NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2015

2015 财年 NSF 生物学博士后奖学金

• 批准号: 1523893
• 负责人: Michael Harvey
• 金额: $ 13.8万
• 依托单位: Harvey Michael G
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Fellowship Award
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2016-01-01 至 2017-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1523893&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: NSF; Postdoctoral; Fellowship; Biology; FY

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2015, Research Using Biological Collections. The fellowship supports a research and training plan for the Fellow to take transformative approaches to grand challenges in biology that employ biological collections in highly innovative ways. The title of the research plan for this fellowship to Michael Harvey is "Assessing the importance of plumage divergence within species for the evolution of plumage diversity across birds." The host institution for this fellowship is the University of Michigan, and the sponsoring scientist is Dr. Daniel RaboskyThe research focuses on connecting variation among individuals within species to differences across species. Individuals within a species often differ greatly in genetic make-up (genotype) as well as appearance (phenotype). Some of these differences are associated with geography such that individuals from one region are readily distinguishable from those from another region. It is unclear, however, what the implications of this geographic variation are over longer evolutionary timescales. Do species with greater variation tend to produce more species or last longer than species with limited variation? The fellowship research is assessing whether the pattern and rate of phenotypic divergence within bird species predicts patterns or rates of phenotypic diversification across species. Using digital photography and measurements from computer vision, data on phenotypic variation in birds are being gathered from museum specimens at the Museum of Zoology at the University of Michigan and other museums as needed. Estimates are then made of evolutionary history using genetic data also gathered from collections to model the history of phenotype evolution both within and across species. These studies reveal what correlations exist between phenotypic divergence within species and phenotypic diversification among species and represent one of the first comparative analysis of phenotypic divergence within and across species at a large scale. Then it can be determined what types of variation within a species have lasting impacts on the evolutionary trajectory of its descendants.Training goals include gaining expertise in using digital imagery and computer vision to quantify phenotypes. Educational outreach to undergraduate students involves them in using museum collections, conducting high-throughput digital photography, training computer vision algorithms, and learning genetic techniques.

本行动资助美国国家科学基金会2015年度生物学博士后研究奖学金，利用生物馆藏进行研究。该奖学金支持一项研究和培训计划，使研究员能够以高度创新的方式采用生物收集的变革性方法来应对生物学方面的重大挑战。迈克尔·哈维的研究计划的标题是“评估物种内羽毛差异对鸟类羽毛多样性进化的重要性”。这项奖学金的主办机构是密歇根大学，赞助科学家是丹尼尔·拉博斯基博士。这项研究的重点是将物种内个体之间的变异与物种间的差异联系起来。同一物种内的个体在基因组成（基因型）和外观（表现型）上往往差别很大。其中一些差异与地理有关，因此一个地区的人很容易与另一个地区的人区分开来。然而，目前尚不清楚这种地理差异在更长的进化时间尺度上的含义。与变异有限的物种相比，变异较大的物种是否倾向于产生更多的物种或生存时间更长？该研究旨在评估鸟类物种内表型分化的模式和速率是否能预测物种间表型多样化的模式或速率。利用数码摄影和计算机视觉测量，从密歇根大学动物博物馆和其他需要的博物馆的标本中收集鸟类表型变异的数据。然后，利用收集到的遗传数据对进化历史进行估计，以模拟物种内部和物种间的表型进化历史。这些研究揭示了种内表型差异与种间表型多样化之间存在的相关性，并首次在大尺度上对种内和种间表型差异进行了比较分析。然后就可以确定一个物种内的哪些类型的变异对其后代的进化轨迹有持久的影响。培训目标包括获得使用数字图像和计算机视觉来量化表型的专业知识。对本科生的教育拓展包括使用博物馆藏品、进行高通量数码摄影、训练计算机视觉算法和学习遗传技术。