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.

这一行动资助了NSF 2022财年生物学博士后研究奖学金，扩大了生物学中代表性不足的群体的参与。该研究金支持一项针对该研究员的研究和培训计划，该计划将增加生物学中代表性不足的群体的参与。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。虽然寄生虫占所有被描述的动物生命的近一半，但它们经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。将寄生虫整合到这些网络中的主要挑战之一是，使用依赖于复杂技术的传统方法难以调查寄生虫，这些技术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排放到环境中的DNA片段(例如，粪便、粘液和皮肤中)来解决。这种环境DNA(EDNA)可以用来识别寄生虫，而不会捕获寄生虫，也不会对宿主造成伤害。利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，包括人类活动产生影响的生态网络和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。为了扩大该项目的影响，该研究员将为学生举办讲习班，帮助他们学习对STEM培训和职业生涯至关重要的技能。该研究员将使用Edna MetabarCoding来检测Jasper Ridge生物保护区的宿主-寄生虫群落生物多样性，并将这些数据合并到分子生态网络分析中，以提供两个指导性问题：(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)人类活动的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？为了扩大代表不足的群体的参与，这位研究员将领导一系列小型研讨会，旨在教授和完善可能被遗漏在课堂上的技能，如拨款撰写、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生涯做好准备。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。