NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2020: Cryoconite hole community dynamics on Tibetan debris-covered glaciers

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。本研究的重点是增加对西藏冰川融化孔的物理和生态作用的认识。这些充满水的栖息地被海冰包围，它们以不可预测的时间扩张、收缩和消失。这名研究员将比较冰川融化洞中的无脊椎动物、细菌、真菌、藻类和苔藓的物理外观、水化学和生物多样性，这些融化洞要么是原始的，要么是被碎片覆盖的。该研究员将研究融洞如何通过延时摄影发展，以及融洞内的群落如何对环境因素作出反应。这项研究将有助于更好地了解冰川融化的原因。该研究员还将参与外展活动，以增加聋人和听障人士（DHH）对环境科学和生态学的参与，因为吸引和留住DHH人士是STEM领域的一个长期问题。外联活动包括：1)通过对中美两国DHH高中学生的教学示范，介绍环境科学和生态学；2)调查针对弱势学生的实习项目的专业组织，帮助他们提高为DHH个人服务的能力；3)建立一个专业的网络网站，将DHH的学生与潜在的导师联系起来，将DHH的知名科学家与合作者联系起来。目的是记录西藏东南部冰川冰芯洞内群落结构的时空变化。研究方法包括：1)通过线性混合效应模型分析，确定清洁冰川表面和被碎屑覆盖的冰川表面上不同冰晶洞的物理栖息地、水化学和群落结构是否存在差异；2)利用延时摄影等方法确定群落结构是否发生时空变化；3)进行多元线性回归和典型对应分析，找出对群落结构影响最大的非生物因子。这项研究将为研究员提供下一代测序的培训，以检查微生物群落、生物信息学、时间序列和地理信息系统空间数据的统计分析。DHH的外展活动将为该研究员提供成为DHH大学学习环境科学和生态学的学生的导师所需的经验。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 focus of this research is to increase the understanding of the physical and ecological role of melt-holes on debris-covered glaciers in Tibet. These water-filled habitats are surrounded by a sea of ice and they expand, contract, and disappear with unpredictable timing. The fellow will compare the physical appearance, water chemistry, and biodiversity of invertebrates, bacteria, fungi, algae and mosses in melt holes on glaciers that are either pristine or debris covered. The fellow will study how melt holes develop with time-lapse photography and how communities within the melt holes respond to environmental factors. The research will lead to a better understanding of the causes of glacier melting. The fellow will also engage in outreach activities to increase involvement of deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) individuals in environmental science and ecology, as attracting and retaining DHH individuals is a longstanding issue in STEM fields. Outreach activities include: 1) introducing environmental science and ecology through teaching demonstrations for DHH high school students in the United States and China; 2) surveying professional organizations with internship programs targeting underrepresented students to help them improve their ability to serve DHH individuals; and 3) developing a professional network website that will connect DHH students with potential mentors and established DHH scientists with collaborators.The goal is to document spatiotemporal changes in community structure within cryoconite holes on debris-covered glaciers in southeastern Tibet. The approaches include: 1) conducting linear mixed effect model analyses to determine if physical habitat, water chemistry, and community structure differ among cryoconite holes on clean or debris-covered glacier surfaces; 2) using time-lapse photography and similar methods to determine if community structure changes temporally and spatially; and 3) conducting multiple linear regression and canonical correspondence analyses to identify the abiotic factors having the greatest influence on community structure. The research will provide the fellow with training in next generation sequencing to examine microbial communities, bioinformatics, and statistical analysis of time series and GIS spatial data. The DHH outreach activities will provide the fellow with the experiences needed to become a mentor for DHH university students studying environmental science and ecology.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.