NSF Minority Postdoctoral Research Fellowship for FY 2009

2009 财年 NSF 少数族裔博士后研究奖学金

• 批准号: 0905898
• 负责人: Gabriel Rivera
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Rivera Gabriel
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Fellowship
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-01-01 至 2012-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0905898&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: NSF; Minority; Postdoctoral; Research; Fellowship

This action funds an NSF Minority Postdoctoral Research Fellowship for FY 2009. The fellowship supports a research and training plan in a host laboratory for the Fellow who also presents a plan to broaden participation in biology. The title of the research and training plan for this fellowship to Gabriel Rivera is "The evolution of morphological divergence in semi-aquatic freshwater turtles inhabiting slow and fast-flowing aquatic habitats." This research is being conducted at Iowa State University under the sponsorship of Dr. Dean Adams.Species that inhabit a wide range of environments frequently display divergent morphologies that correlate with differences in specific ecological parameters. The velocity of water flow has been shown to influence morphology in a broad range of aquatic organisms. While the evolutionary processes that have produced these patterns have been examined for several species of fully aquatic organisms (e.g., fishes), how evolution produces these patterns in semi-aquatic vertebrates remains largely unexamined. The use of terrestrial and aquatic habitats makes freshwater turtles an excellent system for addressing such questions. The North American freshwater turtle Pseudemys concinna is composed of two distinct geographic lineages; those inhabiting Atlantic drainages and those inhabiting Gulf drainages. Turtles in both lineages inhabit a wide range of slow and fast-flowing environments, and differences in morphology that correlate with different flow velocities have been identified in the one lineage (Gulf) studied to date. This project is determining (1) the contribution of genetic and environmental factors in producing the morphological differences observed between slow and fast-flowing environments, and (2) whether differences in water flow produce the same morphological differences in both geographic lineages. This research provides additional understanding of how morphological diversity can result from evolutionary adaptations to different environments. Training plans include developing new skills by combining analytical procedures for examining patterns of morphological variation, mathematical techniques for quantifying organismal shape, and statistical methods. Additionally, this project provides laboratory and field research opportunities for undergraduates and increases the participation of underrepresented groups in science.

本行动资助NSF 2009年度少数民族博士后研究奖学金。该奖学金支持奖学金获得者在主办实验室的研究和培训计划，该奖学金获得者还提出了扩大生物学参与的计划。加布里埃尔·里维拉奖学金的研究和培训计划的标题是“生活在慢流和快流水生栖息地的半水生淡水龟形态分化的进化”。这项研究正在爱荷华州立大学进行，由迪恩·亚当斯博士赞助。栖息在广泛环境中的物种经常表现出不同的形态，这与特定生态参数的差异有关。水流的速度已被证明影响形态在广泛的水生生物。虽然已经研究了几种完全水生生物（例如鱼类）产生这些图案的进化过程，但在半水生脊椎动物中进化是如何产生这些图案的，这在很大程度上仍未得到研究。利用陆地和水生栖息地使淡水龟成为解决这类问题的绝佳系统。北美淡水龟由两个不同的地理谱系组成；生活在大西洋流域和海湾流域的生物。这两种血统的海龟都生活在各种各样的慢流和快流环境中，迄今为止，在一个谱系（海湾）中已经发现了与不同流速相关的形态学差异。该项目正在确定(1)遗传和环境因素在产生慢流和快流环境之间观察到的形态差异中的贡献，以及(2)水流的差异是否在两个地理谱系中产生相同的形态差异。这项研究提供了更多的理解形态多样性是如何从进化适应不同环境中产生的。训练计划包括通过结合检查形态变化模式的分析程序、量化有机体形状的数学技术和统计方法来发展新技能。此外，该项目为本科生提供了实验室和实地研究的机会，并增加了未被充分代表的群体对科学的参与。