U.S.-Kenya IRES: Origins of Human Adaptability

这项美国-肯尼亚国际学生研究经验(IRES)：人类适应性的起源建立在Koobi Fora研究和培训计划(KFRTP)的成功基础上，并将为人类学、考古学、地质学、解剖学和古生物学的综合培训和研究开发一个新的框架。我们物种的证据呢？近代进化史具有不容置疑的社会和科学重要性；然而，尽管有丰富的化石、考古、分子和古生态数据，但诸如关键现代人类行为的进化和环境变化对人类进化的影响等基本问题仍然知之甚少。这可以归因于很少有学生接受过分析、实验和概念技能的培训，这些技能现在可以用来在强调合作研究的氛围中检验进化假说。这个IRES项目将为美国学生提供一个机会，获得研究200万到140万年前库比论坛上存在的原始人物种适应情况的研究经验，这段时间是重大气候变化的时期，标志着我们血统在解剖学、生物学和行为方面最戏剧性的转变。这项研究的最终目标是从Koobi Fora产生化石和考古数据来评估这一假设：早更新世人类种群生物学和行为的变化标志着将我们的谱系与其他人类区分开来的独特特征的演变，并为我们物种的起源提供了框架。检验这一假设将成为跨学科培训的基础。这个IRES项目将在全国范围内招收至少21名美国本科生和研究生--重点是STEM领域中代表性不足的学生--并将每个学生安排在团队中，对重大气候变化背景下人类适应的起源进行尖端研究。培训活动将分阶段进行(准备、实地考察和项目完成讲习班)，为期三个学期，之后将通过演讲和出版物继续进行。每个学生将：1)通过与肯尼亚北部Koobi Fora地层考古和古生物沉积的领先国际学者设计并进行原创研究项目来获得新知识，2)使用最先进的方法收集和分析数据，3)综合他们的发现并在美国的后续研讨会和专业发展研讨会上展示他们的发现，以及4)与史密森学会的国家自然历史博物馆(华盛顿特区)和Mc Wane科学中心(阿拉巴马州伯明翰)一起参与关于公众对科学的理解的培训。包括促进跨学科和国际合作，公开传播学生的研究成果，以及培训和激励最优秀和最聪明的美国学生--特别是未被充分代表的少数族裔--追求科学事业。生物人类学和考古学是跨学科“门户”领域的独特之处，该项目旨在招收那些本来很少接触STEM研究的学生，以及与传统STEM领域的学者合作的跨学科项目。该项目的影响包括：1)培训三批来自不同背景的学生，使他们能够接触到国际上的跨学科合作；2)扩大几个非洲(肯尼亚国家博物馆，威特沃特斯兰德大学)、欧洲(牛津大学，马克斯·普朗克进化人类学研究所)和美国机构(乔治华盛顿大学，阿拉巴马大学，伯明翰大学)的科学家之间的合作网络；3)加强这些美国机构，伯明翰大学麦克韦恩科学中心和史密森博物馆之间的联系；以及4)创建数据集、同行评议的出版物和公开演示文稿，这将加强学生的培训和促进公众对科学的理解。

Technical DescriptionThis U.S.-Kenya International Research Experience for Students (IRES): Origins of Human Adaptability builds on the success of the Koobi Fora Research and Training Program (KFRTP) and will develop a new framework for integrated training and research in anthropology, archaeology, geology, anatomy, and paleobiology. The evidence for our species? recent evolutionary history is of unquestionable social and scientific importance; however, despite a wealth of fossil, archeological, molecular, and paleoecological data, issues as basic as the evolution of the key modern human behaviors and the effects of environmental change on human evolution, and vice versa, remain poorly understood. This can be attributed to so few students being trained in the range of analytical, experimental and conceptual skills now available for testing evolutionary hypotheses in an atmosphere that emphasizes collaborative research. This IRES project will offer US students an opportunity to gain research experience investigating the adaptations of hominin species that existed in Koobi Fora between 2 and 1.4 million years ago, a time period of major climatic changes that marked the most dramatic transitions in the anatomy, biology, and behavior of our lineage. The ultimate goal of this research is to generate fossil and archaeological data from Koobi Fora to evaluate the hypothesis: Changes in the biology and behaviors of hominin populations during the Early Pleistocene mark the evolution of distinctive characteristics that separated our lineage from other hominins and provided the framework for the origin of our species. Testing this hypothesis will form the basis of interdisciplinary training.This IRES project will recruit at least 21 US undergraduate and graduate students nationwide - focusing on students underrepresented in STEM fields - and will embed each student in teams conducting cutting-edge research on the origins of human adaptability within the context of major climate changes. Training activities will take place in stages (Preparation, Fieldwork, and a Project Completion Workshop) that extend over three semesters and will continue afterwards via presentations and publications. Each student will: 1) generate new knowledge by designing and conducting an original research project with leading international scholars in the archaeological and paleontological deposits of the Koobi Fora Formation in northern Kenya, 2) collect and analyze data using state-of-the-art methods, 3) synthesize and present their findings at follow-up workshops and professional development seminars in the U.S., and 4) engage in training on the public understanding of science with the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History (Washington, DC) and the Mc Wane Science Center (Birmingham, Alabama).Broader Description This project offers a number of measurable impacts, including fostering interdisciplinary and international collaboration, publicly disseminating the students' research findings, and training and inspiring the best and brightest US students - especially underrepresented minorities - to pursue careers in science. Biological Anthropology and Archaeology are uniquely situated as interdisciplinary 'gateway' fields, and this project intends to recruit students who would otherwise have little exposure to STEM research and collaborative, interdisciplinary projects with scholars in the traditional STEM fields. Impacts of the project include: 1) training three cohorts of students from diverse backgrounds in a manner that exposes them to interdisciplinary collaboration on an international level; 2) expanding the collaborative networks between scientists at several African (National Museums of Kenya, Witwatersrand U), European (Oxford U; Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology), and American institutions (George Washington U, U Alabama, Birmingham); 3) strengthening connections between these US institutions, Birmingham's Mc Wane Science Center, and the Smithsonian museum; and 4) creating datasets, peer-reviewed publications, and public presentations that will enhance student training and promote public understanding of science.