NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2013

哺乳动物和鸟类红细胞的起源和长骨中的血管供应：来自最近和化石骨骼的生物学见解红细胞（RBC）对于脊椎动物组织的氧气摄取和输送至关重要。红细胞的大小和形状在脊椎动物群体中变化很大，这种变化部分反映了红细胞大小、毛细血管直径、气体吸收动力学和有氧能力之间的关系。骨中皮质管的结构限制毛细血管的大小和流速，并影响毛细血管中的剪切应力。奖学金资金将支持在犹他州大学进行为期三年的博士后研究，在此期间，研究员将学习成像技术（如µ-CT可视化）和实验古生理学技术，以及针对弱势学生的伦理研究和公共宣传活动。实验室活动将包括血液值，RBC大小和股骨皮质血管供应（使用传统组织学和µ-CT）的调查，以及研究环境氧气对鳄鱼骨骼血管供应影响的实验。该研究员将分析化石数据，以确定非鸟类恐龙和哺乳动物祖先血液和氧气运输的可验证指标。该研究员的研究将支持犹他州大学的学生组织学和分析资源项目，促进未来科学家的专业发展。这位研究员将与赞助科学家和犹他州自然历史博物馆合作，为盲童建造有关进化生物学、化石记录和功能形态学的“工具箱”。 通过接触盲人学生，该研究员将扩大对生物学的参与，以使那些渴望成为生物科学未来领导者的人。该项目产生的数据将存档在一个可免费访问的组织学图像在线数据库中，部分通过国家进化合成中心（NESCent）和NSF支持的MorphoBank.org提供便利。

The origins of mammalian and avian red blood cells and vascular supply in long bones: Biological insights from Recent and fossil boneRed blood cells (RBCs) are essential for uptake and delivery of oxygen to tissues vertebrates. The sizes and shapes of RBCs vary considerably across vertebrate groups, variation that partly reflects the relationship among RBC size, capillary diameter, kinetics of gas uptake, and aerobic capacities. The structure of cortical canals in bone limits capillary sizes and flow rates, and affects shear stresses in the capillaries. Fellowship funds will support three years of postdoctoral research at University of Utah, during which the fellow will learn imaging technologies (like µ-CT visualization) and experimental paleophysiology techniques, and about ethical research and public outreach activities aimed at disadvantaged students. Lab activities will include surveys of blood values, RBC sizes, and femoral cortical vascular supply (using traditional histology and µ-CT), as well as experiments to study effects of ambient oxygen on vascular supply to bone of alligators. The fellow will analyze data from fossils to identify fossilizable indicators of blood and oxygen transport in non-avian dinosaurs and mammal ancestors.The fellow's research will support student projects on histology and analytical resources at the University of Utah, fostering the professional development of future scientists. The fellow will collaborate with the sponsoring scientist and the Natural History Museum of Utah in constructing "toolboxes" for educating blind children about evolutionary biology, the fossil record, and functional morphology. By reaching out to blind students, the fellow will broaden participation in biology to people who aspire to be future leaders in biological sciences. Data resulting from this project will be archived on a freely-accessible online database of histology images, facilitated partially through the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center (NESCent) and NSF-supported MorphoBank.org.