CAREER: Plants, insects, and the Early Paleogene hothouse: Using the past to assess the future, while challenging the face of science

非技术摘要：如果我们继续以目前的速度燃烧化石燃料，到2100年，我们可能会达到自始新世早期以来从未见过的气候状态，大约5000万年前，两极是无冰的。由于我们对这些温室世界如何运作的理解仍然存在根本性的漏洞，因此从全球变暖的时间间隔收集新的古生物学数据至关重要。PI将召集学生、博士后和合作的地球科学家组成小组，从怀俄明州和科罗拉多州北部的始新世早期遗址挖掘树叶化石。树叶化石告诉我们在特定的时间和地点有哪些植物存活，它们也可以用来估计过去的温度和降水水平。保存完好的树叶化石甚至显示了古代昆虫摄食破坏的痕迹，使我们能够重建植物-昆虫食物网，这在今天占陆地生物多样性的75%。比较来自不同地点的化石可以让该小组测试关于生物多样性、迁徙和温室条件下生物恢复力的假设。了解过去的温室世界并将这些知识应用于今天变暖的世界是一项重大挑战，这将需要多样化的劳动力，但是，目前，古生物学和地质学界缺乏多样性。PI在这里概述的研究活动旨在增加有抱负的女科学家的培训机会，而推广目标通过展示作为榜样的鼓舞人心的女性领域科学家，引起人们对她们的试验和成功的关注，并使她们更容易被公众所了解来补充这一点。这些努力的基石是“大胡子女士项目：挑战科学的面貌”，这是一项与专业艺术家的创新合作，旨在制作一部真人纪录片，并开发和展示一个巡回肖像系列，以确定在地球科学领域工作的女性，并揭示她们所面临的障碍。通过这个项目，研究者将致力于消除隐性和无意的性别偏见，同时激励新一代女性进入这个领域。技术摘要：对化石记录的分析使我们能够研究生态系统在不同气候条件下的功能，并评估气候对生态系统和进化的影响。温暖、稳定、无冰的早古近纪（66-50 Ma）是理想的研究对象，因为它同时提供了与现在的明显对比，以及对未来可能发生的事情的洞察。该项目将召集学生、博士后和合作的地球科学家组成团队，从怀俄明州和科罗拉多州北部的早古近纪沉积盆地收集新的古植物学、古生态学和古气候数据。该小组将把他们收集的数据与怀俄明州西北部大角盆地的高分辨率记录综合起来，以便：(1)评估早古近纪温室时期森林生态系统的多样性、结构和生态；（ii）检验关于温室条件下的地方性、纬度梯度、迁移和生物恢复力的假设，以及（iii）构建区域到大陆尺度的生物地理和古气候地图。为了校准化石数据并确定哪些现代宏观生态模式也是温室世界的特征，该小组将使用与化石组合相同的方法，从四个现存森林收集生态数据。该提案的教育目标是通过展示一些鼓舞人心的女性实地科学家作为榜样，并为有抱负的科学家，特别是女性，提供进行实地研究的机会，来补充以实地为基础的研究议程。这些外延努力试图通过一个名为“大胡子女士项目：挑战科学面貌”的创新项目，将女性地球科学家带入公众视野。研究人员将与一名专业摄影师和电影导演合作，制作一部真人纪录片和一个巡回肖像系列，重点关注励志女性在地球科学领域面临的挑战和障碍。

Non-Technical Abstract:If we continue to burn fossil fuels at the current rate, by 2100 we may reach a climate state not seen since the early Eocene Epoch, ~50 million years ago, when the poles were ice-free. Because fundamental holes remain in our understanding of how such hothouse worlds work, it is essential to collect new paleontological data from globally warm time intervals. The PI will assemble teams of students, postdocs, and collaborating geoscientists to excavate leaf fossils from early Eocene sites across Wyoming and northern Colorado. Leaf fossils tell us what plants were alive in a particular time and location, and they can also be used to estimate past temperature and precipitation levels. Well-preserved leaf fossils even show traces of ancient insect feeding damage, allowing us to reconstruct plant-insect food webs, which today account for up to 75% of terrestrial biodiversity. Comparing fossils from different sites allows the group to test hypotheses about biodiversity, migrations, and biotic resilience during hothouse conditions. Understanding past greenhouse worlds and applying this knowledge to today's warming world is a significant challenge that will require a diverse workforce, but, at present, the paleontological and geological communities are lacking in diversity. The research activities that the PI outlines here aim to increase training opportunities for aspiring female scientists, and the outreach objectives complement this by showcasing, as role models, inspirational female field scientists, drawing attention to their trials and triumphs and making them more accessible to the general public. The cornerstone of these efforts, The Bearded Lady Project: Challenging the Face of Science, is an innovative collaboration with professional artists to produce a live-action documentary and develop and display a touring portrait series that identifies women working in the geosciences and brings to light the obstacles that they face. Through this project, the investigator will aim to combat implicit and unintentional gender biases while inspiring new generations of women to enter the field.Technical Abstract:Analysis of the fossil record permits us to investigate how ecosystems function during very different climate regimes and to evaluate the effects of climate on ecosystems and evolution. The warm, equable, and ice-free Early Paleogene (66-50 Ma) is ideal for study because it simultaneously provides a marked contrast to the present, as well as insight into what the future may entail. The PI will assemble teams of students, postdocs, and collaborating geoscientists to collect new paleobotanical, paleoecological, and paleoclimatic data from understudied Early Paleogene sedimentary basins of Wyoming and northern Colorado. The group will synthesize the data they collect with the high-resolution record from the Bighorn Basin of northwestern Wyoming in order to: (i) assess the diversity, structure, and ecology of forest ecosystems during the Early Paleogene hothouse; (ii) test hypotheses about endemism, latitudinal gradients, migrations, and biotic resilience during hothouse conditions, and (iii) construct regional to continental-scale biogeographic and paleoclimatic maps. In order to calibrate the fossil data and to determine which modern macro-ecological patterns are also characteristic of greenhouse worlds, the group will collect ecological data from four extant forests, using the same methodologies as for fossil assemblages. The educational objectives of this proposal complement the strongly field-based research agenda by showcasing, as role models, some inspirational female field scientists and providing opportunities for aspiring scientists, particularly women, to conduct field-based research. The outreach efforts attempt to bring female geoscientists into the public eye through an innovative project entitled The Bearded Lady Project: Challenging the Face of Science. In it, the investigator will collaborate with a professional photographer and film director to produce both a live-action documentary and a touring portrait series focused on the challenges and obstacles faced by inspirational women in the geosciences.