Research Infrastructure: Continued Support of the Duke Lemur Center for the Study of Primate Biology and History

该奖项将部分支持杜克狐猴中心 (DLC) 的运营，该中心是世界上最濒危且生物多样性最高的灵长类动物——马达加斯加狐猴的独特活畜收藏地。狐猴是马达加斯加生物多样性热点地区所独有的动物，由于它们处于极度濒危状态，因此不是可再生资源。作为推进跨学科研究、学术和保护的活体实验室，DLC 是世界上唯一一个可以随时将狐猴与相关生物样本、数十年的医疗记录、生活史数据和活类群化石亲属一起进行比较研究的地方。群体的多样性使得广泛的科学得以开展和交流，涵盖进化过程、行为生态学、生殖生物学、生活史、代谢生理学、感觉系统、认知、解剖学、生物力学和保护科学等学科。此外，DLC 是各个学术级别学生的绝佳训练场。在其 57 年的历史中，数千名从 K-12 到研究生级别的学生都参与了 DLC，并受到了他们的启发。兽医系通过勤工俭学机会和兽医学生培训（包括马达加斯加兽医实习）支持教育活动。 至关重要的是，DLC 致力于通过异地圈养管理和广泛的基于社区的马达加斯加计划来开展保护活动。成千上万的公众参观者通过接触 DLC 的工作人员、学生和藏品，了解了生物多样性发现和保护的概念，以及生物研究的力量。该奖项的首要目标是通过五个短期目标战略性地提高 DLC 现存藏品的价值。这些目标提供了重要的机会：(1) 继续维持和发展一个健康的群体以供研究使用，(2) 开发数据驱动的群体管理最佳实践，(3) 继续为研究界服务并产生更多合作，(4) 建立一个更加多样化的用户社区，以及 (5) 提高活种群收集数据的数字可用性。殖民地支持对于实现这些推进生物研究、教育和保护方面的关键项目的目标至关重要。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This award will partially support operations of the Duke Lemur Center (DLC), a unique living stock collection of the world's most endangered and biologically diverse primates - the lemurs of Madagascar. Lemurs are exclusive to the biodiversity hotspot of Madagascar, and due to their critically-endangered status, are not a renewable resource. Serving as a living laboratory for advancing interdisciplinary research, scholarship, and conservation, the DLC is the only place in the world where lemurs are readily available for comparative study together with associated biological samples, decades of medical records, life history data, and fossil relatives of living taxa. The diversity of the colony enables an expansive scope of science to be conducted and communicated, covering disciplines ranging from evolutionary processes, behavioral ecology, reproductive biology, life history, metabolic physiology, sensory systems, cognition, anatomy, biomechanics, and conservation science. In addition, the DLC is an exceptional training ground for students across academic levels. Over its 57-year history, thousands of students ranging from K-12 through postgraduate levels have been engaged in and inspired by their experiences at the DLC. The veterinary department supports educational activities via work-study opportunities and veterinary student training, including an internship for Malagasy veterinarians. Critically, the DLC is committed to conservation activities via both ex situ captive management and extensive community-based Madagascar programs. Hundreds of thousands of visitors from the general public have been exposed to the concepts of biodiversity discovery and conservation, as well as the power of biological research via their exposure to the DLC's staff, students, and collections. The overarching aim of this award is to strategically enhance the value of the DLC’s living collection through five short-term goals. These goals provide significant opportunities to: (1) continue to maintain and grow a healthy colony for research use, (2) develop data-driven colony management best practices, (3) continue to serve the research community and generate additional collaborations, (4) build a more diverse user community, and (5) increase the digital availability of data from the living stocks collection. Colony support is central to meeting these goals for advancing key programs in biological research, education, and conservation.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.