NSF East Asia and Pacific Summer Institute (EAPSI) for FY 2013 in Japan

这项行动资助了华盛顿州立大学的Robert Zinna于2013年夏天在日本名古屋大学的Niimi实验室进行一个生物学研究项目。项目名称为“武器形态的多样化：角甲虫发展的启示”。主持会议的科学家是新井Teruyuki博士。Robert Zinna是华盛顿州立大学昆虫学的博士生，他研究昆虫形态的发展和进化，特别是那些被改造成武器的形态。了解新形态的起源是进化生物学的关键挑战之一。结合经典的发育生物学技术和新的高通量方法，该项目正在利用昆虫模型研究有助于武器开发的模式机制。这项工作的结果将促进对进化生物学近似机制的理解。EAPSI奖学金的更广泛影响包括为研究员提供美国以外的第一手研究经验；介绍该地区的科学、科学政策和科学基础设施；以及对社会、文化和语言的了解。这些活动符合美国国家科学基金会的目标，即在其科学家、工程师和教育工作者的职业生涯早期培养国际合作，从而确保美国科学劳动力具有全球意识。该奖学金的科学成果将通过同行评议的科学出版物传播，这些出版物不仅涉及EAPSI主持人Niimi博士，还涉及该研究员的博士导师Lavine博士和第三位合作者Emlen博士。该项目促进了研究和研究技术的国际传播，并使研究员能够与国际科学教育工作者分享新颖的教学方法，并学习他们的方法。在科学教学中融入国际视野的能力是提高科学素养多样性的重要一步。该研究员还积极参与华盛顿州立大学昆虫学和科学推广活动，面向不同的受众，日本强烈的亲虫文化使他能够开发昆虫学社区推广的新方法，重点关注昆虫如何成为K-12各级教育的教育宠物。

This action funds Robert Zinna of Washington State University to conduct a research project in Biology during the summer of 2013 at the Niimi laboratory at Nagoya University in Nagoya, Japan. The project title is "Diversification of Weapon Form: Insights from Development of Horned Beetles." The host scientist is Dr. Teruyuki Niimi.Robert Zinna is PhD student in Entomology at Washington State University who studies the development and evolution of insect morphology, specifically morphology that has been adapted into weapons. Understanding the origins of new morphologies is one of the critical challenges of evolutionary biology. Using a combination of classical developmental biology techniques as well as new high-throughput methodologies, this project is investigating patterning mechanisms that contribute to weapon development using an insect model. The outcomes of this work will advance the understanding of the proximate mechanisms of evolutionary biologyBroader impacts of an EAPSI fellowship include providing the Fellow a first-hand research experience outside the U.S.; an introduction to the science, science policy, and scientific infrastructure of the respective location; and an orientation to the society, culture and language. These activities meet the NSF goal to educate for international collaborations early in the career of its scientists, engineers, and educators, thus ensuring a globally aware U.S. scientific workforce. The scientific results of this fellowship will be disseminated through peer-reviewed scientific publications that involve not only the EAPSI host, Dr. Niimi, but also the Fellow's PhD advisor, Dr. Lavine, and a third collaborator, Dr. Emlen. This project facilitates international dissemination of research and research techniques, and allows the Fellow to share novel teaching methods with international science educators as well as learn from their methods. The ability to incorporate an international perspective when teaching science is an important step in increasing diversity in scientific literacy. The Fellow is also heavily involved in entomological and scientific outreach to a diverse audience at Washington State University, and the strong pro-insect culture present in Japan allows him to develop new methods of community outreach for Entomology, focusing on how insects can make educational house pets for all levels of K-12 education.