Evolutionary Ecology of Structured Populations

这项奖励提供的资金将帮助购买设备，供佛蒙特州大学一群杰出的教师进行研究和培训。该学院的研究重点是结构化种群的进化生态学。该小组讨论的一般问题包括：1)种群结构的生态原因；2)结构对微观进化动力学的影响；3)这些动态所导致的自然界中预期的(种群)模式。自从最早的进化论被提出以来，环境与进化的相互关系一直是人们感兴趣的问题。种群结构的作用，而不是简单的种群规模，在进化动态中的作用相对较少被理解。对这种结构的研究需要在分子水平上分析动植物种群个体成员的DNA和蛋白质特征。借助这一奖项购买的设备将有助于教师和学生研究确定这些特征。

This award provides funds that will aid in the purchase of equipment to be used for research and training by a group of outstanding faculty at the University of Vermont. The faculty's research centers on studies of the evolutionary ecology of structured populations. The general classes of questions addressed by the group include: 1) the ecological causes of population structure; 2) the effect of the structure on microevolutionary dynamics; 3) the (population) patterns to be expected in nature as a result of these dynamics. The interrelation of environment and evolution has been of interest since the earliest theories of evolution were proposed. The role of population structure, as opposed to the simple size of populations, has a relatively poorly understood role in the dynamics of evolution. Studies of such structure require the analysis of characteristics of the DNA and protein of individual members of animal and plant populations at the molecular level. The equipment purchased with the aid of this award will be of benefit to faculty and student research in defining such characteristics.