Automated liquid handling workstation for research in ecology and evolution

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The last 3 decades have borne witness to incredible advances in molecular techniques that have permeated all fields of biology, including ecology, and conservation and evolutionary biology. Surveys of high-resolution molecular markers or expression profiles of suites of key genes can provide insights into population and community dynamics, mating systems, adaptation, dispersal and population connectivity, evolutionary relationships, and species origins. In turn, such data may inform management of species of conservation concern, impacts of human-caused habitat fragmentation and other anthropogenic activities, and the influence of climate change on species distributions. Addressing questions related to these themes, however, typically requires that we collect and process samples from 100s or 1000s of individuals and survey increasing numbers of DNA markers (>20). Moreover, new methods in studies of gene expression, ecological genomics and resurrection ecology require highly-accurate aliquoting of very small liquid volumes. Here we propose to purchase a Biomek NXP Laboratory Automation Workstation that will i. augment the quality and quantity of graduate student and postdoc training, ii. allow us to significantly increase the number of loci and samples we run, iii. improve the efficacy of genotyping and gene expression analysis reducing cost/sample, and iv. permit us to explore new avenues of research particularly related to gene expression, the genetic basis of adaptation and ecological genomics. The facility will be shared among the 11 biology faculty listed on this application (one third of the tenured faculty complement in our department), be used by a minimum of 2 postdocs, 10 graduate students and 15 undergraduate thesis students per year, and be made available to all other tenured and adjunct biology colleagues on a cost recovery basis.