CAREER: Comparative Biodiversity and Community Ecology of Chemosynthetic Ecosystems

本职业发展计划将侧重于将本科生和研究生整合到一个创造性的研究项目中，重点关注深海生态的几个方面。海洋热液喷口，学生有机会参与研究工作的每个阶段，从最初的实地采样到最后的手稿准备。它还将把研究带入课堂，通过研究的发展？以及一门关于极端环境中的生命的课程，该课程以热液喷口的研究为特色，PI在这方面做出了重要贡献。研究者将研究化学合成群落生态学中的三个基本问题：1)热液喷口的群落结构；2)硫化物对喷口物种组成的非生物控制；3)贻贝床动物的营养和繁殖比较研究。这些研究项目将为本科生和研究生提供大量的研究机会，并将解决国家科学基金会当前优先考虑的具体问题。岭项目。PI和威廉玛丽学院的教育目标将通过3种方式得到支持：将为4名本科生提供实地和实验室的正式研究经验，1？硕士研究生2名，博士研究生1名。课程发展？将为高级本科生和研究生开设一门关于极端环境中的生命的新讲座课程。将研究融入教学？过程?定向实验室将被开发，以取代更传统的无脊椎动物学调查方法。新的重点将放在功能生物学上，并将以最近文献中发现的方法和问题为基础，并利用邻近切萨皮克湾所提供的特殊机会。一个研究?一旦新实验室建立，将在学期结束时引入一两个实验室的定向方法，学生将在那里进行他们自己设计的实验。

This CAREER Development Plan will focus on integrating undergraduate and graduate students into a creative research program focused on several aspects of the ecology of deep?sea hydrothermal vents, with opportunities for student engagement through every stage of the research effort, from the initial field sampling to final preparation of manuscripts. It also will bring research into the classroom, through development of research?oriented laboratories and of a course on Life in Extreme Environments that features the body of work on hydrothermal vents to which the PI is a significant contributor.The investigator will address three fundamental issues in the ecology of chemosynthetic communities: 1) Community structure of hydrothermal vents, 2) Sulfide as an abiotic control on species composition at vents, and 3) Comparative trophic and reproductive studies of mussel bed fauna. These research programs will offer abundant opportunities for undergraduate and graduate research and they will address specific issues identified as current priorities of the NSF?RIDGE Program.Educational goals of the PI and The College of William & Mary will be supported in 3 ways: Research Mentoring ? Formal research experience in the field and laboratory will be provided to 4 undergraduates, 1?2 Master's students and 1 Ph.D. student each year. Curriculum Development ? A new lecture course on Life in Extreme Environments will be developed for advanced undergraduates and graduate students. Incorporating Research into Teaching ? Process?oriented laboratories will be developed to replace the more traditional survey approach to invertebrate zoology. The new emphasis will be on functional biology and will be based on methods and issues found in the very recent literature and which take advantage of specific opportunities afforded by proximity to Chesapeake Bay. A research?oriented approach for one or two of the labs at the end of the semester will be introduced once the new laboratories are established, where students conduct experiments they design themselves.