REU Site: Evolution of Biodiversity across the Tree of Life

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This REU Site award to the Field Museum of Natural History, located in Chicago, IL, will support the training of 8 students for 10 weeks, during the summers of 2016-2018. Students will conduct hands-on research in biodiversity science and receive training in cutting-edge techniques and analysis in evolutionary biology through guided mentorship by museum curators and scientists. Students will learn research techniques that include DNA sequencing and computational analysis of genetic and genomic data, morphological measurements and phylogenetic analysis, and microbiology and next-generation microbial sequencing. Scientific projects to be conducted by the students include the evolution of morphological variation in extinct therapsids, tropical bird biogeography, population genetics of sharks, influence of disease on bird genetic diversity in urban environments, quantitative analysis of meteorites, the influence of hydrostatic pressure on morphological diversity in octopuses, and co-diversification of ants and their gut bacterial communities. In addition students will receive career mentoring in a diversity of STEM fields, gain experiences in public outreach and science communication, receive training in ethics/responsible conduct of research, and participate in a diversity workshop to help overcome bias in science. Selection of applicants will be completed by the host curator or scientist and students will be recruited from across the country, leveraging local university connections, to insure participation of underrepresented minorities. Students may apply online through: https://www.fieldmuseum.org/REU. It is anticipated that a total of 24 students, primarily from schools with limited research opportunities, will be trained in the program. Students will learn how research is conducted and will create a video about their research experience to share in an annual symposium. Students will gain experiences in public outreach and science communication through sharing their research on the public museum areas. In addition, many will present the results of their work at scientific conferences. These internships will provide training for the next generation of evolutionary biologists in collections-based organismal bioscience. A common web-based assessment tool used by all REU programs funded by the Division of Biological Infrastructure (Directorate for Biological Sciences) will be used to determine the effectiveness of the training program. Students will be tracked after the program in order to determine their career paths. Students will be asked to respond to an automatic email sent via the NSF reporting system. More information about the program is available by visiting https://www.fieldmuseum.org/REU, or by contacting the PI (Dr. Corrie Moreau at cmoreau@fieldmuseum.org) or the co-PI (Dr. Thorsten Lumbsch at tlumbsch@fieldmuseum.org).