NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2017: An Empirical Approach to Understanding Extinction by Direct Incorporation of Fossil and Sub-fossil Morphological and Molecular Data

这是NSF生物学博士后研究奖学金，在该计划下，扩大了生物学中代表性不足的群体的参与。这位名叫珍妮特·巴克纳的研究员正在进行研究和接受培训，这将增加生物学领域中代表性不足的群体的参与。这位研究员由两个主办机构的两名赞助科学家指导：爱荷华州立大学的特蕾西·希思和俄克拉荷马大学的考特尼·霍夫曼。这位研究员的研究目标是通过对近180种活着的水禽(鸭、鹅和天鹅)的DNA进行测序和比较，揭示它们之间的关系。人与水鸟的相互作用(即狩猎、驯化)引起了人们对保护这些物种及其栖息地的极大兴趣，这些物种及其栖息地提供了重要的生态系统服务。因此，全面了解水鸟生物学及其在湿地生态系统中的作用将有助于生物学家和普通人的保护和管理工作。此外，水禽的不同行为、物理特征和全球分布使其成为了解动物进化的一个有前途的模型组。这位研究员正在努力改进估计这一鸟类群体起源和灭绝速度的方法，方法是将化石DNA纳入遗传比较。这些改进的方法有可能提高对进化如何随时间发生的整体理解，并通过直接测量最近的灭绝速度来识别特别脆弱的物种。最后，该研究员正在建立在线平台，致力于指导、促进和纳入生物科学领域未被充分代表的学生和专业人员。这一倡议对科学和社会至关重要，因为它允许承认和培养来自少数群体的有前途的生物学家，否则这些生物学家可能会因为缺乏机会、支持和/或信息而被忽视。这项研究正在扩展最近的系统发育方法的统计框架，以改进对分子系统发育的灭绝率的估计。这位研究员正在(1)利用形态和分子数据，以全证据测年的方法，建立最强大、分类最完整的水禽系统发育；(2)从博物馆收藏的多达30种最近灭绝的水禽中提取DNA；以及(3)重建由赞助科学家希思开发的化石生死模型，以处理新纳入的化石分子序列数据。这位研究员正在接受贝叶斯推理下的系统发育方法和统计模型的开发以及最新的古代DNA测序方案和技术方面的培训。该研究员还积极参与主办机构(如SACNAS)的外展计划，特别是让本科生参与上述研究和网络倡议。

This is an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology, under the program Broadening Participation of Groups Under-represented in Biology. The fellow, Janet Buckner, is conducting research and receiving training that is increasing the participation of groups underrepresented in biology. The fellow is being mentored by two sponsoring scientists at two host institutions: Tracy Heath (Iowa State University) and Courtney Hofman (University of Oklahoma). The goal of the fellow's research is to reveal the relationships among the nearly 180 species of living waterfowl (ducks, geese and swans) by sequencing and comparing their DNA. Human-waterfowl interactions (i.e., hunting, domestication) have garnered much interest in the conservation of these species and their habitats, which provide important ecosystem services. Thus, a comprehensive understanding of waterfowl biology and their role in wetland ecosystems would aid the conservation and management efforts of biologists and lay people. Additionally, their diverse behaviors, physical characteristics, and global distribution make waterfowl a promising model group for understanding animal evolution. The fellow is working to improve methods for estimating the rate of origination and extinction in this bird group by including fossil DNA in the genetic comparison. Such improved methods have the potential to improve the overall understanding of how evolution occurs over time and to identify particularly vulnerable species by directly measuring recent rates of extinction. Finally, the fellow is building online platforms dedicated to mentoring, promotion and inclusion of underrepresented students and professionals in the biological sciences. This initiative is vital to science and society because it allows for the recognition and fostering of promising biologists from minority groups that might otherwise be overlooked due to a lack of opportunity, support and/or information.This research is extending the statistical framework of recent phylogenetic methods to produce improved estimates of extinction rates from molecular phylogenies. The fellow is (1) producing the most robust, taxonomically complete phylogeny of waterfowl using morphological and molecular data in a total-evidence dating approach; (2) extracting DNA from up to 30 species of recently extinct waterfowl available from museum collections, and (3) restructuring the fossilized birth-death model developed by sponsoring scientist Heath, to deal with newly incorporated fossil molecular sequence data. The fellow is being trained in the development of phylogenetic methods and statistical models under Bayesian inference and in the most recent ancient DNA sequencing protocols and technologies. The fellow is also actively engaged in outreach programs at the host institutions (e.g. SACNAS), particularly engaging undergraduate students in the research and networking initiatives described above.