PASI: Advanced Tunicate Biology: Integrating Modern and Traditional Techniques for the Study of Ascidians; Bocas del Toro, Panama; June/July 2011

这项由美国国家科学基金会和美国能源部共同支持的泛美高级研究机构（PASI）奖将于2011年6月/7月在巴拿马博卡斯德尔托罗的史密森热带研究所（STRI）博卡斯德尔托罗研究站（BRS）举行。 由巴拿马STRI的Rachel柯林博士组织，PASI将为高级研究生、博士后研究人员和新博士研究被囊动物生物学。 被囊动物是脊椎动物的姐妹类群，因此是阐明发育进化等模式和过程的重要类群。本课程涵盖传统的形态学和最近的分子生物学方法，用于被囊动物生物学，生态学，遗传学和进化的研究。 这群讲师是唯一有资格制作和传播大量关于加勒比动物群的信息的人。 本课程将包括讲座和实地和实验室练习，涵盖了广泛的主题。 与会者将来自美国、巴西、哥伦比亚、巴拿马和欧洲。最近系统研究已经减弱的论点使得培训被囊动物生物学家掌握更传统的技能，如形态鉴定、分类学和系统学成为一个令人信服的理由。 本PASI的预期成果包括：1）解决当前涉及被囊动物的问题; 2）培训下一代系统学家，掌握研究这组生物体的基本技能; 3）在互联网上提供关于被囊动物识别和收集的信息。 PASI的结果将通过教育目的的电子设备、Bocas生物多样性清单数据库的更新以及将DNA条形码添加到全球BOLD数据库中来传播。

This Pan-American Advanced Studies Institutes (PASI) award, jointly supported by the NSF and the Department of Energy (DOE), will take place during 3 weeks of June/July 2011 at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute's (STRI) Bocas del Toro Research Station (BRS) in Bocas del Toro, Panama. Organized by Dr. Rachel Collin of the STRI in Panama, the PASI will address tunicate biology for advanced graduate students, postdoctoral researchers and new PhDs. Tunicates represent the sister group to vertebrates and are therefore an important group with which to elucidate patterns and processes such as the evolution of development. The course covers traditional morphological and more recent molecular methods for the investigation of tunicate biology, ecology, phylogenetics and evolution. The assembled group of lecturers is uniquely qualified to produce and disseminate a large amount of information on the Caribbean fauna. The course will consist of lectures and field and laboratory exercises that cover a wide range of topics. Participants will be drawn from the US, Brazil, Colombia, Panama, and Europe.The argument that systematic research has waned recently makes a compelling case for training tunicate biologists in more traditional skills like morphological identification, taxonomy, and systematics. Expected outcomes in this PASI include 1) addressing contemporary concerns involving the tunicates; 2) training the next generation of systematists with the essential skills to study this group of organisms; and, 3) making information on tunicate identification and collection available on the internet. The PASI results will be disseminated through electronic devices for educational purposes, updates to the Bocas Biodiversity Inventory Database, and by adding DNA barcodes to the global BOLD database.