CAREER: The roles of ecology, behavior, and morphology in maintaining species boundaries- demonstrating evolutionary processes to high school students in Idaho.

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The conservation of biodiversity requires an understanding not only of the factors that contribute to diversification and speciation but also of the population dynamics that allow species to remain distinct from one another. The PI will integrate a series of field and lab studies to identify how ecological, behavioral, and morphological factors enable hybridization but prevent widespread gene flow (introgression) between two species of woodrat, Neotoma fuscipes and N. macrotis. Specifically, the PI will identify where the barriers or filters to genetic introgression occur in the continuum of reproduction from spatial opportunity for interaction, to mate choice, gamete transfer, survivorship and reproductive success. The PI will incorporate aspects of this research into a high school outreach program. This program will train local high school biology teachers in molecular genetic techniques and collaborate with them to present these techniques to their students and integrate these activities into other components of the curriculum. The proposed research and educational activities will train a continuum of individuals in the scientific method with special emphasis on molecular genetics and evolutionary processes. These individuals include high school students from the local Shoshone-Bannock tribe, undergraduates, PhD students, and biology teachers. The outreach program will be a model partnership between high schools and universities, cost-efficiently exposing students to modern molecular genetics and evolutionary research.