Profiling the School of Natural Sciences

The School was formed in 2022 with the merger of the Departments of Molecular Sciences, Biological Sciences, and Earth and Environmental Sciences. We have 75 continuing academic staff and research fellows, around 150 postdoctoral researchers and over 100 emeriti and other honorary academic staff. We also supervise around 250-300 Higher Degree Research students. A lot of our work involves collaboration across multiple research themes.

We are currently undergoing a course review process to ensure we align our extensive curriculum with strategic priorities around employment and indigenous participation, as well as broader sustainability goals. Our signature undergraduate degrees offer Bachelor of Science students a choice of majors which include Biology, Biomolecular Sciences, Chemistry, Human Biology or Earth and Environmental Sciences. Our specialist Bachelor degrees are in Biodiversity and Conservation; Environment (with majors in Environmental Management or Environmental Sciences), and Medical Sciences, with majors in Genomics and Medical Informatics, Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity or Medicinal Chemistry.

We also offer a range of postgraduate degrees. Our Master of Environment and Master of Conservation Biology degrees have articulated Graduate Certificate and Graduate Diploma programs, and we also offer Masters degrees in Sustainable Development and in Biotechnology.

What are the key research themes of the School?

Our research strengths fall under the following six themes: Animal Behaviour and Neurobiology; Earth Systems Science; Environment and Conservation; Evolution and Ecology; Innovative Chemical Systems; and Molecular ‘Omics and Synthetic Biology.

We also host the ARC Centre of Excellence in Synthetic Biology, the Australian Genome Foundry, and the ARC Industrial Transformation Training Centre for Facilitated Advancement of Australia's Bioactives (FAAB).

Our eleven-hectare fauna park for animal research includes both freshwater and saltwater aquaria, and our plant growth facility glasshouses and incubators are light and temperature-controlled. We have excellent molecular biology and physical containment (PC2) laboratories complemented by advanced analytical facilities such as the Australian Proteome Analysis Facility, the Centre of Analytical Biotechnology, and the Material Characterisation and Analysis Facility.

Our academic staff and research fellows drive our research mission, but we also place great value in, and rely very heavily on, our HDR students. It’s our job to invest in their development, train them to be effective researchers and critical thinkers, and set them up for success in both research and non-research related careers.  But in true Macquarie style, our staff see HDR students as partners in the research endeavour and they contribute in so many ways to making our School a research powerhouse and a great place to work.

What recent achievements are you proud of?

There’s so much going on that it’s hard to name just a few, but in addition to all the usual grant success and research papers, we are continuing to focus on diversity and inclusion at Macquarie and in STEM education more broadly. Natural Sciences staff have played a key role in establishing Macquarie’s Girls to Graduates program, which brings together schools, academia and industry to encourage STEM participation for girls and women.  We are also focused on improving our offerings in the Indigenous space. Natural Sciences staff have a big stake in Macquarie’s Bush University in Arnhem Land, and our Bachelor of Environment course will include a dedicated indigenous Science unit from 2024, and through our indigenous engagement working group, we are aiming to increasing the amount of indigenous science in our curriculum and indigenous themes and people in our research.

What will be your focus for the rest of the year? 

Continuing to plan and deliver changes to the curriculum so that we align our teaching with what employers are looking for, what graduates want, and what society more generally needs from us. We live in a time of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity and must respond by equipping our graduates with the skills they will need to address present and future challenges and have fulfilling and rewarding careers.