NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2014

美国国家科学基金会生物学博士后奖学金将研究和培训相结合，为年轻科学家在生物学与其他科学学科交叉的新兴领域（在这种情况下是工程学）的职业生涯做好准备。预计这些研究员将领导美国未来的科学队伍。这个奖学金给了Andrew Russell Babbin研究海洋微生物在低氧区的反应。主办机构是麻省理工学院，赞助科学家是博士。罗曼·斯托克和马丁·波尔兹。海洋微生物进行各种生物化学反应，这些反应塑造了它们所生活的海洋的化学成分。海洋有许多不同的化学梯度，例如，最低氧区，每一个都有自己的海洋微生物群落。然而，这些微生物对自然化学梯度和短暂的底物注入产生观察到的生物地球化学结构的基本机制尚不清楚。本研究通过实验室和野外实验相结合，寻求对微生物/化学相互作用和全球营养循环的整体理解。细菌对氮、碳和氧的代谢正在使用实验室微流体实验进行模拟，该实验旨在测试海洋微生物如何对化学梯度做出反应并与环境相互作用。在实际的最低氧区进行的实地工作补充了实验室实验，以开发这些区域内微生物群落的高分辨率空间结构。该奖学金还提供利用流体力学和显微镜设计和实施实验室实验、开发复制微观生物和物理动力学的数值模型以及分子生物学技术方面的培训。通过麻省理工学院的本科生研究项目和与波士顿高中教师和学生的新合作，教育推广活动正在进行，以增加对微生物海洋学的兴趣。

NSF Postdoctoral Fellowships in Biology combine research and training components to prepare young scientists for careers in emerging areas where biology intersects with other scientific disciplines, in this case with engineering. The Fellows are expected to lead the nation's scientific workforce of the future. This fellowship to Andrew Russell Babbin investigates the response of marine microbes in low oxygen zones. The host institution is Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the sponsoring scientists are Drs. Roman Stocker and Martin Polz. Marine microbes carry out a variety of biochemical reactions that shape the chemistry of the ocean in which they live. The ocean has many and variable chemical gradients, for example, oxygen minimum zones, each with its own community of marine microbes. The fundamental mechanism by which these microorganisms respond to natural chemical gradients and ephemeral substrate injections to create the observed biogeochemical structure, however, is unknown. This research seeks an understanding of microbial/chemical interactions and global nutrient cycling as a whole by combining laboratory and field experiments. Bacterial metabolism of nitrogen, carbon, and oxygen is being simulated using laboratory microfluidics experiments designed to test how marine microorganisms respond to chemical gradients and interact with their environment. Fieldwork in actual oxygen minimum zones complements the laboratory experiments to develop a high-resolution spatial structure of the microbial community within these zones.The fellowship also offers training in the design and conduct of laboratory experiments that make use of fluid mechanics and microscopy, development of numerical models that replicate microscale biological and physical dynamics, and molecular biology techniques. Educational outreach activities are being conducted through MIT's undergraduate research program and new collaborations with teachers and students at Boston high schools to increase interest in microbial oceanography.