Career Award: Phylogeny and Floral Evolution of the Core Malvales

9876070 Baum这个职业发展计划侧重于系统发育，生物体历史记录的重建和解释。研究部分是对核心Malvales之间历史关系的研究，核心Malvales是一组大约3000种植物，包括棉花、巧克力、秋葵、榴莲、巴尔沙和黄麻等经济上重要的物种。教学部分包括大学水平的课程和为高中教师举办的关于系统发育作为生物多样性教学框架的讲习班。将确定马尔代夫代表的5个基因的DNA序列。通过比较和分析这些序列，并整合来自植物形态学和古生物学的信息，将有可能估计类群内的历史关系。这将有助于澄清核心Malvales起源和辐射的时间和地理背景，以及该群体中植物多样性和授粉机制的历史机制。教授的课程将包括一门本科课程（生物多样性）和两门研究生课程。东北大学城市教育创新中心将为教师开设一个密集的研讨会：《生命之树：系统发育作为有机体生物学教学的基础》。这将通过案例研究（例如，鲸鱼的起源，艾滋病毒的系统发育，鸟类的起源），辩论（例如，“生命，根据定义，只存在于地球上”，“保护是一个系统发育问题”），以及一个使用头骨特征重建食肉动物历史的实践项目，向教师介绍系统发育树。我们还将讨论如何将这些想法引入课堂，以提高高中水平的生物素养。

9876070 Baum This career development plan focuses on phylogenetics, the reconstruction and interpretation of the historical record of organisms. The research component is a study of historical relationships among the core Malvales, a group of approximately 3000 plants including such economically important species as cotton, chocolate, okra, durian, balsa, and jute. The teaching component involves courses at the college level and a workshop for high school teachers on phylogeny as a framework for teaching biological diversity. The DNA sequence of five genes for representatives of Malvales will be determined. By comparing and analyzing these sequences and integrating information from plant morphology and paleontology, it will be possible to estimate historical relationships within the group. This will help clarify the timing and geographic context for the origin and radiation of core Malvales, as well as the historical mechanisms underlying floral diversity and pollination mechanisms in the group. Courses taught will include one undergraduate course (Biological Diversity) and two graduate courses. An intensive workshop for teachers will be taught through the Center for Innovation in Urban Education, Northeastern University: The Tree of Life: Phylogeny as a Foundation for the Teaching of Organismic Biology. This will introduce teachers to phylogenetic trees using case studies (e.g., origin of whales, HIV phylogeny, origin of birds), debates (e.g., "life, by definition, exists only on earth"; "conservation is a phylogenetic problem"), and a hands-on project using skull characters to reconstruct history of the carnivores. We will also discuss how to bring these ideas into classrooms so as to improve biological literacy at the high school level.