The lab is getting bigger! Andrew Hunter {Chopper} and Ami Fadhillah Amir have just joined the lab to do their PhDs - Chopper on performance and Ami on conservation. Ami acquired a prestigious Malaysian scholarship for her work, so we don't know for sure if the following is applicable for her ... but for Chopper, at least, post-doc Sean Fitzgibbon put together a financial plan for his upcoming years of servitude: "Chop, I have just looked at the conditions of your award and spoken with your accountant. We offer the following:

Stipend $23,728 per annum (Tax-free) = $461/wk

Committed expenditure:

Mortgage $380/wk remainder $81

Utilities $28/wk remainder $53

Football subs $17/wk remainder $36

Groceries $23/wk remainder $13

Home brew $8/wk remainder $5

We suggest that you set-up a trust savings account to invest your weekly surplus income of $5. Based on my calculations, after your PhD you should be able to live off your savings (and interest - based conservatively on 6.2%) for approx. 2.1 days. This should really take the heat off when you are searching for a job post-hand-in

Welcome to the familia! Let me know if we can be of further assistance*." - S.F.

*this post is not meant to replace real financial planning and new PhD students should always consult a bona fide accountant for advice on saving vs. spending their income. If they can afford one.

How do scientists study running performance? Well, with humans we'd take subjects out onto a track and measure how fast they could sprint between two points.

With geckoes?

It's pretty much the same. Except we have
to design a track that encourages the gecko to move as quickly as it can in a straight line. (Because geckoes aren't as good at taking verbal directions as humans are ... )

Skye's current experiment is based around this running track. She puts a gecko into the near end (as shown in the top photo) and then chases it down the track with a foam paddle. Don't worry, the gecko's fine - the paddle is just to prevent it from stopping or turning around or anything that might disrupt measurements.

As the gecko runs down the track (away from us, in this picture), it passes the 4 light sensors that help Skye to accurately record the gecko's speed. Skye repeats the run 3 times more, so that she can get the gecko's fastest performance (best of 12 time splits - 3 trials x 4 sensors).

After measuring running performance, Skye takes the weight of the gecko to account for its body size in her calculations. This is because larger geckoes will be able to run faster independently of temperature.

Then, the gecko returns to its home in the lab.

Each gecko completes 8 running trials at temperatures between 15 and 38 degrees Celcius. Some populations won't ever have seen some of these temperature extremes in the wild (and others will have).

Skye is predicting that where a gecko comes from will affect how it performs at these different temperatures. For example, at low temperatures geckoes from tropical North Queensland should perform more poorly than geckoes from Brisbane - because, in nature, Brisbane geckoes experience low temperatures every year (and tropical geckoes don't).

Skye's still working hard measuring gecko running speeds ... so we can't tell you any results yet. But watch this space!