U.S.-Kenya Planning Visit: Ecological Studies in the Maasai Mara National Reserve and Kenyan Training Workshop on Eumycetozoans

美国-肯尼亚计划访问：马赛马拉国家保护区生态研究和肯尼亚真菌培训班

• 批准号: 1042602
• 负责人: Adam Rollins
• 金额: $ 1.67万
• 依托单位: Lincoln Memorial University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2011
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2011-01-01 至 2011-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1042602&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: U.S.; Kenya; Planning; Visit; Ecological

This award will support a planning visit for PI Adam Rollins (Lincoln Memorial University) and co-PI Steven Stephenson (University of Arkansas) to visit three locations in Kenya: the Center for Biodiversity housed at the National Museums of Kenya, the University of Nairobi, and the Maasai Mara National Reserve. The main objective of the proposed trip is for the PI (accompanied by a Lincoln Memorial University undergraduate student) and Co-PI to meet with Dr. George Ndiritu of the National Museums of Kenya and Dr. Francis Mwaura of the University of Nairobi. During the visit, the PI's and the foreign partners will (1) develop plans for future collaborative research centered around the eumycetozoans associated with grasslands and other ecosystems in eastern Africa, (2) begin the process of developing one or more international grant proposals to support the proposed collaborative efforts, (3) collect a preliminary set of samples to generate a set of baseline data, (4) present a workshop and one or more seminars on eumycetozoans to Kenyan university students and museum professionals at the National Museums of Kenya and the University of Nairobi.Intellectual merit: Relatively little is known about the ecology of microbial communities associated with grassland ecosystems. This is especially true for the eumycetozoans (e.g., myxomycetes and dictyostelids). Only one comprehensive widespread study documenting dictyostelid cellular slime molds has been published relating specifically to this ecosystem (Rollins et al. 2010). Furthermore, there is not a single published paper specifically documenting the occurrence of myxomycetes associated with grassland ecosystems. The PI and Co-PI have a substantial data set documenting the occurrence of myxomycetes in the grasslands of the west-central United States (Rollins and Stephenson, manuscript in preparation), as well as smaller data sets from grassland sites in Belize, Costa Rica, and Australia (unpublished data). In general, very little is known with respect to the eumycetozoans associated with various ecosystems across the continent of Africa. This project would generate a set of preliminary data that would begin to address this void and could ultimately be used to address questions related to the ecological associations and biogeographical patterns associated with eumycetozoans across the continent of Africa and globally.Broader impact: The planning visit seeks to establish a productive program of collaborative research between two US universities (Lincoln Memorial University in TN and the University of Arkansas in AR) and two Kenyan institutions (the National Museums of Kenya and the University of Nairobi). It is expected that this collaborative effort will produce an international research component that will ultimately benefit both undergraduate and graduate students within the United States and in Kenya. If funded, this planning visit would specifically benefit an undergraduate student from Lincoln Memorial University by providing the student with international experience in presenting information about their research experiences to Kenyan students and scientists as part of the training workshop component. Collectively, the experiences of the proposed trip would greatly benefit the student by exposing him/her to an international collaborative research effort, in turn strengthening the student?s concepts related to scientific methodologies, critical thinking skills, and cultural diversity.

该奖项将支持皮亚当罗林斯(林肯纪念大学)和皮史蒂文斯蒂芬森(阿肯色大学)计划访问肯尼亚的三个地点：设在肯尼亚国家博物馆的生物多样性中心、内罗毕大学和马赛马拉国家保护区。拟议行程的主要目的是让国际和平协会(在林肯纪念大学的一名本科生陪同下)和联合国际组织会见肯尼亚国家博物馆的George Ndiritu博士和内罗毕大学的Francis Mwaura博士。在访问期间，国际和平研究所和外国合作伙伴将(1)制定以与东非草原和其他生态系统有关的真枝孢子虫为中心的未来合作研究计划，(2)开始制定一项或多项国际赠款建议的进程，以支持拟议的合作努力，(3)收集一套初步样本以生成一套基线数据，(4)为肯尼亚大学生和肯尼亚国家博物馆和奈罗比大学的博物馆专业人员举办一次关于真枝孢子虫的讲习班和一次或多次研讨会。对于有丝虫(例如，粘菌和甲壳类)来说尤其如此。只有一项广泛而全面的研究记录了链柄菌属的细胞黏液霉菌，这些研究专门与这个生态系统有关(Rollins等人。2010)。此外，没有一篇发表的论文专门记录与草原生态系统有关的粘菌的发生情况。PI和Co-PI拥有大量记录美国中西部草原粘菌发生的数据集(罗林斯和斯蒂芬森，手稿正在准备中)，以及来自伯利兹、哥斯达黎加和澳大利亚草原站点的较小数据集(未公布数据)。总体而言，关于与整个非洲大陆各种生态系统有关的有丝孢子虫，人们知之甚少。该项目将产生一组初步数据，开始填补这一空白，并最终可用于解决与整个非洲大陆和全球范围内的真菌相关的生态协会和生物地理模式相关的问题。广泛影响：此次计划访问寻求在两所美国大学(田纳西州的林肯纪念大学和阿肯色大学)和两个肯尼亚机构(肯尼亚国家博物馆和内罗毕大学)之间建立一个富有成效的合作研究项目。预计这一合作努力将产生一个国际研究组成部分，最终将使美国和肯尼亚的本科生和研究生受益。如果得到资助，这次计划访问将特别使林肯纪念大学的一名本科生受益，因为作为培训讲习班组成部分的一部分，该学生将向肯尼亚学生和科学家介绍他们的研究经验，从而获得国际经验。总而言之，拟议中的旅行经历将使学生受益匪浅，使他/她接触到国际合作研究工作，进而加强学生-S与科学方法论、批判性思维能力和文化多样性的概念。