Address	(Office): Rm 525, Mong Man Wai Building (Lab): ---
Phone	(Office): (852) 3943 8137 (Lab): ---
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Education

Position

• Lecturer, School of Life Sciences

Research Interests

• Earthworm Ecology and Biodiversity
• Soils and the Environment
• Biogeochemistry and Ecosystem Functioning
• Sustainability and Environmental Resources Management  

Representative Publications 

1. Law, M.M.S. & Lai, D.Y.F. * (2021). Impacts of Wetting/Drying Cycles on Short-Term Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics in Amynthas Earthworm Casts. Pedosphere. 31:3, 423-432.
2. Law, M.M.S., Jiang, J., Gao, X., Dong, Y., Lai, D.Y.F., & Qiu, J. * (2018). Updated checklist of earthworms from Hong Kong and phylogenetic relationship of Megascolecidae in Pearl River Delta, China. Oral presentation in the 1^st International Earthworm Congress, 24-29 June 2018, Shanghai, China.
3. Law, M.M.S. *, & Lai, D.Y.F. (2018). Interactions between native Amynthas earthworms, temperature, and moisture on burrow characteristics and greenhouse gas fluxes in subtropical grassland soils. Oral presentation in the 1^st International Earthworm Congress, 24-29 June 2018, Shanghai, China.
4. Law, M.M.S. *; Hills, Peter.; & Hau, C.H. Billy. (2017). Engaging Employees in Sustainable Development – a Case Study of Environmental Education and Awareness Training in Hong Kong. Business Strategy and the Environment. 26, 84-97. 

Awards

• Faculty/School/Academy of Visual Arts Performance Award in Early Career Teaching 2020, Hong Kong Baptist University
• Earthwatch Shulman Award, Earthwatch Institute (Europe)
• CUHK Golden Jubilee Postgraduate Scholarship 2016/17, CUHK
• Young Scholars Thesis Award, 17th Cross-strait Symposium on Environment, Resource and Ecological Conservation, CERECA
• Zhongjian Dongfang Gao’s Scholarship for Resource Management Study, The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Professional Activities 

• 2020-22 Agricultural Products Scholarship Fund Advisory Committee (APSFAC), Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, HKSAR

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Address	(Office): Rm 138, Science Centre North Block (Lab):
Phone	(Office): (852) 3943 1393 (Lab):
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Education

Position

• Senior Lecturer, School of Life Sciences
• Assistant Director, Cell and Molecular Biology Programme (CMB)

ORCID ID

0000-0002-4274-7052

Research Interests

• Synaptic plasticity
• Neurodegenerative and neuromuscular diseases
• Drosophila neurobiology
• Science communication
• Humour as a pedagogical approach
  

Representative Publications (10)

Full Publication List:
https://scholar.google.com.au/citations?hl=en&user=7p91NioAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate

•  Ngai CSB, Singh RG, Lu W, Yao L, Koon AC. Exploring the relationship between trust-building strategies and public engagement on social media during the COVID-19 outbreak. Health Communication, 2022, doi: 10.1080/10410236.2022.2055261
• Ngai CBS, Singh RG, Lu W, Koon AC^†. Grappling with the COVID-19 Health Crisis: Content Analysis of Communication Strategies and Their Effects on Public Engagement on Social Media. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 2020; 22(8), e21360. doi: 10.2196/21360. ^†Corresponding author.
• Hong H*, Koon AC*, Chen ZS, Wei Y, An Y, Li W, Lau MHY, Lau KF, Ngo JCK, Wong CH, Au-Yeung HY, Zimmerman SC, Chan HYE. AQAMAN, a bisamidine-based inhibitor of toxic protein inclusions in neurons, ameliorates cytotoxicity in polyglutamine disease models. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2019; 294(8):2757-2770. doi: 10.1074/jbc.RA118.006307. *Co-first authors.
• Ngai SBC, Singh RG, Koon AC^†. A discourse analysis of the macro-structure, metadiscoursal and microdiscoursal features in the abstracts of research articles across multiple science disciplines. PLOS One, 2018; 13(10):e0205417. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0205417. ^†Corresponding author.
• Koon AC, Chen ZS, Peng S, Fung JMS, Zhang X, Lembke KM, Chow HK, Frank CA, Jiang L, Lau KF, Chan HYE. Drosophila Exo70 is essential for neurite extension and survival under thermal stress. Journal of Neuroscience, 2018; 38(37):8071-8086. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0620-18.2018.
• Koon AC, Chan HY. Drosophila melanogaster As a Model Organism to Study RNA Toxicity of Repeat Expansion-Associated Neurodegenerative and Neuromuscular Diseases. Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience, 2017; 11:70. doi: 10.3389/fncel.2017.00070.
• Speese SD, Ashley J, Jokhi V, Nunnari J, Barria R, Li Y, Ataman B, Koon A, Chang YT, Li Q, Moore MJ, Budnik V. Nuclear Envelope Budding Enables Large Ribonucleoprotein Particle Export during Synaptic Wnt Signaling. Cell, 2012; 149(4):832-46.
• Koon AC, Budnik V. Inhibitory control of synaptic and behavioral plasticity by octopaminergic signaling. Journal of Neuroscience, 2012; 32(18):6312-22.
• Koon AC, Ashley J, Barria R, DasGupta S, Brain R, Waddell S, Alkema M, Budnik V. Autoregulatory and paracrine control of synaptic and behavioral plasticity by octopaminergic signaling^‡. Nature Neuroscience, 2011; 14(2):190-199.
• Lin Y, Bloodgood BL, Hauser JL, Lapan AD, Koon AC, Kim TK, Hu LS, Malik AN, Greenberg ME. Activity-dependent regulation of inhibitory synapse development by Npas4. Nature, 2008; 455(7217):1198-1204.
  
  

Teaching Grants

• 2022-2025, Teaching Development and Language Enhancement Grant (TDLEG) – Inter-Institutional Collaborative Activities (IICAs) portion, Developing a systematized humour pedagogical approach to enhance teaching and learning: A cross-institutional and cross-disciplinary collaboration, $1,345,070 (Principal Supervisor)
• 2021-2022, Teaching Development Grant (TDG), Humour as a pedagogical approach to improve student engagement, enhance learning and relieve stress, $130,433 (Principal Supervisor)

 
Research Grants

• 2020-2022, General Research Fund (GRF), The role of adhesion molecule FasII/NCAM in synaptic dysfunction and neurodegeneration in myotonic dystrophy type I, $892,655 (Co-Investigator) (Same grant as below. After forfeiting due to changing to teaching track, the grant was re-acquired by Prof. Ho Yin Edwin Chan as PI.)
• 2019-2021, General Research Fund (GRF), The role of adhesion molecule FasII/NCAM in synaptic dysfunction and neurodegeneration in myotonic dystrophy type I, $800,860 (Principal Investigator) (Forfeited in 2019 due to changing to teaching track)
• 2018-2020, General Research Fund (GRF), Investigating the role of PAPD5 and its target microRNAs in RNA toxicity of polyglutamine diseases, $677,160 (Principal Investigator) (Transferred to Prof. Ho Yin Edwin Chan in 2019 due to changing to teaching track)
• 2016-2017, Direct Grant for Research at CUHK, Regulation of synaptic plasticity in neurodegenerative diseases, $150,000 (Principal Investigator)

Awards

• 2013-2015     UQ Postdoctoral Fellowship, Institute for Molecular Bioscience, University of Queensland, Australia
  

Professional Teaching Accreditation

• 2021     Fellow of Advance HE (FHEA)

Professional Activities

• Member of the Society for Neuroscience, USA, since 2011
  
• Associate Editor, Cell & Cellular Life Sciences Journal, since 2018.
• Associate Editor, Annals of Advanced Biomedical Sciences, since 2018.
• Review Editor, Frontiers in Cellular Neuropathology, 07/2022 – present.

Professional Teaching Trainings

• 2022 Practical Design Thinking for Curriculum / Course Design, Centre for Learning Enhancement And Research, CUHK
• 2021 Common Core Tutors Certificate, Common Core, HKU 
• 2020 Professional Certificate in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (PCTLHE), Centre for Enhancement of Teaching and Learning, HKU
• 2020 Certificate of Completion, PBL Training Programme for Tutors, LKS Faculty of Medicine, HKU
• 2020 Professional Development Programme in Medical Education, LKS Faculty of Medicine, HKU

Invited Lectures

• 4/11/2022 HKU School of Professional and Continuing Education. Online Sharing Series.Title: “Well-played, Well-paid”: Enhancing Student Engagement via a Systematised Humour Pedagogical Approach
• 26/1/2022 Hong Kong Student Association of Neuroscience (HKSAN) Online Webinar Series.
  Title: Lou Gehrig’s disease (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis)
• 27/7/2021 HKUMedify: Medical and Healthcare Academy for the Talented 2021 – Lecture in Biomedical Sciences, The University of Hong Kong.
  Title: Exploring the Ocean of Public Health
• 1/12/2017 Popular Science Special Lecture Series: How Nobel Prizes Are Won, The Chinese University of Hong Kong.
  Title: Punctuality is the best policy – What the fruit fly has taught us about the biological clock

Address	(Office): Rm 503C, Mong Man Wai Building, CUHK (Lab): Rm 507D, Mong Man Wai Building, CUHK
Phone	(Office): (852) 3943 7533 (Lab): (852) 3943 5032
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Web	www.palaeopittman.com

Education

Positions

• 2022-present   Assistant Professor, School of Life Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
  
• 2021-present   Research Associate, Department of Earth Sciences, University College London, U.K.
  
• 2021-present   Research Associate, Unidad Ejecutora Lillo, CONICET, Tucumán, Argentina
• 2021-present   Research Associate, Paleontological Museum Egidio Feruglio, Trelew, Argentina
• 2017-present   Research Associate, Foundation for Scientific Advancement, Sierra Vista, U.S.A.
  
• 2022-present   Honorary Assistant Professor, Department of Earth Sciences, HKU
• 2013-2022       Research Assistant Professor & Assistant Dean, Department of Earth Sciences, HKU

Research Interests

• Dinosaur-to-bird transition - feathered dinosaur anatomy, systematics, biology and evolution especially:
  
  • Soft anatomy
  • Early flight development
  • Feeding, diet and ecology
• Other dinosaur biology and evolution
• Lagerstätten & fossilised soft tissues - imaging, geochemistry and palaeobiology

 Representative Publications

1. Pittman, M., Enriquez, N.J., Bell, P.R., Kaye, T.G. & Upchurch, P. 2022. Newly detected skin data from historic sauropod Haestasaurus and review of sauropod skin morphology suggests Early Jurassic origin of skin papillae. Communications Biology, 5:122 
2. Pittman, M., Barlow, L.A., Kaye, T.G. & Habib, M.B. 2021. Pterosaurs evolved advanced aerodynamic smoothing of the wing-body junction and sophisticated wing base control to improve flight performance. PNAS, 118(44): e2107631118 [cover issue]
3. Pittman, M. & Xu, X. (editors). 2020. Pennaraptoran theropod dinosaurs: past progress & new frontiers. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 440: 353pp
4. Pei, R.*, Pittman, M.*, Goloboff, P.A., Dececchi, T.A., Habib, M.B., Kaye, T.G., Larsson, H.C.E., Norell, M.A., Brusatte, S.L. & Xu, X. 2020. Potential for powered flight neared by most close avialan relatives, but few crossed its thresholds. Current Biology, 30(2): 4033-4046.e8 [*joint-first and corresponding author; cover issue]
5. Kaye, T.G.* & Pittman, M.*. 2020. Fluorescence-based detection of field targets using an autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle system. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 11(8): 890-898 [joint-corresponding author; cover issue]
6. Goloboff, P.A., Pittman, M., Pol, D. & Xu, X. 2018. Morphological datasets fit a common mechanism much more poorly than DNA Sequences and call into question the Mkv Model. Systematic Biology, syy077.
7. Wang, X.L.*, Pittman, M.*, Zheng, X.T., Kaye, T., Falk, A., Hartman, S. & Xu, X. Basal paravian functional anatomy illuminated by high-detail body outline. Nature Communications, 8: 14576 [*joint first-author and corresponding author]
8. Xu, X.*, Currie, P.*, Pittman, M.*, Xing, L.D., Meng, Q.J., Lü, J.C., Dong, H.Y. & Yu, C.Y. 2017. Mosaic evolution in an asymmetrically feathered troodontid dinosaur with transitional features. Nature Communications, 8: 14972. [*joint first-author]
9. Pittman, M., Gatesy, S.M., Upchurch, P., Goswami, A. & Hutchinson, J.R. 2013. Shake a tail feather: the evolution of the theropod tail into a stiff aerodynamic surface. PLOS ONE, 8: e63115.
10. Xu, X., Sullivan, C., Pittman, M., Choiniere, J., Hone, D.W.E., Upchurch, P., Tan, Q.Q., Xiao, D. & Tan, L. 2011. A monodactyl non-avian dinosaur and the complex evolution of alvarezsauroid hand. PNAS, 108(6): 2338-2342.

Research Grants

• 2021-2023, Research Grants Council (RGC) General Research Fund (GRF, Quantitative investigation of the diet of enantiornithines, the most diverse Mesozoic birds, $686,232
  
• 2021-2022, University Grants Council (of Hong Kong) Special Grant for Strategic Development of Virtual Teaching and Learning, $1,000,000
  
• 2020-2022, RGC GRF, Functional anatomy of the external and internal soft tissues of the wing of the gliding dinosaur Microraptor and the pteryology of its 'hindwing', $673,488
  
• 2016-2022, The University of Hong Kong (HKU) Vice-President & Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Teaching & Learning) Office, $1,000,000
  
• 2015-2017, RGC GRF, Reassessing dromaeosaurid evolutionary relationships and understanding of dromaeosaurid evolutionary novelties, $ 416,850
  
• 2015-2017, HKU University Research Committee PDF Scheme, $300,000
• 2014-2016, University Development Fund, HKU Vice-Chancellor’s Office, $7,000,000
• 2013-22, Private Funding, $510,000

Awards

• Award for Teaching Innovation in E-Learning, Faculty of Science, HKU
• 2018 finalist for edX Prize for Exceptional Contributions in Online Teaching and Learning
  

Professional Activities

• Associate Editor, Cladistics (2020 - present)
• Committee Member, Hong Kong Regional Group, The Geological Society of London (2020 - present)
• Editorial Board, GigaByte (2020 - present)

Others (Research-related news and Interviews)

• UK Advance HE Fellowship (D2)
• UK Advance HE Senior Fellowship (D3)
• Museum and exhibition consultant
• Public speaker in outreach events
• Member of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, Palaeontological Association, Royal Geographical Society and Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology
• Fellow of the Geological Society of London and Willi Henning Society
• Instructor of edX MOOC Dinosaur Ecosystems