MRI: Launching an undergraduate-driven Genomics Center through acquisition of an Illumina MiSeq

授予西方学院一个奖项，以支持收购下一代DNA测序系统。西方学院动物学和生物科学大楼的摩尔实验室将设有一个新的基因组学中心和古代DNA实验室，这将作为教师和学生在生物学研究的协作中心。新的测序仪将使教师和本科生在收集和海洋基因组研究，涉及鸟类，海洋无脊椎动物，鱼类，两栖动物和一系列其他物种的标本的研究。 测序仪系统的教师用户将领导一个学期的课程，以生成数据和探索他们的学科问题。此外，测序仪系统将加强一个成功的和既定的NSF S-STEM计划称为COSMOS（创造机会，在科学和数学的西方学生），其目标是新生的背景下，代表在STEM。新的测序仪系统将用于推进环境科学的研究，特别是通过时间和城市生物多样性的环境变化的重点。具体来说，结果将阐明北美鸟类的变化，使用墨西哥鸟类收集在摩尔动物学实验室，包括49,000标本收集在300个地点在墨西哥时，栖息地基本上是完整的（1933年至1955年）。测序仪还将有助于推进对科斯曼贝壳收藏品（110，000个标本，优势在夏威夷和太平洋）的物种多样性和软体动物进化的研究，以及涉及Vantuna研究小组鱼类收藏品（15，000个标本，南加州湾最好的收藏品之一）的进化和生态问题。测序仪支持的其他教师研究包括洛杉矶蝾螈，鹦鹉和近岸岩石礁鱼类的城市生物多样性基因组学，以及太平洋深海共生和锥螺毒液进化的研究。 这些研究的结果将发表在同行评审的期刊上，在科学会议上发表，并用于公共宣传活动。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为是值得通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

An Award is made to Occidental College to support the acquisition of a next-generation DNA sequencing system. The Moore Laboratory of Zoology and BioScience building at Occidental College will feature a new Genomics Center and Ancient DNA Lab, which will act as a collaborative hub for faculty and student research in Biology. The new sequencer will enable faculty and undergraduate research in collections-based and marine genomic research that involves specimen of birds, marine invertebrates, fish, amphibians, and a range of other species. Faculty users of the sequencer system will lead semester-long courses to generate data and explore questions in their discipline. Additionally, the sequencer system will enhance a successful and established NSF S-STEM program called COSMOS (Creating Opportunities in Science and Mathematics for Occidental Students), which targets freshman from backgrounds under-represented in STEM.The new sequencer system will be used to advance research in the environmental sciences with particular focus on environmental change through time and urban biodiversity. Specifically, results will elucidate change in North American birds by using the Mexican bird collection at the Moore Laboratory of Zoology, including 49,000 specimens collected at 300 sites across Mexico when habitats were largely intact (1933-1955). The sequencer will also help to advance research on species diversity and evolution of mollusks with the Cosman Shell Collection (110,000 specimens with strengths in Hawaii and the Pacific), as well as evolutionary and ecological questions involving the fish collection of the Vantuna Research Group (15,000 specimens and one of the best collections of the Southern California Bight). Other faculty research enabled by the sequencer includes urban biodiversity genomics on Los Angeles salamanders, parrots, and near-shore rocky-reef fishes, as well as research on Pacific deep-sea symbioses and the evolution of cone snail venom. The results of these studies will be published in peer-reviewed journals, presented at scientific meetings, and used in public outreach activities.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.