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

这项行动资助圣克鲁斯加州大学的大卫弗里克塞尔在2013年夏天在新西兰奥克兰的奥克兰大学进行生物学研究项目。 该项目的标题是“气候变化中的入侵物种：当代特征变化如何塑造入侵生态系统的动态？”“主持人是凯文·西蒙博士。随着全球气温的上升，淡水生物必须适应，最近的证据表明，快速的进化适应可能会影响当代的生态系统。为了了解当代热适应对淡水生态系统的潜在影响，该项目的重点是了解入侵鱼类，西方食蚊鱼（食蚊鱼），如何适应温暖的地热池塘，以及热适应如何影响淡水社区和生态系统过程。该项目是第一个明确测试当代热适应的生态影响的项目。它还解决了新西兰环境面临的关键问题（全球变暖和入侵物种），并为生态进化动力学（进化和生态学在当代相互作用）的新兴领域提供了新的见解。EAPSI奖学金的更广泛的影响包括为研究员提供美国以外的第一手研究经验;介绍各自所在地的科学，科学政策和科学基础设施;以及社会，文化和语言的方向。 这些活动符合NSF的目标，即在科学家，工程师和教育工作者的职业生涯早期进行国际合作教育，从而确保具有全球意识的美国科学工作者。 此外，研究员正在与几个本科生一起工作;他希望与他们分享生物学的新观点。此外，该研究员正在当地一所高中发表关于进化对保护的重要性的演讲。

This action funds David Fryxell of the University of California Santa Cruz to conduct a research project in Biology during the summer of 2013 at the University of Auckland in Auckland, New Zealand. The project title is "Invasive Species in a Changing Climate: How Will Contemporary Trait Change Shape the Dynamics of Invaded Ecosystems?" The host scientist is Dr. Kevin Simon.As global temperatures rise freshwater organisms must adapt, and recent evidence suggests that rapid evolutionary adaptation can affect ecosystems in contemporary time. In order to understand the potential effects of contemporary thermal adaptation on freshwater ecosystems, this project focuses on understanding how an invasive fish, the western mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis), has adapted to warm geothermal ponds, and how that thermal adaptation affects freshwater communities and ecosystems processes. This project is the first to explicitly test the ecological implications of contemporary thermal adaptation. It also addresses key issues facing New Zealand's environment (global warming and invasive species), and contributes novel insight to the nascent field of eco-evo dynamics (where evolution and ecology are interacting in contemporary time). Broader 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. Furthermore, the Fellow is working alongside several undergraduates; he hopes to share with them novel perspectives in biology. In addition, the Fellow is giving a talk at a local high school about the importance of evolution to conservation.