Collaborative Research: Conference: Stratigraphic Paleobiology Field Conference

地层古生物学野外会议旨在培养早期博士生。本课程旨在让学生了解地层记录的形成如何控制化石最有可能被发现的地方。2这些知识对于化石记录的任何生物学解释都是必要的，例如进化模式、生态变化、大规模灭绝和生物入侵。这些知识也是跨学科的，通常不会在大多数博士学位中涉及。程序.它将允许学生解决与生命如何与环境变化相关的重要问题，以及关于细分地质时间和地质相关性的问题，这些方法在能源行业中广泛使用，以调查地球上含烃盆地的起源和发展。参与者将学习如何收集，分析，通过对代表陆地和海洋古代生态系统的岩石进行实地项目，解释地层和古生物学数据。他们将测量和描述沉积岩的地层柱。参加者还将进行化石计数，并学习如何使用几种统计方法分析化石计数数据与地层柱的关系。他们将发现化石的分布和保存是如何受到地层记录结构的控制的。作为一个小组，他们将讨论如何利用这种理解来解决古生态学和进化的研究问题。参加现场会议的人员将在大学、博物馆和私营部门担任研究和教学职位，使他们成为培养未来STEM领导者的关键角色，以解决社会面临的许多最紧迫的问题。该奖项反映了NSF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。

The Stratigraphic Paleobiology Field Conference is designed to train early Ph.D. students to understand how the formation of the stratigraphic record controls where fossils are most likely found. This knowledge is necessary for any biological interpretation of the fossil record, such as patterns of evolution, ecological change, mass extinctions, and biotic invasions. This knowledge is also interdisciplinary and not usually covered in most Ph.D. programs. It will allow students to address significant questions related to how life evolves in relation to environmental change, as well as questions about subdividing geologic time and geological correlation, approaches that are used extensively in the energy industry to investigate the origin and development of hydrocarbon-bearing basins on Earth.Participants will learn how to collect, analyze, and interpret stratigraphic and paleontologic data through field projects on rocks that represent ancient ecosystems on land and in the sea. They will measure and describe stratigraphic columns of sedimentary rocks. Participants will also conduct counts of fossils and learn how to analyze fossil count data in relationship to the stratigraphic columns using several statistical methods. They will discover how the distribution and preservation of fossils are controlled by the structure of the stratigraphic record. As a group, they will discuss how this understanding can be used to address research questions in paleoecology and evolution. Participants in the field conference will go on to hold research and teaching positions at universities, museums, and in the private sector, making them key actors in training future STEM leaders to address many of the most pressing problems facing 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.