International Research Fellowship Program: Evolutionary History of SE Asian Shrews

国际研究奖学金计划使美国科学家和工程师能够在国外进行9至24个月的研究。 该计划的奖项提供了联合研究的机会，以及使用国外独特或互补的设施，专业知识和实验条件。 该奖项将支持Jacob Esselstyn博士与印度尼西亚大学的Jatna Supriatna博士和加拿大麦克马斯特大学的Ben Evans博士合作，为期24个月的研究奖学金。 该项目的重点是在东南亚鼩（Soricomorpha：Crocidura）的多样化的历史，与确定的力量，塑造了多样性的当前模式的目标。 在印度尼西亚主要岛屿上进行的有针对性的实地工作正在用新的标本补充现有的系统发育数据集，从而能够更好地估计种间关系，并更准确地估计区域生物多样性。 生物信息学技术和一个正在进行中的鼩 鼱基因组正在被用来识别快速演变的核基因，适用于东南亚鼩 鼱的系统发育和地理分布推断。 根据由此产生的多地点数据集得出的系统发育估计数正与生态形态和气候数据相结合，以探讨竞争和专业化等生态力量在形成多样化和群落集合过程中的重要性。 该项目支持一名博士后研究人员，并在美国，印度尼西亚和加拿大科学家。 博士后研究员正在接受生物信息学和分子生物学方面的培训。 预期成果包括改进对生物资源严重退化区域生物多样性的估计，以及更好地了解岛屿群岛的进化和生态过程。

The International Research Fellowship Program enables U.S. scientists and engineers to conduct nine to twenty-four months of research abroad. The program's awards provide opportunities for joint research, and the use of unique or complementary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions abroad. This award will support a twenty-four-month research fellowship by Dr. Jacob Esselstyn to work with Dr. Jatna Supriatna at the University of Indonesia in Indonesia and with Dr. Ben Evans at McMaster University in Canada. This project focuses on the history of diversification in Southeast Asian shrews (Soricomorpha: Crocidura), with a goal of identifying the forces that have shaped current patterns of diversity. Targeted fieldwork on the major islands of Indonesia is supplementing an existing phylogenetic data set with new specimens, allowing for improved estimation of inter-specific relationships and more accurate estimates of regional biodiversity. Bioinformatic techniques and an in-progress shrew genome are being used to identify rapidly evolving nuclear genes appropriate for phylogenetic and phylogeographic inference in Southeast Asian shrews. Phylogenetic estimates derived from the resulting multi-locus data set are being integrated with ecomorphological and climate data to explore the significance of ecological forces such as competition and specialization in shaping the processes of diversification and community assembly. This project supports one post-doctoral researcher and builds collaborative relationships among U.S., Indonesian, and Canadian scientists. The post-doctoral researcher is being trained in bioinformatics and molecular biology. Anticipated results include improved estimates of biodiversity in a region undergoing severe degradation of biological resources and a greater understanding of evolutionary and ecological processes in island archipelagos.