The Department of Biology at the University of Malta recently held its annual Biology Symposium for 2015. It was well attended by undergraduates, academics, researchers, professionals from the private environmental consultancies, teachers and sixth formers.
During the opening session, the Hon. Leo Brincat, Minister for Sustainable Development, the Environment and Climate Change, Prof. Richard Muscat, Pro-Rector for Research and Innovation, and Dr Joseph A. Borg, Head of the Department of Biology, addressed the Symposium. The Minister emphasised the importance of continued collaboration between the Department of Biology and his Ministry in order to maximise opportunities for EU and other funding. This collaboration was already yielding results in the form of joint participation in the EU-funded project Life BAHAR for N2K, a research programme on mapping and characterizing marine benthic (seabed) habitats in Maltese waters to support Natura 2000 marine site designation. Minister Brincat also referred to the Department's important contribution in training professionals in biology, which is crucial for ensuring availability of the necessary expertise for the management of living resources in the Maltese Islands. Prof. Muscat and Dr Joseph Borg also addressed the Symposium.
The opening session was followed by a lecture to commemorate the hundredth anniversary of the Faculty of Science – a very interesting presentation by Professor Victor Axiak entitled “Three decades of the Department of Biology – a personal view”.
The Symposium gives graduands in Biology the opportunity to showcase the results of the research conducted by them in the months leading up to their graduation. This year’s research included dissertations and theses in fulfillment of the requirements of undergraduate (B.Sc. Hons) and postgraduate degrees (M.Sc., M. Phil. and Ph.D.). Topics covered included genetics, floral and faunal biodiversity, marine pollution, terrestrial and marine ecology and the influence of anthropogenic activities on marine life.
Session 1, chaired by Professor Patrick J. Schembri, included research projects related to marine biology. Topics covered included studies of epiphytic algae, assessment of heavy metal levels in the octopus and of the impact of thermal effluent on marine life in its vicinity.
Session 2, chaired by Dr Sandro Lanfranco, concerned botanical topics, except for the first project which investigated the possibility of predicting human eye colour by applying biogenetic techniques. The botanical works concerned pollen profiles from garrigue plant communities, plant community composition in terrestrial and freshwater habitats and an in-depth study of species richness among the Bryophytes.
Abstracts of the 13 projects have been published in a booklet edited by Mr David Dandria, with a foreword by the Head of the Department of Biology, Dr Joseph A. Borg. Copies of the booklet may be purchased from the Department of Biology (Tel: +356 2340 2272).
As in previous years, the 2015 Biology Symposium was partly sponsored by the Environment Protection Directorate of the Malta Environment and Planning Authority. Several of the research projects were funded by the University’s Research Fund.
