NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2020

这一行动资助了NSF 2020财年生物学博士后研究奖学金，使用生物收藏进行研究。该奖学金支持将以创新方式利用生物收藏的研究员的研究和培训。人类的健康依赖于世界各地的植物，许多人用植物制造自己的药物，并从植物性食品中获得高达90%的所需能量。这个项目探索了为什么人们使用一些植物来医药和食物，而不是其他植物。这位研究员将从加州植物园的123万份干燥植物标本中收集一些测量数据和DNA序列，这些标本是科学家们几个世纪以来收集的。这项研究将测试那些容易找到、生长迅速或有遗传关系的植物是否更有可能被美洲原住民部落用作食品和药物。这项研究还将测试文化上相关或附近的美洲原住民部落群体是否可能使用类似的植物。项目成果将揭示保护植物多样性的方法和我们对它们的了解；这包括识别有助于营养的植物或治疗心脏病等疾病的新药。这项研究还将纳入东道国机构的教育推广活动，并利用实习机会让代表人数不足的少数群体的本科生参与研究目标。该研究员将从所有5,258种加州本土植物和所有342种荞麦亚科Eriogonoideae的标本标本中收集DNA序列数据以及可用性和生长速度特征。植物特性和遗传数据将与美国和加拿大所有291个美洲原住民部落群体的语言和地理数据相结合，以预测40,000个美国原住民药用和食品用途在不同植物类群和部落群体中的分布。这种跨学科的方法将首次测试植物的可用性(跨越空间和时间)、植物生长速度、植物遗传学、文化进化和文化接近如何塑造人类对有用植物的知识。该研究员将接受DNA序列提取、系统发育重建、跨文化分析和贝叶斯分析技术方面的培训。该项目将为生物和文化多样性的保护提供信息；扩大植物特性、遗传序列和土著生态知识的数据库；并通过指导促进STEM的多样性。该项目还结合了基于原生植物、生物收藏和美洲原住民生态知识的初中生社区推广活动。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。

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2020, Research Using Biological Collections. The fellowship supports research and training of the Fellow that will utilize biological collections in innovative ways. Human health depends on plants around the world, with many people making their own medicines from plants and also acquiring up to 90% of their required energy from plant-based foods. This project explores why people use some plants for medicine and food rather than other plants. The Fellow will collect measurements and DNA sequences from some of the 1.23 million dried plant specimens at the California Botanic Garden collected over centuries by scientists. The research will test whether plants that are easy to find, fast-growing, or genetically related are more likely to be used as food and medicine by Native American tribal groups. The research will also test whether Native American tribal groups that are culturally related or nearby are likely to use similar plants. Project results will reveal ways to protect plant diversity and our knowledge about them; this includes the ability to identify plants that contribute to nutrition or new medicines that remedy conditions such as heart disease. The study will also incorporate educational outreach activities at the host institution and use internships to involve undergraduates from underrepresented minorities in the research objectives. The Fellow will collect DNA sequence data and availability and growth rate traits from herbarium specimens of all 5,258 California native plant species, and all 342 species in the buckwheat subfamily Eriogonoideae. Plant trait and genetic data will be combined with linguistic and geographic data from all 291 Native American tribal groups across the United States and Canada to predict the distribution of 40,000 Native American medicinal and food uses across different plant taxa and tribal groups. This interdisciplinary approach will provide the first tests of how plant availability (across space and time), plant growth rate, plant genetics, cultural evolution, and cultural proximity shape human knowledge of useful plants. The Fellow will receive training in DNA sequence extraction, phylogenetic reconstruction, cross-cultural analysis, and Bayesian analytical techniques. This project will inform conservation of both biological and cultural diversity; expand databases of plant traits, genetic sequences, and Indigenous ecological knowledge; and promote diversity in STEM through mentoring. This project also incorporates community outreach for middle and high school students based on native plants, biological collections, and Native American ecological knowledge.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.