Conference: The Microbiome Frontier of Mammalogy, a symposium and workshop for the International Mammalogical Congress in Anchorage, AK, USA, July 14-20, 2023

随着我们对野生哺乳动物和微生物之间的联系有了更好的了解，我们可以利用这些联系的信息来测试关于哺乳动物保护和病原体动力学的紧迫假设，这一点变得越来越清楚。野生哺乳动物的微生物组研究表明，微生物使饮食特殊化，可能促进迁徙或冬眠，影响哺乳动物对疾病入侵的易感性，并且可能与它们的哺乳动物宿主有古老的联系。越来越多的证据表明，环境变化改变了这些哺乳动物与微生物的相互作用，并可能对哺乳动物的保护和哺乳动物作为人类病原体的野生宿主的作用产生影响。我们需要更多的研究人员利用创造性思维框架来研究野生哺乳动物和微生物之间的相互依存关系，以检验这些复杂的系统。为了增加哺乳动物学家研究微生物的人数，研究人员将在第13届国际哺乳动物学大会上举行题为“哺乳动物学微生物组前沿”的研讨会和讲习班。本次研讨会将展示哺乳动物-微生物相互作用研究的前沿，研讨会将教授灵活思维，使用土著“关系”概念作为概念化连通性的框架。该研讨会是与阿拉斯加土著遗产中心合作举办的，调查人员感谢一位土著长老的指导和指导。所提供的支助将增加哺乳动物学和微生物学之间的跨学科联系，并允许对哺乳动物的保护和疾病生态学采取更全面的办法。哺乳动物体内和体表有多种多样的微生物群落。一个新兴的研究领域已经开始揭示这些微生物在哺乳动物宿主的生态学和进化中所起的作用。据推测，这些群落可以改变动物宿主的生态和进化。然而，鉴于我们目前的生物学理解，我们对微生物组的许多方面缺乏彻底的概念性理解。与跨学科的科学方法类似，考虑其他理解领域的观点或策略，例如哲学和土著知识，可能是有价值的。通过考虑或参与替代或互补的方法，学术科学家有时静态和僵化的心态得到了放松的机会。哺乳动物微生物组领域提供了一个丰富的机会，开始将长期分离的领域的方法结合起来，综合我们对哺乳动物和微生物生态学的知识和理解。与协办单位合作，支持的研讨会和研讨会将围绕这些想法展开对话，并发展跨学科合作，在微生物学、哺乳动物学和哲学领域建立新的研究轨迹。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，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。

As we gain a better understanding of the associations between wild mammals and microorganisms, it is becoming clear that we can leverage information from these associations to test pressing hypotheses about mammalian conservation and pathogen dynamics. Microbiome research in wild mammals suggests that microbes enable dietary specialization, may facilitate migration or hibernation, impact susceptibility of the mammal to disease invasion, and may have ancient associations with their mammal hosts. A growing body of evidence indicates that environmental change alters these mammal-microbe interactions and may have consequences for mammal conservation and the role mammals play as wildlife reservoirs of human pathogens. We need more researchers studying the interdependence of wild mammals and microbes using creative thinking frameworks in order to examine these complex systems. To increase the number of mammalogists studying microorganisms, the investigators will hold a symposium and workshop titled “The Microbiome Frontier of Mammalogy” at the 13th International Mammalogical Congress. This symposium will showcase the cutting-edge of research on mammal-microbe interactions and the workshop will teach flexible thinking using the Indigenous concept of “relationality” as a framework to conceptualize connectedness. The workshop is hosted in collaboration with the Alaska Native Heritage Center, and the investigators acknowledge the guidance and instruction from an Indigenous Elder. The support provided will increase the interdisciplinary connections between mammalogy and microbiology and allow a more holistically approach conservation and disease ecology of mammals. Mammals harbor diverse and abundant communities of microorganisms in and on their bodies. A burgeoning research field has begun to uncover the role that these microbes play in the ecology and evolution of mammalian hosts. It has been hypothesized that these communities could alter the ecology and evolution of animal hosts. However, we lack a thorough conceptual understanding of many facets of the microbiome given our current biological understandings. Akin to interdisciplinary scientific approaches, there may be value in considering the viewpoints or strategies of other fields of understanding, such as philosophy and Indigenous knowledge. By considering or engaging in alternative or complementary approaches, the sometimes static and rigid mindsets of academic scientists are given the opportunity to relax. The field of the mammalian microbiome offers a rich opportunity to begin combining approaches from long-separated fields to synthesize our knowledge and understanding of mammalogy and microbial ecology. In collaboration with co-organizers, the supported symposium and workshop will initiate dialogue around these ideas and develop interdisciplinary collaborations for building new research trajectories in the fields of microbiology, mammalogy, and philosophy.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.