NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2020: Understanding the environment-to-epigenetic alterations driving ecosystem function and resilience under continuing climate change

该行动为2020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。这项研究旨在了解生物体如何对环境变化做出反应。这对于准确预测气候变化的影响是很重要的。该项目将调查海胆（Diadema antillarum）对变暖温度的反应。这些海胆在受到环境变化严重威胁的加勒比海珊瑚礁生态系统中起着至关重要的作用。这项研究将有助于珊瑚礁生态系统的管理和保护，这些生态系统为人类提供重要的生态系统服务（例如渔业、娱乐、旅游和热带风暴保护）。此外，该研究员将通过指导学生，并在为历史上代表性不足的少数民族提供服务的机构提供教育推广活动，增加生物学中代表性不足的群体的参与。本研究探讨了表观遗传过程在不断变化的环境条件下提供快速表型可塑性的作用。该项目评估了海胆的表观遗传模式及其与不同基因型、人口统计学和生理反应（例如，翻正能力）之间的联系，这些海胆生活在温度自然不同的地区。通过互惠移植实验来区分局部适应和驯化过程，然后通过成年海胆的产卵和杂交来研究表观遗传标记在代际间的持久性。将比较发育和亲代热史暴露不同的幼虫在DNA甲基化、体型和热耐受性方面的全基因组差异。该项目还将生成Diadema antillarum的基因组草图。奖学金获得者将指导佛罗里达国际大学和波多黎各大学的学生。此外，该研究员还将为佛罗里达国际大学比斯坎湾校区的南佛罗里达公立高中海洋科学技术学院的高中生及其家人提供教育推广活动。还将与马里诺环境保护协会在波多黎各开展公众宣传活动，其中包括参与者与研究生物积极互动的活动，将其与珊瑚礁的重要性以及珊瑚礁生态系统为人类提供的价值联系起来。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 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 research aims to understand how organisms respond to changes in their environment. This is important for accurately predicting the effects of a changing climate. This project will investigate how the sea urchin, Diadema antillarum, responds to warming temperatures. These sea urchins play a vital role in Caribbean coral reef ecosystems, which are severely threatened by environmental change. The research will contribute to the management and conservation of coral reef ecosystems that generate essential ecosystem services to people (e.g., fisheries, recreation, tourism, and protection from tropical storms). Additionally, the Fellow will increase the inclusion of underrepresented groups in biology by mentoring students and providing educational outreach activities at institutions that serve historically underrepresented racial minorities.This research investigates the role of epigenetic processes in providing rapid phenotypic plasticity under changing environmental conditions. The project assesses epigenetic patterns and their connection to varying genotypes, demography, and physiological responses (e.g., righting ability), in sea urchins inhabiting areas that naturally differ in their temperature regimes. A reciprocal transplant experiment will be used to distinguish between local adaptation and acclimation processes, followed by spawning and crossing of adult urchins to investigate the persistence of epigenetic marks across generations. Genome-wide differences in DNA methylation, body size, and thermal tolerance will be compared across larvae that differ in their developmental and parental thermal history exposure. The project will also generate a draft genome for Diadema antillarum. The Fellow will mentor students at Florida International University and the University of Puerto Rico. Additionally, the Fellow will provide educational outreach activities to high school students and their families at a South Florida public high school, the Marine Academy of Science and Technology at Florida International University’s Biscayne Bay Campus. Public outreach will also be performed in Puerto Rico with the Sociedad Ambiente Marino conservation organization that will include events in which participants actively interact with the study organism to connect its importance to coral reefs and the value that coral reef ecosystems provide to people.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.