CAREER: Phylogenetic tools for studying phenotypic diversification in the tree of life

职业：研究生命树表型多样性的系统发育工具生命的历史通过一棵巨大的生命树展开。树枝是个体物种（包括现存的和已灭绝的），而四肢和树枝代表了今天存在的物种的祖先。在过去的50年里，人们一直致力于阐明许多主要植物、动物、真菌和微生物类群中这种树的粗结构和细结构。系统发育比较方法使用这些系谱树，结合物种的性状数据，对地质时期的进化性质进行基于统计的推断。系统发育比较生物学是一个计算机密集型领域，该奖项将支持研究开发一个新的计算工具包，以解决该领域内的几个最大的挑战。具体而言，该奖项支持开发基于计算机的新方法，用于可视化树木上的性状进化;整合树估计和比较推理的新方法;以及将微观过程和宏观（系统发育）模式联系起来的新方法。所有这些工具都将有助于更好地理解地球上生命进化的过程和历史的最终目标。系统发育比较分析在过去的三十年里已经成为进化生物学的核心。这项研究将扩大比较生物学在关键领域的方法工具包，包括应对大数据的一些新挑战，以及更好地将微观和宏观进化联系起来。该奖项还将支持博士后研究员和研究生的培训，以及两个不同教育项目的开发。第一个是针对拉丁美洲学生的年度宏观进化方法讲习班。第二个是为年轻的可编程方法开发人员举办的研讨会。这两个项目都将针对传统上在科学领域代表性不足的群体的学生。

CAREER: Phylogenetic tools for studying phenotypic diversification in the tree of lifeThe history of life unfolds through a single, enormous, tree of life. The twigs are individual species (both living and extinct), while the limbs and branches represent the long-passed ancestors of species that exist today. Considerable effort has been dedicated to elucidating the coarse and fine structure of this tree in many major plant, animal, fungi, and microbial groups over the past fifty years. Phylogenetic comparative methods use these genealogical trees, combined with trait data for species, to make statistically based inferences about the nature of evolution over the geological time. Phylogenetic comparative biology is a computer-intensive field, and this award will support research to develop a new computational toolkit to address several of the biggest challenges within this field. Specifically, this award supports the development of new computer-based approaches for visualizing trait evolution on trees; new methods to integrate tree estimation and comparative inference; and new approaches to link micro-scale processes and macro-scale (phylogenetic) patterns on a tree. All of these tools will serve the ultimate goal of better understanding the process and history of life's evolution on Earth.Phylogenetic comparative analyses have become central in evolutionary biology over the past thirty years. This research will expand the methodological toolkit of comparative biology in critical areas, including addressing some of the new challenges of big data, and better linking micro- and macroevolution. This award will also support the training of postdoctoral fellows and graduate students, and the development of two different educational programs. The first is an annual macroevolutionary methods workshop targeting students from Latin America. The second is a workshop for young phylogeny-method developers. Both programs will target students from groups traditionally underrepresented in the sciences.