CAREER: Integrating contemporary evolution of animal communication in the field with science communication in our communities

许多生物体通过声音、气味、颜色或行为相互交流。雄性和雌性之间的交流通常是繁殖所必需的，而交配交流在物种之间是不同的，这阻止了不同物种之间的交配。当雄性交配特征发生巨大变化时，有新信号和没有新信号的类型可能会在生殖上被隔离，特别是当信号接收者（通常是雌性）的偏好随着雄性信号而变化时。研究人员在长期研究的太平洋田野蟋蟀Teleogryllus oceanicus种群中发现了一种新的歌曲类型“咕噜”。雄性蟋蟀用特殊的翅膀结构发出歌声来吸引雌性并促使它们交配。研究人员利用这个机会，通过测量和跟踪新的咕噜声的成分来了解交配信号进化的最早阶段。同一物种的雌性蟋蟀和一种寄生蝇都能检测到这种新歌。雌性寄生蝇用歌声来定位宿主蟋蟀，然后在蟋蟀身上存款幼虫，幼虫会钻入蟋蟀的身体，然后吃掉它们。因此，研究人员还将测量雌性蟋蟀和苍蝇的偏好，并研究新歌的进化历史和基因组基础。研究人员通过一个项目（STEMComm）将动物交流的当代演变与科学交流联系起来，该项目的基础是增加科学的多样性和包容性，以及提高参与者的跨文化素养。STEMComm将改善本科生和研究生在科学传播方面的培训，同时让服务不足的城市和夏威夷本地学生参与前沿研究。进化新奇性的起源仍然是难以捉摸的，因为在行动中捕捉新特征进化的内在困难。研究人员在夏威夷的太平洋田野蟋蟀Teleogryllus oceanicus种群中发现了一种新的歌曲（“咕噜”），这种歌曲在多个种群中的频率正在增加。这首新歌与典型的歌曲不同，其特征用于识别同种和首选配偶，并且可以被女性和窃听的天敌检测到。这一发现提供了一个机会，记录一个新的男性特征的起源及其后果的信号偏好关系和性隔离在真实的时间。祖先的信号和偏好是很好的特点，该系统是众所周知的通信的快速演变，特别是在响应一个声学定向寄生蝇。研究人员将跟踪包含咕噜雄性的复制种群20代，揭示新的特征如何与预期和非预期接收者的偏好和感知能力共同进化（或不），并将探索咕噜蟋蟀的进化历史和基因组结构。结合实地研究与现代基因组技术将提供一个综合的理解为什么和如何进化的新奇性。该项目通过一个新的科学传播计划，以K-12教育中的研究生STEM研究员为模型，将研究和教育无缝整合，使研究适应非专业观众，并增强科学的多样性和包容性。参与者将与K-12教师合作，共同开发可扩展的课程和课堂试点活动，为少数民族女孩举办夏令营，并在夏威夷开展社区外展计划。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并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，被认为值得支持。

Many organisms communicate with one another using sounds, smells, colors, or behaviors. Communication between males and females is often required for reproduction, and mating communication differs between species, preventing mating between different species. When male mating characteristics change dramatically, types with and without a new signal can become reproductively isolated, particularly when the preferences of signal receivers (often females) change in step with the male signals. The researcher discovered a novel song type, 'purring', in long-studied populations of Pacific field crickets, Teleogryllus oceanicus. Male crickets produce songs using specialized wing structures to attract females and urge them to mate. The researcher capitalizes on this opportunity to understand the earliest stages of mating signal evolution by measuring and tracking the components of the new purring song. The new song is detectable to female crickets of the same species and to a parasitoid fly. Female parasitoid flies use song to locate host crickets and then deposit larvae on them that will burrow into and later eat their way out of the crickets' body. The researcher will thus also measure preferences of female crickets and flies and investigate both the evolutionary history and genomic basis of the new song. The researcher links the contemporary evolution of animal communication with science communication through a program (STEMComm) founded on increasing diversity and inclusion in science and on increasing the cross-cultural literacy of participants. STEMComm will improve undergraduate and graduate students' training in science communication while engaging underserved urban and native Hawaiian students with leading-edge research. The origins of evolutionary novelty remain elusive because of the inherent difficulty of catching novel trait evolution in action. The researcher discovered a new song ('purring') in Hawaiian populations of the Pacific field cricket, Teleogryllus oceanicus, that is increasing in frequency in multiple populations. The novel song differs from the typical one in characteristics used to identify conspecifics and preferred mates, and is detectable to females and an eavesdropping natural enemy. This discovery affords an opportunity to document the origin of a novel male trait and its consequences for signal-preference relationships and sexual isolation in real time. Ancestral signals and preferences are well-characterized, and the system is known for rapid evolution of communication, particularly in response to an acoustically orienting parasitoid fly. The researcher will track replicate populations that contain purring males for 20 generations, revealing how novel traits come to coevolve (or not) with the preferences and perceptual capabilities of intended and unintended receivers, and will probe the evolutionary history and genomic architecture of purring crickets. Combining field studies with modern genomic techniques will provide an integrative understanding of the why and how of evolutionary novelty. The project seamlessly integrates research and education through a new science communication program modeled after Graduate STEM Fellows in K-12 Education, adapting the research for a non-specialist audience and enhancing diversity and inclusion in science. Participants will partner with K-12 teachers to co-develop publishable curricula and pilot activities in classrooms, a summer camp for minoritized girls, and a community outreach program in Hawaii.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.