NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2014

NSF生物学博士后研究金将联合收割机研究和培训部分结合起来，为年轻科学家在生物学领域的职业生涯做好准备，并要求制定计划，扩大科学和工程领域代表性不足的群体的参与。 该奖学金加强了NSF现在和未来使STEM劳动力多样化的努力。这项奖学金梅赛德斯伯恩斯支持昆虫繁殖的研究，以及不同的繁殖策略如何在不同的环境中演变。 该奖学金的主办机构是圣地亚哥州立大学，赞助科学家是马歇尔·赫丁博士。该研究员还通过与日本科学家的研究合作拓宽了她的科学视野。 主要培训目标是掌握基因组测序技术，用于识别种群水平的遗传变异。该研究调查了两种收割者（通常被称为长腿爸爸的昆虫）的雄性与雌性比例在交配系统进化中的作用。有效的雄性/雌性比例可以通过改变选择而不是控制每个性别的交配率来驱动物种生殖结构和交配系统的进化变化。在这些物种中，繁殖进行或没有男性受精和女性偏见的人口，这些物种是常见的高纬度和海拔边缘栖息地。本研究的目的是：1）通过利用分子标记重建边缘生境的定殖，阐明雌性偏好种群地理分布的机制; 2）研究长期雌性偏好比例对雌性生殖力、雄性形态、和父亲的多样性的鸡蛋离合器使用比较的方法。主办机构是一个少数-该研究所是一家提供两门节肢动物生物学课程的服务机构，为作为有效榜样的研究员提供了一个机会，一旦他们学习功能形态学和分子测序程序，就可以找到积极性很高的学生进行指导和协助研究。

NSF Postdoctoral Fellowships in Biology combine research and training components to prepare young scientists for careers in biology and require a plan to broaden participation of groups under-represented in science and engineering. The fellowships enhance NSF efforts to diversify the STEM workforce now and in the future. This fellowship to Mercedes Burns supports research on reproduction in insects and how different reproduction strategies evolve in different environments. The host institution for this fellowship is San Diego State University, and the sponsoring scientist is Dr. Marshal Hedin. The Fellow is broadening her scientific horizons also through a research collaboration with scientists in Japan. The main training goal is to achieve mastery of genomic sequencing techniques to be used in identifying population-level genetic variation.The research investigates the role of the ratio of males to females in evolution of mating systems in two species of harvestmen, the insects commonly known as daddy-longlegs. Effective male/female ratios may drive evolutionary change in the reproductive structures and mating systems of species by altering selection over the control of mating rate of each gender. In these species, reproduction proceeds with or without male fertilization and female-biased populations of these species are common in high-latitude and altitude marginal habitats. The research goals are to 1) elucidate mechanisms producing the geographic distribution of female-biased populations by reconstructing the colonization of marginal habitats using molecular markers and 2) examine the effects of a long-term female-biased ratio on female fecundity, male morphology, and paternal diversity of egg clutches using a comparative approach.The host institution is a Minority-serving institution that offers two courses in arthropod biology, providing the Fellow who serves as an effective role model an opportunity to identify highly motivated students for mentoring and assisting in the research once they learn functional morphology and molecular sequencing procedures.