NSF Minority Postdoctoral Research Fellowship for FY2008

这项行动为2008财政年度的NSF少数民族博士后研究奖学金提供资金。该研究金支持研究员在东道实验室的研究和培训计划，研究员还提出了一项计划，通过实地和实验室实验的指导，扩大代表性不足的少数群体对生物学的参与。本奖学金的研究和培训计划的标题为冬青R。Barnard是“开发可靠的方法来评估亚高山分水岭中森林植被与土壤蒸发的水分损失”。这项研究的主办机构是怀俄明州大学，赞助科学家是大卫威廉姆斯博士。人们对蒸腾作用在森林生态系统水分平衡中的作用知之甚少。 植物的蒸腾作用常与地表蒸发一起被称为“蒸散”。“虽然作为一个单位来测量，蒸腾和蒸发以根本不同的方式对环境驱动因素作出反应。 因此，对用于生物过程（如光合作用）的水相对于蒸发而非生物可用的水的重要性的了解在森林中相对有限。这项研究测量了水的稳定同位素组成沿着土壤-植物-大气连续体的变化。 氢和氧的稳定同位素的组成被用来分离植物和大气之间交换水蒸气时蒸散的组成部分，培训目标包括稳定同位素技术和基本植物生态生理学与水文学的结合，以评估植物如何调节森林生态系统中生物可用的水。其结果将对农业产生影响，因为通过与国际原子能机构（原子能机构）土壤和水科的合作，开发改善水管理和水利用的技术将提高发展中国家水资源有限环境中作物生长的效率。 扩大参与的活动包括指导本科生和充当榜样。

This action funds an NSF Minority Postdoctoral Research Fellowship for FY 2008. The fellowship supports a research and training plan in a host laboratory for the Fellow who also presents a plan to broaden participation in biology of underrepresented minorities through mentorship in field and laboratory experiments. The title of the research and training plan for this fellowship to Holly R. Barnard is "Developing reliable methods for assessing water loss from forest vegetation versus soil evaporation in a sub-alpine watershed" The host institution for this research is the University of Wyoming and the sponsoring scientist is Dr. David Williams.The role that transpiration plays in water balance in the forest ecosystem is poorly understood. Transpiration by plants is often measured with surface evaporation as "evapotranspiration." Although measured as one unit, transpiration and evaporation respond to environmental drivers in fundamentally different ways. As a result, the understanding of the importance of water used for biological processes (such as photosynthesis) versus water that evaporates and is not biologically available is relatively limited in forests. This research measures changes in the stable isotope composition of water along the soil-plant-atmosphere-continuum. The composition of stable isotopes of hydrogen and oxygen are being used to separate the components of evapotranspiration as water vapor is exchanged between vegetation and the atmosphere.The training objectives include techniques in stable isotopes and the fusion of basic plant ecophysiology with hydrology to assess how plants modulate biologically available water in forested ecosystems. Results will have agricultural impacts as developing techniques to improve water management and water use will increase efficiency for crops growing in water limited environments of developing countries through collaboration with the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) Soil and Water Section. Activites to broaden participation include mentoring of undergraduate students and serving as a role model.