NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2010

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This action funds an NSF Minority Postdoctoral Research Fellowship for FY 2010. 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 Lauren Esposito is "Biogeography of Caribbean Scorpions: The complex relationship between biodiversity and geography." The host institution for this research is University of California at Berkeley and the sponsoring scientist is Dr. Rosemary Gillespie. The Caribbean Islands have long been recognized for their important role in human history as the gateway to the Americas, yet the rich plant and animal communities of the islands are too often overlooked. Centuries of agriculture and development have resulted in major conservation concerns for much of the region. A better understanding of the biodiversity of the islands and the processes that have contributed to its evolution are vital to preserve it for future generations. The region has a long history of scientific study, but major questions remain about the origin and diversification of the islands' unique plants and animals. This project is searching for answers to those questions by analyzing a living fossil: scorpions. As a major group of predatory arthropods, scorpions are ideal organisms for understanding Caribbean biogeography (the distribution of biodiversity over space and time). This study is examining several independent lineages of scorpions inhabiting the Caribbean, all with varying dispersal abilities, in order to test the role of vicariance (geographic separation) vs. dispersal in the formation of new species in the Caribbean.Training objectives include working and collaborating with a researcher who is a major contributor to arachnid and biogeographical research. Additionally, this project enhances the career development of a minority researcher dedicated to education of underserved communities. Inquiry-based lessons on evolution and island biogeography are being developed for dissemination in Bay Area and Caribbean schools, and via the Berkeley Museum of Natural History education website.