IRES: Behavioral Ecology and Conservation of African Carnivores

技术摘要：IRES基金每年将允许四名高年级本科生和四名低年级研究生与我的团队一起在肯尼亚度过一个夏天，对非洲食肉动物进行研究。IRES基金允许学生使用比较方法，并进行旨在获得有关马拉-塞伦盖蒂生态系统食肉动物的新的有用信息的项目。IRES基金还允许继续与三名肯尼亚科学家和一名年轻的美国博士级生物学家进行培训合作;这支培训师团队使IRES学生能够解决有关非洲食肉动物的行为，保护和生理学的广泛研究问题，范围从认知能力的演变到人为对其压力生理学的影响。参加这个IRES项目的机会非常广泛，学生是根据一系列标准选择的，包括奖学金，创造力和多样性。本科生参与者将从一个巨大的国家池中选出，研究生参与者将从一个较小的当地池中选出。成对的本科生和研究生将通过专题研究重点联系起来，他们将与特定的肯尼亚培训师密切合作。所有肯尼亚培训员都与肯尼亚野生动物服务局（KWS）有密切联系;最初的培训活动将在KWS总部和KWS培训学院进行。然后，IRES学生将被运送到肯尼亚西南部的马赛马拉国家保护区，其中四人将被安置在我们的两个帐篷研究营地中。学生将花几个星期的时间在马拉开发和执行他们的实地研究项目，与肯尼亚培训师和肯尼亚学生密切合作。在肯尼亚，IRES学生还将接受科学写作方面的明确培训，并在每年在KWS总部举行的食肉动物研究人员会议上口头介绍他们的工作。我们为学生提供的研究机会是无与伦比的，不仅要调查仍然知之甚少的几种食肉动物物种的生物学，而且要对行为生态学，应激生理学和保护生物学做出重要贡献。除了为一名研究生项目助理提供支持外，IRES资金每年还将深刻影响八名美国顶尖学生的专业发展，并为他们提供在壮观的自然环境中学习各种实地研究技能的非凡机会。IRES学生将接受培训，并进行研究项目调查，非洲食肉动物的基础和应用生物学。肯尼亚的经济繁荣与非洲食肉动物的保护密切相关，但我们保护这些动物的能力往往受到我们对其基本生物学知之甚少的限制。在肯尼亚培训师的指导下，他们的职业生涯致力于非洲野生动物的保护，IRES学生将收集数据，以便对肯尼亚国家公园和保护区的管理政策进行重要改进。IRES的参与者将学到很多关于非洲生活和文化的知识，以及发展中国家食肉动物保护的复杂性。因此，IRES的经验将大大有助于培养新一代的全球科学家，他们团结一致，希望了解和保护自然世界。非技术摘要。这个国际研究培训项目允许高年级本科生和低年级研究生花更长的时间对肯尼亚的自由生活的非洲食肉动物进行实地研究，建立在马赛马拉国家保护区的食肉动物研究的长期计划之上。每年有几名学生将开展旨在获得有关居住在马拉-塞伦盖蒂生态系统的食肉动物的新的和有用的信息的项目，并与肯尼亚科学家建立牢固，持久的专业关系。一个强大的美国和肯尼亚培训师团队将帮助学生解决有关非洲食肉动物的行为，保护和生理学的广泛研究问题，从他们的认知能力的演变到人类活动对他们的压力生理学的影响。成对的本科生和研究生将通过专题研究重点联系起来，并与当地专家密切合作。在肯尼亚期间，学生们将接受科学写作方面的明确培训，并在肯尼亚野生动物管理局主办的食肉动物生物学年度会议上展示他们的工作。这里提供给学生的研究机会是无与伦比的，不仅要调查仍然知之甚少的几个食肉动物物种的生物学，而且要对行为生态学，应激生理学和保护生物学做出重要贡献。在这项研究中获得的知识应促进非洲食肉动物的保护，从而有助于肯尼亚的经济福祉，这是密切相关的生态旅游收入。该研究计划还将为新一代全球科学家的专业发展做出重大贡献，这些科学家团结一致，渴望了解和保护自然世界。

Technical abstract.IRES funds will permit four advanced undergraduates and four junior graduate students eachyear to spend a summer with my team in Kenya, conducting research on African carnivores.IRES funds permit students to utilize comparative methods, and to undertake projects designedto acquire new and useful information about the carnivores inhabiting the Mara-Serengetiecosystem. IRES funds also permit continuance of a training partnership with three Kenyanscientists and one young American PhD-level biologist; this team of trainers enables IRESstudents to address a broad array of research questions about the behavior, conservation andphysiology of African carnivores, ranging from the evolution of their cognitive abilities toanthropogenic effects on their stress physiology. Opportunities to participate in this IRES projectare widely advertized, and students are selected based on a set of criteria that includescholarship, creativity and diversity. Undergraduate participants will be selected from a hugenational pool, and graduate student participants will be selected from a smaller local pool. Pairsof undergraduate and graduate students will be linked by topical research focus, and they willwork closely with specific Kenyan trainers. All Kenyan trainers are closely affiliated with theKenya Wildlife Service (KWS); initial training activities will take place at KWS HQ and at theKWS Training Institute. IRES students will then be transported to the Masai Mara NationalReserve, in southwestern Kenya, where four of them will be housed at each of our two tentedresearch camps. Students will spend several weeks developing and executing their fieldresearch projects in the Mara, working closely with Kenyan trainers and Kenyan students. Whilein Kenya, IRES students will also receive explicit training in science writing, and present theirwork orally at the Carnivore Researchers Conference held each year at KWS HQ. The researchopportunities we offer to students are unparalleled, not only to investigate the biology of severalcarnivore species that remain very poorly understood, but also to make important contributionsto behavioral ecology, stress physiology and conservation biology. In addition to providingsupport for one graduate student program assistant, IRES funding will profoundly influence theprofessional development of eight top American students each year, and offer themextraordinary opportunities to learn a wide array of field research skills in a spectacular naturalsetting. IRES students will receive training in, and conduct research projects investigating, boththe basic and applied biology of African carnivores. The economic well-being of Kenya isintimately linked with conservation of African carnivores, but our ability to conserve theseanimals is often limited by how little we know about their basic biology. Guided by Kenyantrainers whose professional lives are dedicated to the conservation of African wildlife, IRESstudents will gather data to allow important improvements in the management policies used inKenya's national parks and reserves. IRES participants will learn a great deal about African lifeand culture, and about the complexities associated with carnivore conservation in a developingnation. This IRES experience will thus contribute significantly to the development of a newgeneration of global scientists who are united in their desire to understand and protect thenatural world.Non-technical abstract.This international research training program allows advanced undergraduates and junior graduate students to spend extended periods conducting field research on free-living African carnivores in Kenya, building on a strong long-term program of carnivore research in the Masai Mara National Reserve. Several students each year will undertake projects designed to acquire new and useful information about the carnivores inhabiting the Mara-Serengeti ecosystem, and to develop strong, long-lasting professional relationships with Kenyan scientists. A strong team of American and Kenyan trainers will help students address a broad array of research questions about the behavior, conservation and physiology of African carnivores, ranging from the evolution of their cognitive abilities to effects of human activity on their stress physiology. Pairs of undergraduate and graduate students will be linked by topical research focus, and work closely with local experts. While in Kenya, students will receive explicit training in science writing, and present their work at an annual conference on carnivore biology sponsored by the Kenya Wildlife Service. The research opportunities offered to students here are unparalleled, not only to investigate the biology of several carnivore species that remain very poorly understood, but also to make important contributions to behavioral ecology, stress physiology and conservation biology. The knowledge acquired in this research should facilitate conservation of African carnivores, and thus contribute to the economic well-being of Kenya, which is intimately linked with revenues from eco-tourism. This research program will also contribute significantly to the professional development of a new generation of global scientists who are united in their desire to understand and protect the natural world.