NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology: Skeletal and behavioral underpinnings of extreme locomotor diversity in snakes

这项行动资助了2023财年的NSF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。该研究金支持研究员的一项研究和培训计划，该计划将增加在生物学领域代表性不足的群体的参与。这项研究将有助于更好地了解具有简单身体计划的动物（蛇）如何进化出多种策略来克服在不同环境中移动的挑战。这项研究对生态学和保护具有重要意义，因为动物的移动方式会影响它们扩展到新栖息地或科普不断变化的栖息地的能力。此外，研究结果将有助于开发仿生蛇形机器人，这些机器人将能够在轮式和四肢机器人无法到达的地形中执行任务。该研究员还将通过科学协会创建一个新的长期导师计划，促进职业发展和专业网络，为早期职业科学家参与生物学做出贡献。该研究员将专注于运动行为和相关形态学在分类和功能多样的蛇亚科，Natricinae的进化。首先，该研究员将使用µCT扫描、3D几何形态测量和系统发育比较方法研究椎骨形态的演变。然后，该研究员将使用比较生物力学方法来研究在具有挑战性的基质（沙子）上运动行为和性能的物种内和物种间变化，沙子存在于全球众多的栖息地类型中。最后，该研究员将整合这两个数据集（脊椎形态学和运动生物力学），以研究中轴骨骼的种间差异是否预测运动模式的选择或给定模式内的运动学差异，从而提供对功能进化的更全面的理解。该奖学金的培训目标和扩大参与活动包括：1）学习软件和分析技术，用于处理3D形态数据; 2）建立强大的定量技能，用于研究运动生物力学，其中包括处理和分析视频数据的先进计算方法;和3）在专业社会中为研究生和博士后研究员开发同伴指导计划。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为是值得支持的，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。

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2023, 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. The research will help to better understand how animals with a simple body plan (snakes) can evolve numerous strategies to overcome the challenges of moving through different environments. The research has implications for ecology and conservation, since how an animal moves can influence the ability to expand into new habitats or to cope with a changing one. Additionally, the results will contribute to the development of bioinspired snake-like robots that will be able to carry out tasks in terrains inaccessible to wheeled and limbed robots. The fellow will also contribute to the participation of early-career scientists in biology by creating a new long-term mentorship program through a scientific society to promote career development and professional networks. The fellow will focus on the evolution of locomotor behavior and relevant morphology in a taxonomically and functionally diverse snake subfamily, the Natricinae. First, the fellow will investigate the evolution of vertebral morphology using µCT scans, 3D geometric morphometrics, and phylogenetic comparative methods. Then, the fellow will use a comparative biomechanics approach to study within- and among-species variation in locomotor behavior and performance on a challenging substrate, sand, which exists in numerous habitat types worldwide. Finally, the fellow will integrate these two datasets (vertebral morphology and locomotor biomechanics) to examine whether interspecific differences in the axial skeleton predict choice of locomotor mode or kinematic differences within a given mode, providing a more integrative understanding of functional evolution. Training goals and broadening participation activities for the fellowship include: 1) learning software and analytical techniques for working with 3D morphological data; 2) building a strong quantitative skillset for studying locomotor biomechanics, which will include advanced computational methods for processing and analyzing video data; and 3) developing a peer mentoring program for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in a professional society.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.