NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology: Using eDNA metabarcoding to measure the impact of anthropogenic activities and predator reintroduction on parasite-based ecological networks

NSF 生物学博士后奖学金：使用 eDNA 元条形码来测量人类活动和捕食者重新引入对基于寄生虫的生态网络的影响

• 批准号: 2208800
• 负责人: Jasmine Childress
• 金额: $ 13.8万
• 依托单位: Childress, Jasmine N
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Fellowship Award
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-02-01 至 2025-01-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2208800&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: NSF; Postdoctoral; Fellowship; Biology; Using

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2022, Broadening Participation of Groups Underrepresented in Biology. The Fellowship supports a research and training plan for the Fellow that will increase the participation of groups underrepresented in biology. Ecological networks are used to describe biodiversity and the ways in which plants and animals interact with one another. While parasites comprise nearly half of all described animal life, they are routinely left out of these networks. Thus, essential features of ecosystems are overlooked because parasites are excluded from ecological networks. One of the main challenges to integrating parasites into these networks is the difficulty of surveying for parasites using conventional methods that rely on complex techniques, which are invasive or lethal to host organisms. This problem will be resolved by using new DNA methods to detect the DNA fragments that all species shed into the environment (for example in feces, mucus, and skin). This environmental DNA (eDNA) can be used to identify parasites without capture and harm to their hosts. Using this non-destructive method, the distribution of parasites will be added to ecological networks, including those in which human activity has had an impact and ones in which top predators have been reintroduced. This will help lay the foundation for enhancing future disease, community, and ecosystem studies. To broaden the impact of the project, the Fellow will present workshops to students to help them learn skills important for STEM training and careers. The Fellow will use eDNA metabarcoding to detect host–parasite community biodiversity of the Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve and incorporate those data into a molecular ecological network analysis to inform two guiding questions: (1) how does incorporating parasites into ecological networks alter our understanding of ecosystems, and (2) how do anthropogenic impacts and predator reintroduction reshape parasite-based ecological networks? To broaden participation of underrepresented groups, the Fellow will lead “Flash Skills,” which is a series of small workshops aimed at teaching and refining skills that may be left out of the classroom, such as grant writing, data and time management, and coding. These competencies will help prepare undergraduate and graduate students for postdoctoral opportunities and careers in academia.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.

该行动为2022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研究和培训计划，该计划将增加在生物学中代表性不足的群体的参与。生态网络被用来描述生物多样性以及植物和动物相互作用的方式。虽然寄生虫占所有已描述动物生命的近一半，但它们通常被排除在这些网络之外。因此，由于寄生虫被排除在生态网络之外，生态系统的基本特征被忽视了。将寄生虫纳入这些网络的主要挑战之一是难以使用依赖复杂技术的传统方法调查寄生虫，这些方法对宿主生物具有侵入性或致命性。这个问题将通过使用新的DNA方法来检测所有物种释放到环境中的DNA片段（例如粪便、粘液和皮肤）来解决。这种环境DNA （eDNA）可以用来识别寄生虫，而不会捕获和伤害它们的宿主。使用这种非破坏性的方法，寄生虫的分布将被添加到生态网络中，包括那些人类活动已经产生影响的生态网络和那些重新引入顶级捕食者的生态网络。这将有助于为加强未来的疾病、社区和生态系统研究奠定基础。为了扩大计划的影响，研究员将为学生举办工作坊，帮助他们学习对STEM培训和职业生涯重要的技能。该研究员将使用eDNA元条形码来检测贾斯珀岭生物保护区宿主-寄生虫群落的生物多样性，并将这些数据纳入分子生态网络分析，以提供两个指导问题：(1)将寄生虫纳入生态网络如何改变我们对生态系统的理解；(2)人为影响和捕食者的重新引入如何重塑基于寄生虫的生态网络？为了扩大代表性不足的群体的参与，该研究员将领导“闪光技能”，这是一系列旨在教授和改进可能被遗忘在课堂上的技能的小型讲习班，如拨款写作、数据和时间管理以及编码。这些能力将帮助本科生和研究生为博士后机会和学术界的职业生涯做好准备。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。