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

许多生物通过声音、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，而物种之间的交配交流是不同的，从而阻止了不同物种之间的交配。当雄性交配特征发生显著变化时，有和没有新信号的类型可能会变得繁殖隔离，特别是当信号接收器(通常是雌性)的偏好与雄性信号同步变化时。这位研究人员在长期研究的太平洋野蟋蟀种群中发现了一种新的鸣声类型--“呼噜”。雄性蟋蟀通过特殊的翅膀结构产生歌声来吸引雌性蟋蟀并促使它们交配。研究人员利用这一机会，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。这首新歌对同一物种的雌性蟋蟀和一种寄生苍蝇都能听得到。雌性寄生苍蝇使用SING来定位寄主蟋蟀，然后在它们身上放置幼虫，幼虫将钻入蟋蟀体内，然后将其吃掉。因此，研究人员还将测量雌性蟋蟀和苍蝇的喜好，并调查新歌的进化史和基因组基础。研究人员通过一个项目(STEMComm)将动物交流的当代进化与科学交流联系起来，该计划建立在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的基础上。STEMComm将改善本科生和研究生在科学交流方面的培训，同时让服务不足的城市和夏威夷原住民学生进行前沿研究。进化新颖性的起源仍然难以捉摸，因为在行动中捕捉新的特征进化是固有的困难。研究人员在太平洋野蟋蟀的夏威夷种群中发现了一种新的叫声，这种叫声在多个种群中的频率正在增加。这首新奇的歌曲与典型的歌曲不同，它用来识别同类和首选配偶的特征，可以被雌性和窃听的天敌察觉。这一发现为实时记录一种新的男性特征的起源及其对信号偏爱关系和性隔离的影响提供了机会。祖先的信号和喜好都有很好的特征，而且这个系统以通讯的快速进化而闻名，特别是对声音定向的寄生蝇的反应。这位研究人员将跟踪20代包含发出呼噜声的雄性蟋蟀的复制种群，揭示新的特征如何与有意和无意的接受者的偏好和感知能力共同进化(或不协同进化)，并将探索发出咕噜声的蟋蟀的进化史和基因组结构。将实地研究与现代基因组技术相结合，将提供对进化新颖性的原因和方式的综合理解。该项目通过仿照K-12教育STEM研究生研究员的模式，通过一个新的科学交流计划无缝地将研究和教育结合在一起，为非专业受众调整研究，并增强科学的多样性和包容性。参与者将与K-12教师合作，共同制定可发布的课程和课堂上的试点活动，为小规模女孩举办夏令营，并在夏威夷开展社区推广计划。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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.