovering my interest in diplomacy.”

While on the trip he also caught up with some fellow Queen’s Young Leaders and also the Chair of The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust, former Prime Minister The Rt Hon Sir John Major KG CH.

“After an exciting and productive chat with Sir John we were lucky enough to watch an inspirational Q&A hosted by the BBC’s Tina Daheley featuring Natalie Campbell, Elizabeth Kasujja and Nisani Gnanasoorian.”

“The Queen’s Young Leaders Programme was an amazing initiative that has connected over 500 young people from around the Commonwealth who are doing incredible things in their communities and beyond. It has been such an honour to be a part of this cohort, and finally put some faces to the names of those I met during the Leading Change Course run by the unstoppable Frances Brown at the University of Cambridge.

This incredible opportunity to represent Australia, The Royal Commonwealth Society, and Macquarie University would not have been possible without the generous support of Nicole Brigg and Macquarie University International.”

1. Stay organised – use a timetable for your study schedule and make sure that you schedule in times to get your body moving as hits of endorphins help reduce your stress level and refocus for your next study session.
2. Break up your study – aim for short, goal-based study sessions of approximately 25 minutes, followed by a short break.
3. Form a study group– or partner up with a study buddy and explain concepts to each other and ask each other questions.
4. Practice answering exam-style questions – use the Library’s repository of past exam papers.
5. Use active learning strategies – writing summaries or creating concept maps is much more effective than rereading your notes or highlighting your textbook.
6. Macquarie Uni is here to help – get assignment feedback at the Library Info Desk, get online learning support through Studiosity, or make an appointment with Wellbeing for counselling or any other help.
7. Get plenty of sleep – as it helps consolidate what you’ve learnt and increases your chances of retaining the information.

iGuide is a free service to help you navigate the various MQ systems such as iLearn, Leganto, Echo360 and much more.

iGuide is run by experienced Macquarie students who are experts on the systems, software and apps that you will use while studying at Macquarie.

Stephanie and Yvette are two iGuides who are here to help you have the smoothest online studying experience. Read their top tips to navigate iLearn, online study tools and Turnitin.

iLearn tips from Stephanie:

1. The password for eStudent is totally different to the password for iLearn, student email, Library Multisearch and iPrint – which all share the same password.
2. When navigating iLearn, you will find general unit information such as the Unit Guide and the Announcements page at the top, then there are week by week sections regarding specific readings and information for that week and a sidebar with links to Leganto, Turnitin and Echo360.
3. If your subject uses Leganto, the weekly reading information may be there instead of in the week by week section of the iLearn.
4. You will see small text boxes under the resources section in Leganto, letting you know if readings are essential or optional. Leganto can also be sorted into weeks of the semester.

Online study tool tips from Yvette:

1. If you’re finding a lecture too slow or you are short on time, speed it up in echo360! Alternatively, if they speak too fast and you are missing things, you can always slow it down.
2. At the start of each semester, go through your unit outlines and put reminders in your phone two weeks before something is due, so you won’t be taken by surprise! Bonus tip – set the reminder at a time or on a day when you aren’t too busy to ignore it.
3. Check if the library has the required textbook online before you buy it, this can save you big $$!

Turnitin tips from Stephanie:

1. Some lecturers do not allow the Similarity Score to be seen by students during the submission of assignments so don’t panic if you don’t see it! If you do have access, it should be between the ‘Submitted’ and ‘Grade’ columns.
2. If you want to resubmit an assignment but you can’t find anywhere to do so, email your lecturer or tutor as sometimes Turnitin is set so that you can only submit once.
3. A higher Similarity Score can happen (for example, if you have a lot of quotes in an essay) and is something to take note of but is not necessarily problematic, if you reference properly. However, some lecturers set assessments so that Similarity Scores must fall below a certain figure. Be careful when paraphrasing that you are not changing the original source’s words only a little bit but that you are completely reformulating the concept in your own words.

Find out more about the free iGuide service here

We’re donning our caps to MQ siblings who have graduated in the same ceremony this season!

Danielle Crowe graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce – Professional Accounting with the degree of Bachelor of Laws with Honours alongside her brother Thomas, who graduated with a Bachelor of Security Studies.

“I was able to move into Thomas’ ceremony so our parents and family could experience us graduating together. We also have our grandparents in England set up to live stream the ceremony! We are both very excited to be graduating together and end our time at Macquarie together,” says Danielle.

“I find it quite incredible to be graduating the same day as my sister as it feels like so much time has passed since our journey at Macquarie started,” adds Thomas.

“When she started university, I was only just beginning year 11 at high school and had not put much thought into University yet. The way she spoke so highly of Macquarie and seeing all the great friends she made inspired me to decide that Macquarie was where I wanted to continue my education as well.

“Fast forward five-and-a-half years and we get to graduate in front of our family on the same day.”

Danielle will finish her practical legal training at the end of September before starting as a law graduate at Clayton Utz in March 2020 while Thomas hopes to pursue a career with the government.

Brother and sister Prashan Karunaratne and Sheruni De Alwis have also graduated together.

It holds special significance for them for many reasons. One of these being that they both received PhDs from Macquarie Business School – Prashan for Learning and Teaching and Sheruni for Demography. It is a significant moment for Macquarie University as both Prashan and Sheruni are also members of staff at Macquarie Business School.

They celebrated their day with their parents, spouses and children with focus on a new addition to the family, Sheruni’s son. “I finished my PhD while pregnant with my son, so the day is extra special as we get to celebrate with the new addition to the family.”

Prashan and Sheruni are extremely proud of their achievements and were excited to share the special day with their parents who brought them to live in Australia, the fourth country they have lived in; with the intention of them both receiving higher education.

Sheruni said: “Prashan and I started our PhDs years apart and in different departments, so for us to end up graduating in the same ceremony is really special, particularly for our parents.”
Speaking of their parents, Prashan echoed Sheruni’s statement by saying “They actually gave us no pressure about what to study, but simply placed value on higher education. Thus, that coupled with a significant age gap between the two of us, means that graduating together is a fitting way to honour our parents sacrifice and commitment, as well as have a common milestone for the whole family”.

So, what does the future hold for these two?

“We are both involved in teaching and researching at MQ, and we are excited to see it continue that way in the short to medium term, maybe until country number five comes up on our journey. Perhaps Macquarie’s first overseas campus?!”

From 31 March, all students will need to have a 2018 parking permit to park on campus. To purchase a a new or updated permit for the year, visit the Cashiers Office (16 Wally’s Walk, Central Courtyard side) beginning Monday 5 March.

Monthly and half-yearly permits only will be available for purchase in March. Later in the year, we’ll be moving to a pay-as-you-go parking system that will allow you to be able to pay online or with a smartphone app.

For more information, visit the Parking permits and rates webpage.

If you’re new to MyMQ, welcome. Each Monday, an email will land in your inbox with the best events and goings-on on campus, as well as the important bits: changes to policies, student services you can access, and tips to help you get through assessment time. You’ll also get to hear from fellow students about their experiences during, and beyond, their time at Macquarie.

Our MyMQ reader survey last December garnered over 1000 responses from students and, based on the feedback we received, we’ve made the following changes to the newsletter:

• more mobile friendly layout and design
• smaller images (which means more data friendly!)
• the addition of important calendar dates
• greater emphasis on events and deadlines

Further changes will come to the website in the coming months.

Thanks for joining us; we look forward to helping you get the most out of your Macquarie experience.

Got a story to tell or more feedback to share? You can access the contribution form at any time here, or email us at mymq@students.mq.edu.au

IT are running a series of daily hints and tips during this week, covering social media, passwords, email security, how to secure devices, and more. Check out the Facebook page and Twitter for daily information.

Students are also invited to an engagement event and free lunch this Wednesday 12 October at 12pm in MUSE, Level 2, to learn more about how to stay safe online and what is being done to deal with IT security on campus.

Find out more about the initiative on the website.

•  All university applications will experience up to 5 intermittent outages that will last up to 10 minutes each from 4am to 12pm. Telephones and off campus access to emails are unaffected.
• OneNet WiFi, wired network and telephones will be unavailable in the following buildings: 12 Second Way (C5A) from 7am to 8.30am, 3 Innovation Road (EMC) from 9.30am – 11am, and 4 Research Park Drive (BD) from 12pm to 1.30pm.

You can keep up to date on the status of all IT systems and services by subscribing to real-time notifications on the website. You can also follow them on Twitter at @mqu_it, call the IT Service Desk on 02 9850 HELP (4357), or email them.