NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2015

这项行动为2015财年的NSF生物学博士后研究奖学金提供资金，扩大参与。该研究金支持研究员在东道实验室的研究和培训计划，以及扩大在科学领域代表性不足的群体参与的计划。 迈克尔·吉尔的研究计划的标题是“猎物社会背景对珊瑚礁中捕食者-猎物相互作用和群落稳定性的影响”。“该奖学金的主办机构是位于戴维斯的加州大学，赞助科学家包括Andy Sih（主要），Marissa Baskett和Mullica Jaroensutasinee（Walailak大学，泰国）。在各种生态系统中，猎物已经被证明可以迅速传播危险反应和信号，跨越物种和广泛的空间范围，通过偶然地相互提供信息，例如，躲避捕食者由这些社会信息产生的猎物行为可能会对捕食者-猎物的相互作用产生重要影响，并最终影响到更大社区的结构。在珊瑚礁中，混合物种的猎物鱼类消耗藻类，导致珊瑚衰退，猎物之间共享的社会信息可能会影响全球珊瑚礁退化到藻类占主导地位的状态。该研究采用现场实验，辅以计算机视觉技术，结合数学模拟建模，以研究混合物种礁鱼组合中社会信息的行为和生态影响。这种综合的方法揭示了重要的见解，社会信息的动态和功能的动物群落，一个主题的一般保护问题，在大多数类群是未开发的作用。此外，它阐明了在珊瑚礁，一个主题，继续困扰researchers.Training目标包括强调定量方法和动物行为的研究，制定和parameterising一个数学模型，用于预测社会信息对捕食者，猎物和资源动态的影响。公众宣传包括制作微型叙事电影，教育非科学家的多元化公众观众了解生态学/动物行为的核心概念，以及科学和职业生涯实际上需要什么。这些产品将通过各种渠道分发，包括一个互动式公共科学传播网站（与学生共同管理）和向代表性不足的学生人数众多的高中举办讲座。加州大学戴维斯分校和Walailak大学（泰国）之间正在建立国际合作，其好处包括在泰国进行持续的生态监测，并为社会经济上宝贵的珊瑚礁生态系统的保护工作提供信息。

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2015, Broadening Participation. The fellowship supports a research and training plan in a host laboratory for the Fellow and a plan to broaden participation of groups under-represented in science. The title of the research plan for this fellowship to Michael Gil is "Effects of prey social context on predator-prey interactions and community stability in coral reefs." The host institution for this fellowship is The University of California at Davis, and the sponsoring scientists include Andy Sih (primary), Marissa Baskett, and Mullica Jaroensutasinee (Walailak University, Thailand).In a variety of ecosystems, prey have been shown to rapidly propagate danger reactions and signals, across species and wide spatial ranges, by incidentally providing information to one another, e.g., by evading a predator. Prey behavior that results from this social information may have important consequences for predator-prey interactions and, ultimately, the structure of the greater community. In coral reefs, where mixed-species prey fishes consume algae that drive coral declines, social information shared among prey could influence global coral reef degradation to alga-dominated states. The fellowship research uses field experimentation, assisted by computer vision technology, combined with mathematical simulation modeling to examine the behavioral and ecological effects of social information in mixed-species reef fish assemblages. This integrated approach is revealing important insights regarding the role of social information in the dynamics and function of animal communities, a topic of general conservation concern that is largely unexplored in most taxa. Further, it elucidates mechanisms underlying community stability in coral reefs, a topic that continues to perplex researchers.Training goals include emphasis on quantitative methods and the study of animal behavior to formulate and parameterize a mathematical model for predicting the effects of social information on predator, prey, and resource dynamics. Public outreach includes creating micro-narrative films that educate a diverse public audience of non-scientists on core concepts in ecology/animal behavior and on what science and a career therein actually entail. These products are to be distributed through a variety of outlets, including an interactive public science communication website (co-administered with students) and lectures given to high schools with large populations of under-represented students. An international collaboration is being established between UC Davis and Walailak University (Thailand) whose benefits include ongoing ecological monitoring in Thailand and informing conservation efforts in socioeconomically invaluable coral reef ecosystems.