US-South Africa International Research Experience for Students - Biodiversity Hotspots: Ecological and Evolutionary Patterns and Process in the Cape Floristic Region: IRES

这项国际学生研究经验（IRES）奖支持15名美国学生在南非开普植物区进行为期三年的生物多样性科学研究。康奈狄格大学的四位科学家，John Silander博士（PI）和Kent Holsinger博士，Cynthia Jones博士和Carl Schlichting博士（联合PI）将与南非科学家Guy Midgley博士和Tony Rebelo博士（南非国家生物多样性研究所，Kirstenbosch）以及Jeremy Midgley博士（开普敦大学）合作领导项目。目前对影响生物多样性产生、维持和丧失的生态和进化过程的认识仍然普遍贫乏。生物多样性科学面临的问题是全球性的，需要在研究和教育方面进行基础广泛的国际合作。南非开普植物区是一个理想的自然实验室，在一个主要的全球生物多样性热点，每单位面积包含比世界上大多数其他地区更多的植物物种。学生团队和个人的研究项目将集中在三组植物（proteas， pelargonium和geoophytes）上，每组都非常多样化，广泛分布在南非的栖息地类型中，并且由具有保护意义的物种组成。科学培训将侧重于生态学、进化生物学、统计学和建模。该项目的总体目标是促进美国和南非在生物多样性相关问题上的长期科学研究伙伴关系，并通过提供强大的国际研究经验和丰富的外国文化体验，为美国学生进行国际科学合作做好准备。该项目利用了康涅狄格大学与开普敦大学的长期合作关系和正在进行的项目，以及PI和联合PI参与的努力，包括来自生物多样性科学中代表性不足群体的学生。该奖项由国际科学与工程办公室和环境生物学部共同资助。

This International Research Experiences for Students (IRES) award supports research experience in biodiversity science in the Cape Floristic Region of South Africa for 15 US students over three years. Four University of Connecticut scientists, Dr. John Silander (PI) and Dr. Kent Holsinger, Dr. Cynthia Jones and Dr. Carl Schlichting (co-PIs) will lead projects in collaboration with South African scientists Dr. Guy Midgley and Dr. Tony Rebelo (South African National Biodiversity Institute, Kirstenbosch) and Dr. Jeremy Midgley (University of Cape Town). Current understanding of the ecological and evolutionary processes that affect the generation, maintenance and loss of biological diversity remains universally poor. The issues confronted by biodiversity science are global in scale and will require broad-based, international collaboration in research and education. The Cape Floristic Region of South Africa is an ideal natural laboratory in a prime global hotspot of biodiversity, containing more plant species per unit area than most other regions of the world. Student team and individual research projects will focus on three groups of plants (proteas, pelargoniums and geophytes), each group being remarkably diverse, broadly distributed across habitat types in South Africa, and comprised of species of conservation significance. Scientific training will focus on ecology, evolutionary biology, statistics and modeling. The overall objectives of this project are to foster long-term scientific research partnership between the US and South Africa on issues related to biological diversity and to prepare U.S. students for international scientific collaborations by providing strong international research experiences and rich foreign cultural experiences. This project leverages the University of Connecticut's long relationship with and ongoing programs at the University of Cape Town, as well as the PI and co-PIs' involvement in efforts to include students from under-represented groups in the biodiversity science.This award is co-funded by the Office of International Science and Engineering and the Division of Environmental Biology.