BIO Research Training Group Program: Biology in Small Populations

该奖项支持一个新的，多学科的研究培训计划，重点是了解小人口规模的生物学意义。 来自动物学，植物生物学和昆虫学系在马里兰州大学的18名教师与5名同事从史密森学会的研究单位，开发一个新的培训计划，为本科生，研究生和博士后学生，整合人口和社区生态学，遗传学，进化和社会行为的研究在小种群的背景下。 由于繁殖隔离的小种群是许多野生动植物自然分布的一个日益普遍的特征，这种研究将提供对生物学基本过程的重要了解，同时也将产生对保护生物学和保护野生和圈养濒危物种有用的知识。 本科学员将进行为期一年的研究项目，并参加针对所有学员水平的研讨会，期刊俱乐部和技术讲习班。 研究生将遵循为RTG开发的现有和新课程的核心课程，以及为期一年的重点研讨会，导致为期3天的密集年会。 会议期间，与会专家将与学员进行讲座和讨论。 技术研讨会和可选的夏季研究实习将受益于史密森学会实验室和实地研究地点。 所需培训的一个新特点是由RTG的一名教员讲授种族、性别和科学知识课程。 研究生和博士后研究项目将强调多学科的整合，预计将受益于两位教师导师的参与。 ***

This award supports a new, multidisciplinary research training program focused on understanding the biological implications of small population size. A group of 18 faculty from the Departments of Zoology, Plant Biology and Entomology at the University of Maryland have joined with 5 colleagues from research units of the Smithsonian Institution to develop a novel training program for undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral students that integrates studies of population and community ecology, genetics, evolution, and social behavior in the context of small populations. Because small, reproductively isolated populations are an increasingly common feature of the natural distribution of many wild plants and animals, such studies will both provide important understanding of basic processes in biology and, at the same time, lead to knowledge useful in conservation biology and in the preservation of wild and captive endangered species. Undergraduate trainees will pursue a year- long research project and participate in seminars, journal clubs and technical workshops aimed at all trainee levels. Graduate students will follow a core curriculum of existing and new courses developed for the RTG, as well as a required year- long focused seminar leading to an intensive 3-day annual meeting. During the meeting, leading experts will meet in lecture and discussion with the trainees. The technical workshops and optional summer research internships will benefit from Smithsonian Institution laboratories and field research sites. A novel feature of required training will be a course on race, gender and scientific knowledge taught by one of the RTG faculty. Graduate and postdoctoral research projects will emphasize integration of multiple disciplines and are expected to benefit from the participation of two faculty mentors. ***