NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2019: Oxidative stress and immune function markers to elucidate and differentiate impacts of acute and chronic stress in marine mammals

该行动为2019财年美国国家科学基金会生物学博士后研究奖学金提供资金，扩大生物学中代表性不足群体的参与。该奖学金支持研究员的一项研究和培训计划，该计划将增加生物学中代表性不足的群体的参与。随着人口的增长，人类与野生动物之间的互动程度也在增加。压力源，如噪音、污染和栖息地破坏，通常对野生动物的健康和生存产生负面影响。然而，人们对这些压力源造成有害影响的方式知之甚少。本项目将测试长期应激对海洋哺乳动物的影响，并发现其生化机制。这些结果将有助于开发准确的方法来评估遭受环境压力的动物的健康状况。这个项目有很强的公共宣传组成部分，将扩大代表性不足群体的参与，并将由研究员为本科生和研究生提供指导和培训。通过这个项目，研究员将制定一个野生动物保护和研究的课程计划，并在当地的小学实施。该研究员还将通过与加州大学伯克利分校致力于促进包容性和学生保留率的组织合作，促进学生参与该领域和实验室。环境和生态压力源增加了受影响动物体内循环糖皮质激素的浓度，可能改变它们的行为、生理和健康。然而，对于许多物种，特别是海洋哺乳动物而言，长期暴露于高水平糖皮质激素的后果仍然难以捉摸。这种知识的缺乏阻碍了我们预测和评估增加暴露于环境压力源和人为活动的健康后果的能力。本项目将通过实验提高糖皮质激素水平或阻断其作用，研究糖皮质激素暴露对海洋哺乳动物细胞和全身水平反应的影响。该研究员将专门研究短期和长期暴露于糖皮质激素对几种与健康相关的指标的影响，包括活性氧的产生、氧化应激、炎症和免疫功能，方法是结合培养的原代细胞和自由放养的象海豹的全动物研究。这个项目的结果将有助于确定短期或长期暴露在压力下对健康造成影响的途径。这将有助于更好地预测环境和人为压力因素增加的负面后果，并确定海洋哺乳动物和其他危险物种的潜在压力生物指标，以促进对其进行管理。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，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。

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2019, Broadening Participation of Groups Under-represented in Biology. The fellowship supports a research and training plan for the Fellow that will increase the participation of groups underrepresented in biology. As the human population grows, so does the level of interaction between humans and wildlife. Stressors, such as noise, pollution, and habitat destruction, typically have negative consequences on the health and survival of wild animals. However, the ways these stressors cause detrimental effects is poorly understood. This project will test the effects of long-term stress exposure in marine mammals and discover the biochemical mechanisms. These results will help develop accurate methods to assess the health status of animals that experience environmental stressors. This project has a strong public outreach component, will broaden participation of underrepresented groups, and will provide mentorship and training by the fellow for undergraduate and graduate students. Through this project, the fellow will develop a lesson plan on wildlife conservation and research for implementation in grade schools in the local area. The fellow will also facilitate student participation in the field and laboratory through collaboration with UC Berkeley organizations focused on promoting inclusivity and student retention.Environmental and ecological stressors increase the concentration of circulating glucocorticoids in affected animals, potentially altering their behavior, physiology, and fitness. However, the consequences of prolonged exposure to high levels of glucocorticoids remain elusive in many species, and particularly in marine mammals. Such a lack of knowledge hinders our ability to predict and assess health outcomes of increased exposure to environmental stressors and anthropogenic activities. This project will examine the impacts of glucocorticoid exposure on cellular and whole-body level responses in marine mammals by experimentally elevating glucocorticoids or blocking their action. The fellow will specifically examine the effects of short- and long-term glucocorticoid exposure on several health-relevant measures including reactive oxygen species generation, oxidative stress, inflammation, and immune function using a combination of primary cells in culture and whole animal studies with free-ranging elephant seals. The results of this project will help identify pathways responsible for health effects following short- or long-term exposure to stress. This will allow better prediction of negative consequences of increased environmental and anthropogenic stressors and identify potential biological indicators of stress in marine mammals and other at-risk species to facilitate their management.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.