CI-TEAM Demonstration Project: A Cloud-enabled Evolutionary Genetics Learning Tool for Engaging the Net-Savvy Generation (POP!World)

纽约州立大学布法罗分校的这个团队正在开发POP！World是一个支持云基础设施的综合平台，用于群体遗传学和进化生物学的体验式学习、教育、培训和研究。群体遗传学是现代进化综合理论的基础之一。它使所有领域的进化研究都能有所发现，并为预测进化事件的结果提供了工具。拟议的综合平台将支持广泛的工具，从K-12阶段的简单学习到大学，再到基因结果的应用研究。该项目将解决CI-TEAM征集的主要目标。为当前和未来的科学家、工程师和教育工作者做好准备，以设计、开发以及采用和部署基于网络的工具和环境，用于正式和非正式的研究和学习。POP的主要目标！世界是利用先进的网络基础设施，以提高重要的生物学概念的可及性，以学生在所有水平。它旨在使广泛的用户能够访问网络科学资源、工具和平台，从而为下一代科学家做好准备。在非正式环境中，这个平台的特点将被用来激励K-12学生，激发他们对STEM领域的兴趣。流行!世界提供了一个高度引人入胜的替代当前流行的文本环境，未能吸引网络一代的观众。它也比目前可用的图形界面更注重数学，使其可以用作基本教学工具，并扩展到高等教育水平和合作研究平台。该项目的特色包括一个专业的教育和研究平台，用于高保真模拟微观进化过程（例如：选择、突变、迁移、遗传漂变和非随机交配）。该工具包括交互式模拟，具有视觉上吸引人的结果显示；状态面板显示从输入和模拟过程，学生评估模块和研究组件设置假设的实验计算和导出的信息。该项目作为一个模型，展示了将新兴云基础设施转变为多学科工具开发的实际挑战和解决方案。该工具可以通过云机器映像普遍访问，并将使用其计算能力在云上运行，从而不限制用户机器。虽然这个项目最初使用亚马逊的弹性计算云（EC2）和b谷歌应用引擎作为云主机，但该工具可以很容易地适应其他云环境。云支持可以轻松设置培训课程，并为POP的大规模传播提供真正可扩展的模型！世界。该项目将使用开源软件开发，并在GNU公共许可下作为开源软件提供。精通网络的学生将不仅仅是POP的使用者！同时也是设计和实现工具背后的创造性力量。我们计划开发POP的主要组成部分！作为计算机科学与工程和生物信息学专业学生的顶点项目。智力优势：该项目是计算机科学与工程和生物科学研究人员之间的跨学科协同合作。PI具有网格计算和数据密集型计算研究、教育和工具构建方面的背景。她成功地实施了由美国国家科学基金会支持的数据密集型计算课程。她正在指导POP的设计和实施！世界。合作pi将利用他们在群体遗传学、进化生物学和课程设计方面的丰富经验来指导项目的理论和实践科学方面，并演示POP！世界?在生物课程的导论和高级课程中有广泛的应用。这位外部顾问有着独特的背景，他是一位屡获殊荣的社区大学教授，也是一家财富500强公司的退休项目经理。更广泛的影响：POP！世界项目展示了新兴的云基础设施对多学科合作和研究的影响。它为科学创新提供了一种负担得起的、可有效适应的交付机制（即云），适用于广泛的人群，并将使各种组织都能高度访问该技术。预计这将吸引不同类型的参与者（K-12学生、教育工作者、研究人员、成人学习者等）。流行!World可以作为学习工具，吸引、留住和吸引各个层次和多个学科的网络一代劳动力。通过支持令人兴奋的视觉交互，以及涉及“假设”的学习和研究询问的实验，预计它将对提高我们的科学和工程技术熟练劳动力的准备能力产生非常广泛的影响。结果将通过会议和讲习班向各级听众广泛传播。这支背景各异的全女性调查团队致力于指导、教育和培训。

This team at SUNY at Buffalo is developing POP!World, a cloud infrastructure-enabled comprehensive platform for experiential learning, education, training and research in population genetics and evolutionary biology. Population genetics is one of the foundations of the modern evolutionary synthesis. It enables discoveries in all areas of evolutionary study and provides tools for predicting the outcome of evolutionary events. The proposed integrated platform will support a wide range of tools from simple learning at the K-12 level up through college and on to applied research on genetic outcomes. This project will address the primary goal of the CI-TEAM solicitation ?Prepare current and future generations of scientists, engineers, and educators to design and develop as well as adopt and deploy cyber-based tools and environments for research and learning, both formal and informal?. The major goal of POP!World is to leverage the advances in cyber-infrastructure to improve accessibility of important biological concepts to students at all levels. It is designed to empower a broad spectrum of users with access to cyber-enabled scientific resources, tools and platforms, thus, preparing the next generation of scientists. In informal settings the features of this platform will be used to inspire K-12 students and kindle their interest in STEM areas. POP!World offers a highly engaging alternative to currently prevalent textual environments that fail to captivate net-generation audiences. It is also more mathematically focused than currently available graphical interfaces, allowing it to be used as a basic teaching tool and expanded to higher education levels and collaborative research platforms. Special features of the project include a professional education and research platform for high-fidelity simulations of microevolutionary processes (e.g.: selection, mutation, migration, genetic drift, and non random mating). The tool includes interactive simulation with visually appealing displays of outcomes; status panels displaying computed and derived information from the input and simulation process, student evaluation modules, and research components for setting up hypothetical experiments. The project is serving as a model to demonstrate the practical challenges and solutions in transforming the emerging cloud infrastructure to multi-disciplinary tool development. The tool will be universally accessible via the cloud machine images, and will run on the cloud using its computational capabilities thus not limiting the user machine. Although this project is initially using Amazon's Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) and Google App Engine as cloud hosts, the tool can be easily adapted to other cloud environments. Cloud-enabling allows for easy set-up for training sessions and offers a truly scalable model for mass dissemination of POP!World. The project will be developed using open-source software and will itself be available as open-source under GNU public licensing. Cyber-savvy students will be not only the users of the POP!World but also be the creative force behind the design and implementation of the tool. We plan to develop major components of the POP!World as capstone projects for students majoring in Computer Science & Engineering and Bioinformatics. Intellectual Merit: The project is a synergistic inter-disciplinary collaboration among investigators from Computer Science & Engineering and Biological Sciences. The PI has background in grid-computing and data-intensive computing research and education and in tool building. She has successfully implemented an NSF-supported curriculum for data-intensive computing. She is guiding the design and implementation of POP!World. The co-PIs will are using their extensive experience in population genetics, evolutionary biology, and course design to guide the theoretical and practical science aspects of the project and demonstrate POP!World?s diverse use in introductory and advanced courses of the biology curriculum. The external consultant has a unique background as an award winning community college professor and a retired program manager of a Fortune 500 company. Broader Impact: The POP!World project showcases the impact of the emerging cloud-infrastructures on multi-disciplinary collaboration and research. It illustrates an affordable and effectively adaptable delivery mechanism (i.e. the cloud) for scientific innovations to a wide demographic, and will make the technology highly accessible to a variety of organizations. This is expected to engage a diverse population of many types of participants (students K-12, educators, researchers, adult learners, etc.). POP!World can be used as learning tool for attracting, retaining and engaging the net-generation workforce at all levels and in multiple disciplines. It is expected to have a very broad impact on improving the preparedness of our Sciences & Engineering tech-savvy workforce by supporting exciting visual interactions, experimentation involving "what if" inquiries for learning and research. Results will be disseminated widely through conferences and workshops to audiences at all levels. This all-female team of investigators with truly diverse background is deeply committed to mentoring, educating and training.