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

2017 财年 NSF 生物学博士后奖学金：通过直接结合化石和亚化石形态和分子数据来了解灭绝的实证方法

• 批准号: 1711968
• 负责人: Janet Buckner
• 金额: $ 13.8万
• 依托单位: Buckner Janet C
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Fellowship Award
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2018-01-01 至 2019-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1711968&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: NSF; Postdoctoral; Fellowship; Biology; FY

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.

这是美国国家科学基金会生物学博士后研究奖学金，隶属于“扩大生物学中代表性不足群体的参与”项目。这位名叫珍妮特·巴克纳（Janet Buckner）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。这名研究员是由来自两个主办机构的两位赞助科学家指导的：特雷西·希思（爱荷华州立大学）和考特尼·霍夫曼（俄克拉荷马大学）。该研究员的研究目标是通过对近180种现存水禽（鸭、鹅和天鹅）的DNA进行测序和比较，揭示它们之间的关系。人类与水禽的相互作用（即狩猎、驯养）引起了人们对这些物种及其栖息地保护的极大兴趣，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、物理特征和全球分布使水禽成为理解动物进化的一个有希望的模型群。这名研究员正致力于通过将化石DNA纳入基因比较中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，他正在建立在线平台，致力于指导、促进和包容生物科学领域代表性不足的学生和专业人士。这一举措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，否则他们可能会因为缺乏机会、支持和/或信息而被忽视。这项研究扩展了最近系统发育方法的统计框架，以从分子系统发育中产生更好的灭绝率估计。该研究员(1)利用形态学和分子数据，以全证据测年的方法，得出了水禽最可靠、分类学上最完整的系统发育；(2)从博物馆收藏的近30种最近灭绝的水禽中提取DNA；(3)重组由赞助科学家Heath开发的化石出生-死亡模型，以处理新纳入的化石分子序列数据。该研究员正在接受基于贝叶斯推理的系统发育方法和统计模型的发展以及最新的古代DNA测序协议和技术方面的培训。该研究员还积极参与东道国机构（如SACNAS）的外展项目，特别是让本科生参与上述研究和网络活动。