Understanding Genetic Mechanisms within the Natural World

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The Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (RMBL) is awarded a grant to enhance its research and education programs by purchasing equipment to create an ecological genomics laboratory. This will provide scientists the opportunity apply rapidly emerging genomic techniques to understanding plants and animals in relatively pristine environments. A number of fundamental questions in biology require bridging the natural environment with genetics. What are the physiological mechanisms linking genes to individual performance under natural conditions? What environmental factors influence gene activity? Will evolution keep pace with a changing world? This project, by creating an ecological genomics laboratory in a field setting, will help create a bridge between one of the best studied ecosystems and the powerful instrumentation scientists have at their home institutions. Located in the southern central Colorado Rockies, RMBL is a 501c3 organization that advances the deep scientific understanding of nature that promotes informed stewardship of the Earth. Each year RMBL hosts 160 student researchers and scientists from 100+ institutions, providing access to protected research sites and the research facilities needed to serve as a bridge between field sites and their home institutions. Research at RMBL has provided critical insights into a range of ecological and evolutionary questions, including evolution, stream ecology, climate change, population dynamics, behavioral ecology, and mutualisms. Additionally, research at RMBL has informed policy on management of streams, water and air quality, and climate change. More information on RMBL can be found at rmbl.org.With the explosion of tools that allow scientists to study genes, field scientists have rapidly emerging opportunities to elucidate the genetic and associated physiological mechanisms underlying how organisms perform in natural environments. Funding from the National Science Foundation will be used to purchase research equipment, including a laminar flow hood, an autoclave, a freeze drier, an ultra-cold freezer, a thermal cycler, plant growth chambers, and a Portable Photosynthesis and Fluorescence System. In addition to funding acquisition of equipment to support scientists, the funding will also support development and implementation of curriculum centered on ecological genomics for the local community school. The curriculum development will provide a unique opportunity for students in a rural community to receive training in modern research techniques and will contribute to national efforts to ensure maintain economic growth through a scientifically literate workforce.