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，根据扩大生物学中代表性不足的群体的参与计划。这位名叫珍妮特·巴克纳的研究员正在进行研究并接受培训，以增加生物学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：特雷西·希思（爱荷华州州立大学）和考特尼·霍夫曼（俄克拉荷马州大学）。该研究员的研究目标是通过DNA测序和比较，揭示近180种活水鸟（鸭、鹅和天鹅）之间的关系。人与水禽的相互作用（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，因为它们提供了重要的生态系统服务。因此，全面了解水禽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非专业人士的保护和管理工作。此外，它们多样的行为，身体特征和全球分布使水禽成为了解动物进化的一个有前途的模式群体。这位研究员正致力于通过将化石DNA纳入遗传比较来改进估计这一鸟类群体起源和灭绝速度的方法。这种改进的方法有可能提高对进化如何随着时间的推移而发生的整体理解，并通过直接测量最近的灭绝率来确定特别脆弱的物种。最后，该研究员正在建立在线平台，致力于指导，促进和包容生物科学中代表性不足的学生和专业人员。这一举措是至关重要的科学和社会，因为它允许识别和培养有前途的生物学家从少数群体，否则可能会被忽视，由于缺乏机会，支持和/或information.This研究扩展了最近的系统发育方法的统计框架，以产生更好的估计灭绝率从分子生物学。这位研究员正在（1）利用形态学和分子学数据，以全证据年代测定方法，制作最可靠、分类学上最完整的水禽进化史;（2）从博物馆收藏的多达30种最近灭绝的水禽中提取DNA;（3）重建赞助科学家希思开发的生物出生-死亡模型，以处理新纳入的化石分子序列数据。该研究员正在接受培训，学习贝叶斯推理下的系统发育方法和统计模型，以及最新的古代DNA测序方案和技术。该研究员还积极参与主办机构（如SACNAS）的外联方案，特别是让本科生参与上述研究和联网活动。

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.