Postdoctoral Fellowship: SPRF: Reconstructing Precontact Caribbean Settlement using Ancient DNA

该奖项是作为NSF社会、行为和经济学博士后研究奖学金(SPRF)和语言学项目的一部分提供的。SPRF计划的目标是为学术界、工业界或私营部门和政府的科学职业生涯培养有前途的、早期职业博士水平的科学家。SPRF奖项包括在知名科学家的赞助下进行两年的培训，并鼓励博士后研究员进行独立研究。国家科学基金会致力于促进科学界所有阶层的科学家参与其研究方案和活动，包括那些来自代表性不足的群体的科学家；博士后阶段被认为是实现这一目标的专业发展的一个重要水平。每个博士后研究员都必须解决推动各自学科领域向前发展的重要科学问题。在明尼苏达大学双子城分校玛丽亚·尼维斯-科隆博士的赞助下，这一博士后奖学金奖项支持一位分析早期群体遗传多样性的早期职业科学家。通过提供波多黎各和其他古代社区已知的最早祖先遗骸的第一批古代DNA数据，将解决与人口起源、岛屿定居和区域互动过程有关的问题。更好地描述该区域更广泛的人口历史，对于了解这些古老社区与今天的岛民和侨民之间的生物文化联系至关重要。该项目还将社区咨询作为研究过程的一部分，并通过提供培训机会支持对不同学生群体的教育。最初的人类迁徙过程是美洲古代历史上最重要但最不为人所知的人口迁徙之一。虽然考古学、语言学和最近的遗传学研究为我们理解人类聚落和相互作用贡献了丰富的知识，但关于种群起源、扩散轨迹和群落之间相互作用的程度的问题仍然存在争议。这一NSF博士后奖学金应用古代DNA中的技术来表征尚未使用该方法研究的接触前社区和时间段的遗传多样性。这些成果将与现有的考古学知识相结合，以解决这些挥之不去的问题。此外，这项工作的一个主要目标是优先考虑社区参与，并为伦理古基因组学研究奠定基础。通过与当地大学、博物馆和非政府组织的伙伴关系，该项目将包括协商，以促进社区对研究过程的投入，分享成果，并创造当地学生在生物人类学方面的教育和培训机会。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 award was provided as part of the NSF Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences Postdoctoral Research Fellowships (SPRF) and Linguistics programs. The goal of the SPRF program is to prepare promising, early career doctoral-level scientists for scientific careers in academia, industry or private sector, and government. SPRF awards involve two years of training under the sponsorship of established scientists and encourage Postdoctoral Fellows to perform independent research. NSF seeks to promote the participation of scientists from all segments of the scientific community, including those from underrepresented groups, in its research programs and activities; the postdoctoral period is considered to be an important level of professional development in attaining this goal. Each Postdoctoral Fellow must address important scientific questions that advance their respective disciplinary fields. Under the sponsorship of Dr. Maria Nieves-Colón at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, this postdoctoral fellowship award supports an early career scientist analyzing the genetic diversity of early populations. By providing the first ancient DNA data from the earliest known ancestral remains from Puerto Rico and other ancient communities, questions related to the process of population origins, island settlement, and regional interaction will be addressed. An improved characterization of broader human population history in the region is crucial in understanding the biocultural connections between these ancient communities and present-day islanders and diaspora. This project also prioritizes community consultation as a part of the research process and supports education for a diverse group of students by providing training opportunities. The process of initial human arrival represents one of the most significant but least understood population movements in the ancient history of the Americas. While archaeological, linguistic, and more recently, genetic research has contributed a wealth of knowledge to our understanding of human settlement and interaction, questions regarding the population origins, dispersal trajectories, and the extent of interaction between communities are still debated. This NSF postdoctoral fellowship applies techniques in ancient DNA to characterize the genetic diversity of precontact communities and time periods that have not yet been studied using this method. These results will be integrated with existing archaeological knowledge to address these lingering questions. Additionally, a primary objective of this work is to prioritize community involvement and build groundwork for ethical paleogenomics research. Through partnerships with local universities, museums, and non-governmental organizations, this project will include consultations to facilitate community input into the research process, share results, and create local student education and training opportunities in biological anthropology.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.