U.S. South Africa Dissertation Enhancement: Late Paleozoic Fossil Plants from Gondwana: Clarifying the Role of Glossopterids In Seed Plant Evolution

该奖项支持Patricia E. Ryberg，PI实验室的研究生，古植物学。资金将使Ryberg女士能够与威特沃特斯兰德大学的Marion Bamford博士和南非罗兹大学的Rose Prevec博士合作。Ryberg女士的研究是对Glossopteridales的系统学和系统发生学的研究，Glossopteridales是来自南半球（冈瓦纳）二叠纪岩石（约260百万年）的灭绝种子植物，被认为是开花植物的祖先。Prevec博士和Bamford博士分别是世界上关于舌羊齿类生殖结构的专家，以及这一群体最大和最多样化收藏的策展人。Ryberg女士的研究将集中在比较她在南极洲和南非的化石，以便为全球舌羊齿类的进化和种子植物的进化提供数据。最终目标是了解该群体的进化及其与显花植物的可能关系。该项目将增强Ryberg女士的论文，并为与南非同事继续合作提供基础。通过这个项目，她将获得知识和国际联系，为未来的工作。南非古植物学家将提供培训和知识，他们的方法来印象化石和Ryberg女士将有机会与他们讨论她的论文研究。从这项研究开始的国际合作将为未来的其他研究提供联系，这将增强Ryberg博士学位后的教学和研究。完成了

This award supports doctoral dissertation research of Patricia E. Ryberg, graduate student in the laboratory of the PI, in paleobotany. Funding will allow Ms. Ryberg to work with Dr. Marion Bamford, University of Witwatersrand, and Dr. Rose Prevec, Rhodes University, South Africa. Ms. Ryberg's research is on the systematics and phylogeny of the Glossopteridales, extinct seed plants of Permian rocks (~260 myr) from the Southern Hemisphere (Gondwana), which are thought to be ancestors of the flowering plants. Drs. Prevec and Bamford are, respectively, the world's expert on glossopterid reproductive structures, and curator of the largest and most diverse collections of this group. Ms. Ryberg's research will concentrate on comparing her fossils from Antarctica with those from South Africa, in order to provide data for a global phylogeny of the glossopterids, and for a seed plant phylogeny. The final goal is to understand the evolution of the group and their possible relationship to the flowering plants.This project will enhance Ms. Ryberg's dissertation, and provide a basis for continuing collaboration with South African colleagues. Through this project, she will gain knowledge and international contacts for future work. South African paleobotanists will provide training and knowledge of their approach to impression fossils and Ms. Ryberg will have the opportunity to discuss her dissertation research with them. The international collaborations begun with this study will provide connections for additional research in the future, which will enhance Ms. Ryberg's teaching and research after her Ph.D. is completed.