U.S.-Kenya Planning Visit: Ecological Studies in the Maasai Mara National Reserve and Kenyan Training Workshop on Eumycetozoans

该奖项将支持PI Adam Rollins（林肯纪念大学）和共同PI Steven斯蒂芬森（阿肯色州大学）计划访问肯尼亚的三个地点：肯尼亚国家博物馆的生物多样性中心，内罗毕大学和马赛马拉国家保护区。拟议访问的主要目的是让PI（由一名林肯纪念大学本科生陪同）和联合PI会见肯尼亚国家博物馆的乔治Ndiritu博士和内罗毕大学的弗朗西斯Mwaura博士。 在访问期间，PI和外国合作伙伴将（1）围绕与东非草原和其他生态系统相关的真菌体制定未来合作研究计划，（2）开始制定一项或多项国际资助计划，以支持拟议的合作努力，（3）收集一组初步样本，以生成一组基线数据，（4）在肯尼亚国家博物馆和内罗毕大学为肯尼亚大学生和博物馆专业人员举办一次关于真菌体的讲习班和一次或多次研讨会。知识价值：对与草原生态系统相关的微生物群落生态学知之甚少。这对于真菌生动物（例如，黏菌和网柄类）。只有一个全面的广泛的研究记录了网柄细胞黏菌已出版的具体涉及这一生态系统（罗林斯等2010年）。此外，没有一个单一的公开发表的论文专门记录与草原生态系统相关的黏菌的发生。PI和Co-PI有大量的数据集，记录了美国中西部草原上黏菌的发生（Rollins和斯蒂芬森，手稿正在编写中），以及来自伯利兹、哥斯达黎加和澳大利亚草原站点的较小数据集（未发表的数据）。一般来说，很少有人知道与非洲大陆的各种生态系统相关的真菌动物。该项目将产生一组初步数据，这些数据将开始填补这一空白，并最终可用于解决与非洲大陆和全球的真菌体相关的生态关联和生态地理模式相关的问题。规划访问旨在建立两所美国大学之间的合作研究的生产计划（田纳西州的林肯纪念大学和阿肯色州的阿肯色州大学）和两个肯尼亚机构（肯尼亚国家博物馆和内罗毕大学）。预计这一合作努力将产生一个国际研究组成部分，最终将有利于美国和肯尼亚的本科生和研究生。如果得到资助，这次规划访问将特别有利于林肯纪念大学的一名本科生，使其在向肯尼亚学生和科学家介绍其研究经验方面获得国际经验，作为培训讲习班的一部分。总的来说，拟议的旅行的经验将大大有利于学生暴露他/她的国际合作研究工作，反过来加强学生？的概念涉及科学方法论，批判性思维技能和文化多样性。

This award will support a planning visit for PI Adam Rollins (Lincoln Memorial University) and co-PI Steven Stephenson (University of Arkansas) to visit three locations in Kenya: the Center for Biodiversity housed at the National Museums of Kenya, the University of Nairobi, and the Maasai Mara National Reserve. The main objective of the proposed trip is for the PI (accompanied by a Lincoln Memorial University undergraduate student) and Co-PI to meet with Dr. George Ndiritu of the National Museums of Kenya and Dr. Francis Mwaura of the University of Nairobi. During the visit, the PI's and the foreign partners will (1) develop plans for future collaborative research centered around the eumycetozoans associated with grasslands and other ecosystems in eastern Africa, (2) begin the process of developing one or more international grant proposals to support the proposed collaborative efforts, (3) collect a preliminary set of samples to generate a set of baseline data, (4) present a workshop and one or more seminars on eumycetozoans to Kenyan university students and museum professionals at the National Museums of Kenya and the University of Nairobi.Intellectual merit: Relatively little is known about the ecology of microbial communities associated with grassland ecosystems. This is especially true for the eumycetozoans (e.g., myxomycetes and dictyostelids). Only one comprehensive widespread study documenting dictyostelid cellular slime molds has been published relating specifically to this ecosystem (Rollins et al. 2010). Furthermore, there is not a single published paper specifically documenting the occurrence of myxomycetes associated with grassland ecosystems. The PI and Co-PI have a substantial data set documenting the occurrence of myxomycetes in the grasslands of the west-central United States (Rollins and Stephenson, manuscript in preparation), as well as smaller data sets from grassland sites in Belize, Costa Rica, and Australia (unpublished data). In general, very little is known with respect to the eumycetozoans associated with various ecosystems across the continent of Africa. This project would generate a set of preliminary data that would begin to address this void and could ultimately be used to address questions related to the ecological associations and biogeographical patterns associated with eumycetozoans across the continent of Africa and globally.Broader impact: The planning visit seeks to establish a productive program of collaborative research between two US universities (Lincoln Memorial University in TN and the University of Arkansas in AR) and two Kenyan institutions (the National Museums of Kenya and the University of Nairobi). It is expected that this collaborative effort will produce an international research component that will ultimately benefit both undergraduate and graduate students within the United States and in Kenya. If funded, this planning visit would specifically benefit an undergraduate student from Lincoln Memorial University by providing the student with international experience in presenting information about their research experiences to Kenyan students and scientists as part of the training workshop component. Collectively, the experiences of the proposed trip would greatly benefit the student by exposing him/her to an international collaborative research effort, in turn strengthening the student?s concepts related to scientific methodologies, critical thinking skills, and cultural diversity.