NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2015

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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.