NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2020: Broadening participation of Native Americans in STEM fields by investigating pulmonary adaptations among marine mammals

这项行动资助了2020财年的NSF生物学博士后研究奖学金，扩大了生物学中代表性不足的群体的参与。该研究金支持研究员的一项研究和培训计划，该计划将增加在生物学领域代表性不足的群体的参与。该研究项目的主要目标是利用医学成像和流体动力学模拟来研究海洋哺乳动物的肺部如何适应海洋生物。许多海洋哺乳动物在水面上完全排空并快速填充它们巨大的肺，快速运输大量的空气。在潜水过程中，他们的肺必须要么抵抗高压，要么在表面塌陷并重新充气而不受伤。肺形态的改变可能改变气体混合和血气交换。这些调查将提供深入了解海洋哺乳动物的进化，肺的结构和功能，导致呼吸液模拟的进步。该研究员将利用沿海萨利希人和海洋哺乳动物之间的文化联系，扩大工作的影响。扩大参与活动包括外展到沿海萨利希社区，在夏令营和导师计划中展示科学，以提高美洲原住民学生对STEM的兴趣和保留率。该研究员将使用计算机断层扫描，计算流体动力学和plesmography来表征海洋哺乳动物肺的结构和功能。具体而言，一系列的鳍足类和鲸类动物将被调查问：（1）如何气道几何形状演变的最大潜水深度和模式的表面通风？(2)在气道塌陷过程中，什么样的形态对应于抵抗与变形的气道，什么样的生态特征与气道塌陷的类型有关？(3)海洋哺乳动物的肺气流模式与陆地哺乳动物有何不同，并随呼吸模式和习惯或最大潜水深度而变化？该研究员将利用沿海萨利希人和海洋哺乳动物之间的文化联系，促进生物学代表性不足的群体的参与，方法是：（1）通过预先建立的营地和夏季科学计划的互动肺生物学活动，招募美洲原住民学生参加STEM教育;（二）通过与原住民本科生导师计划合作，为当前的美国原住民学生增加STEM成果，项目和;（3）通过在校园内的第一民族长屋和Xwi 7 xwa图书馆举行的合作研讨会以及合作自然历史博物馆展览，增加与学院外的美洲原住民社区的联系。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为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来支持。

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2020, 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. The broad objective of this research project is to investigate how the lungs of marine mammals have adapted to ocean life using medical imaging and fluid dynamics simulations. Many marine mammals completely empty and fill their huge lungs quickly at the surface, rapidly transporting large volumes of air. During diving their lungs must either resist the high pressure or collapse and re-inflate at the surface without injury. Changes in lung shape may alter gas mixing and blood-gas exchange. These investigations will provide insights into marine mammal evolution, and lung structure and function, leading to advances in respiratory fluid simulations. The fellow will leverage cultural connections between Coastal Salish persons and marine mammals to broaden the impact of the work. Broadening participation activities include outreach to the Coastal Salish community, showcasing the science at summer camps and mentorship programs, to increase interest and retention of Native American students in STEM. The fellow will use computed tomography, computational fluid dynamics and plesmography to characterize the structure and function of marine mammal lungs. Specifically, a range of pinnipeds and cetaceans will be investigated to ask: (1) How does airway geometry evolve with maximum diving depth and mode of surface ventilation? (2) What morphology corresponds to airways that resist vs. deform during airway collapse, and what ecological traits are related to the type of airway collapse? (3) How do the pulmonary airflow patterns of marine mammals differ from terrestrial mammals and vary with ventilatory mode and habitual or maximum diving depth? The fellow will utilize cultural connections between Coastal Salish persons and marine mammals to promote participation of groups underrepresented in biology by (1) recruiting Native America students into STEM education through interactive lung biology activities at pre-established camps and summer science programs; (2) increasing STEM outcomes for current Native American students by partnering with the Aboriginal Undergraduate Mentoring program to mentor students on the project and; (3) increase connections with Native American communities outside of the academy through collaborative symposia held at the First Nations Longhouse and Xwi7xwa library on campus and a collaborative natural history museum exhibit.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.