Island Population Responses to Environmental Stresses

大而不可预测的应激源，如新的疾病，正在以越来越频繁和越来越强烈的方式影响着几乎所有物种。了解物种的反应通常依赖于遗传学研究。岛屿是研究这种反应的好地方，因为大部分居住的物种通常都会受到影响。新冠肺炎的流行扰乱了许多学生--特别是那些来自代表性不足群体的学生--获得研究应激源基因反应所需的培训和指导的能力。该讲习班将帮助解决这一问题，为来自波多黎各和佛罗里达南部的学生提供分析和解释他们可能会感到挑战的基因数据的尖端技能。讲习班将帮助确保来自STEM代表性不足社区的参与者继续取得学术进步，方法是让他们参与研究活动，这些活动可以在大多数实验室和实地工作有限的情况下进行。研讨会参与者将获得分析基因表达数据的技能，这些数据来自他们关于生物多样性对生物和非生物应激源的反应的独立研究项目。学员和讲师之间的高度亲力亲为的虚拟互动将作为平台。这之后将通过电子邮件和聊天组通信，并加上张贴的录音课程和相关的辅助教学材料。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，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，被认为是值得支持的。

Large and unpredictable stressors like new diseases are impacting practically all species with increasing frequency and strength. Understanding how species respond often relies on studies of genetics. Islands are a good place to study such responses because a large fraction of resident species are usually impacted. The COVID pandemic has disrupted the ability of many students – especially those from underrepresented groups -- to get the training and mentoring they need to study genetic responses to stressors. This workshop will help fix that problem by providing students from Puerto Rico and southern Florida with cutting edge skills for analyzing and interpreting genetic data that they may find challenging.The workshop will help ensure the continued academic progress of participants from STEM underrepresented communities by engaging them in research activities that can be undertaken when most laboratory and fieldwork is limited. Workshop participants will acquire skills to analyze gene expression data from their independent research projects on response of organisms across the span of biological diversity to biotic and abiotic stressors. A high degree of “hands-on” virtual interaction between participants and instructors will be used as a platform. This will be followed with email and chat group communications and coupled with posted recorded sessions and associated supporting instructional materials. Results are likely to yield new insights about how organisms adapt to new environmental challenges.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.