Puerto Rico Center for Environmental Neuroscience

人类活动正以惊人的速度改变着环境。多学科的方法是必要的，以了解在这些日益紧张的条件下生物体的分子，细胞和行为反应之间的复杂相互作用。神经系统是有机体与其环境之间的界面。波多黎各环境神经科学中心（PRCEN）将结合神经科学（研究神经系统和行为）和环境科学（研究当地生态系统环境）来解决波多黎各热带环境中的环境问题。该中心将结合波多黎各大学（UPR）医学科学校区神经生物学研究所和解剖学系的神经科学家，以及环境科学项目和各学系的环境科学家。普遍定期审议生物学和化学的b里约热内卢Piedras。该联盟将把通常与细胞和分子神经科学相关的尖端技术与当地生态系统和环境科学的专业知识结合起来，创造一个新的领域，这将要求参与者走出他们的舒适区，学习全新的研究领域。该中心的目标将是：(1)在环境神经科学的新领域建立研究项目，(2)通过师资和基础设施的发展提高研究效率，(3)增加获得跨学科科学高级学位的少数民族学生的数量，以及(4)产生社区对中心所做工作的理解。研究子项目侧重于四个当地生态系统：陆地、淡水河流、河口和海洋系统。所研究的栖息地是紧密相连的：山上的污染物进入河流，穿过河口，最终进入海洋。海洋子项目旨在利用最先进的分子细胞技术，了解环境压力对热带珊瑚的影响。河口项目将重点关注蓝蟹，它支持着美国最大的渔业产业之一。该项目将使用高分辨率监测来跟踪污染物和其他环境压力因素的存在，并将由此产生的环境数据与螃蟹心脏和内分泌功能的生理监测相关联。淡水研究将监测波多黎各三条代表性河流的污染物。四种动物模型（斑马鱼、食蚊鱼和两种对虾）将暴露在三条河流中的污染物中，并检查一系列生理和行为参数。最后，陆地项目将使用复杂的分子生物学和电生理学来检查来自波多黎各不同栖息地的果蝇的神经系统。标准实验室饲养的果蝇（Drosophila）是世界各地神经生物学实验室中广泛使用的珍贵模型系统。然而，对这种野生动物的研究很少，特别是对它们生活的特定栖息地的研究。智力能力PRCEN概念的关键是神经系统是生物体与其环境之间的界面；一个多学科的方法是必要的，以了解复杂的相互作用的分子，细胞，有机体和生态系统动力学面临的生物在日益紧张的条件下，人类对环境的影响。我们把这种方法称为环境神经科学。该计划将由一个中心假设统一起来，即全面了解污染和气候变化的后果需要监测环境条件的研究人员和利用这些信息确定环境如何影响功能的生物生物学家之间的对话。更广泛的影响PRCEN中心将改变我们看待环境问题的方式，并将创造一个新的科学家类别，为人类活动带来的环境挑战做好准备。该中心将利用1.9万多名学生群体，影响大量少数民族学生。我们的本科生参与者将与正在进行的国家科学基金会赞助的指导计划紧密结合，如刘易斯·斯托克斯少数民族参与联盟、本科生研究经验计划和本科生研究指导计划。我们的研究生将有机会在这里接受广泛的培训，也将有机会在美国本土的地方学习课程和培训，比如马萨诸塞州伍兹霍尔的海洋生物实验室。最后，我们的研究将与当地组织，如圣胡安湾河口计划，协调以K-12教育为目标的社区外展活动。

Human activities are altering the environment at an alarming rate. A multidisciplinary approach is essential to understand the complex interplay between molecular, cellular, and behavioral responses by organisms under these increasingly stressful conditions. The nervous system is the interface between an organism and its environment. The Puerto Rico Center for Environmental Neuroscience (PRCEN) will combine neuroscience (the study of the nervous system and behavior) and environmental science (the study of local ecosystem environments) to tackle environmental issues in Puerto Rico's tropical setting. The Center will combine neuroscientists from the Institute of Neurobiology and the Dept. of Anatomy of the University of Puerto (UPR) Medical Sciences campus and environmental scientists from the Environmental Sciences Program and the Depts. of Biology and Chemistry of the UPR Rio Piedras. The alliance will bring together cutting-edge techniques normally associated with cellular and molecular neuroscience with expertise in local ecosystems and environmental science to create a novel field that will require participants to move outside of their comfort zones and learn about entirely new areas of research. Objectives of the center will be to: (1) establish research programs in the new field of environmental neuroscience, (2) enhance research productivity through faculty and infrastructure development, (3) increase the numbers of minority students attaining advanced degrees in interdisciplinary science, and (4) generate community understanding of the work being done in the Center. The research subprojects focus on four local ecosystems: terrestrial, freshwater rivers, estuaries, and marine systems. The habitats under study are intimately connected: contaminants in the mountains make their way into rivers, pass through the estuaries, and end up in the sea. The oceans subproject is designed to understand the consequences of environmental pressures on tropical corals, using state of the art molecular-cellular techniques. The estuaries project will focus on the blue crab, which supports one of the largest fisheries industries in the United States. This project will use high resolution monitoring to track the presence of contaminants and other environmental stressors, and correlate the resulting environmental data with physiological monitoring of heart and endocrine functioning in this crab. The freshwater studies will monitor contaminants in three representative Puerto Rican rivers. Four animal models (zebrafish, mosquitofish, and two types of prawn) will be exposed to pollutants found in the three rivers, and a range of physiological and behavioral parameters will be examined. Finally, the terrestrial project will use sophisticated molecular biology and electro-physiology to examine the nervous systems of fruit flies from different habitats in Puerto Rico. The standard laboratory-reared fruit fly (Drosophila) is a prized and widely-used model system in neurobiology laboratories throughout the world. However, there is a paucity of studies examining this animal in the wild, especially with respect to the specific habitats in which they are living.Intellectual MeritThe conceptual linchpin of the PRCEN is that the nervous system is the interface between an organism and its environment; a multidisciplinary approach is essential to understand the complex interplay of molecular, cellular, organismal, and ecosystem dynamics faced by organisms under the increasingly stressful conditions created by human impacts on the environment. We refer to this approach as environmental neuroscience. The program will be unified by the central hypothesis that a full understanding of the consequences of pollution and climate change requires dialogue between investigators monitoring environmental conditions and organismal biologists using that information to determine how environment affects function. Broader ImpactThe PRCEN center will change the way we look at environmental problems, and will create a new category of scientists prepared for the environmental challenges developing from human activities. The Center will impact a large number of minority students by tapping into the collective student population of over 19,000. Our undergraduate participants will integrate closely with ongoing NSF sponsored mentorship initiatives such as the Lewis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation, the Research Experience for Undergraduates Program, and the Undergraduate Research Mentoring Program. Our graduate students will have access to broad training here, and will also be given the opportunity to take courses and train stateside at places like the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, MA. Finally, our studies will integrate with local organizations such as the San Juan Bay Estuary Program to coordinate community outreach targeting K-12 education.