IRES: Behavioral Ecology and Conservation of African Carnivores

技术文摘。IRES基金每年将允许四名高级本科生和四名初级研究生与我的团队一起在肯尼亚度过一个夏天，进行非洲食肉动物的研究。IRES基金允许学生利用比较方法，并开展旨在获取关于居住在马拉-塞伦盖蒂生态系统的食肉动物的新的有用信息的项目。IRES的资金还允许继续与三名肯尼亚科学家和一名年轻的美国博士级生物学家建立培训伙伴关系；这支培训团队使iress的学生能够解决一系列关于非洲食肉动物行为、保护和生理的研究问题，从它们认知能力的进化到对它们应激生理的人为影响。参加这个IRES项目的机会被广泛宣传，学生的选择基于一系列标准，包括奖学金、创造力和多样性。本科生参与者将从一个庞大的国家池中选出，研究生参与者将从一个较小的地方池中选出。成对的本科生和研究生将通过专题研究重点联系起来，他们将与特定的肯尼亚培训师密切合作。所有肯尼亚驯兽师都与肯尼亚野生动物管理局（KWS）密切相关；最初的培训活动将在KWS总部和KWS培训学院进行。然后，IRES的学生将被送往肯尼亚西南部的马赛马拉国家保护区，其中四人将被安置在我们的两个帐篷研究营地中。学生们将花几个星期的时间在马拉开发和执行他们的实地研究项目，与肯尼亚培训师和肯尼亚学生密切合作。在肯尼亚期间，IRES的学生还将接受科学写作方面的明确培训，并在每年在KWS总部举行的食肉动物研究人员会议上口头展示他们的工作。我们为学生提供的研究机会是无与伦比的，不仅可以研究几种仍然知之甚少的食肉动物物种的生物学，而且还可以在行为生态学，应激生理学和保护生物学方面做出重要贡献。除了为一名研究生项目助理提供支持外，IRES资助每年将深刻影响八名美国顶尖学生的专业发展，并为他们提供在壮观的自然环境中学习广泛的实地研究技能的绝佳机会。研究中心的学生将接受非洲食肉动物基础生物学和应用生物学的培训，并开展研究项目。肯尼亚的经济繁荣与非洲食肉动物的保护密切相关，但我们保护这些动物的能力往往受到我们对它们基本生物学知之甚少的限制。在致力于非洲野生动物保护的肯尼亚培训师的指导下，iress的学生将收集数据，以便对肯尼亚国家公园和保护区使用的管理政策进行重大改进。参加者将学到很多关于非洲生活和文化的知识，以及在一个发展中国家保护食肉动物的复杂性。因此，IRES的经验将对新一代全球科学家的发展作出重大贡献，他们在理解和保护自然世界的愿望中团结一致。非技术抽象。这个国际研究培训项目允许高级本科生和初级研究生在肯尼亚对自由生活的非洲食肉动物进行长时间的实地研究，建立在马赛马拉国家保护区食肉动物研究的强大长期项目的基础上。每年有几名学生将承担一些项目，旨在获取有关马拉-塞伦盖蒂生态系统食肉动物的新信息，并与肯尼亚科学家建立牢固、持久的专业关系。一个由美国和肯尼亚教练组成的强大团队将帮助学生解决一系列关于非洲食肉动物行为、保护和生理的研究问题，从它们认知能力的进化到人类活动对它们应激生理的影响。本科生和研究生将以专题研究为重点，与当地专家密切合作。在肯尼亚期间，学生们将接受科学写作方面的明确培训，并在肯尼亚野生动物管理局主办的食肉动物生物学年度会议上展示他们的工作。这里提供给学生的研究机会是无与伦比的，不仅可以研究几种仍然知之甚少的食肉动物物种的生物学，而且还可以在行为生态学，应激生理学和保护生物学方面做出重要贡献。在这项研究中获得的知识应该有助于非洲食肉动物的保护，从而有助于肯尼亚的经济福祉，这与生态旅游的收入密切相关。这个研究项目也将对新一代全球科学家的专业发展做出重大贡献，他们在理解和保护自然世界的愿望中团结一致。

Technical abstract.IRES funds will permit four advanced undergraduates and four junior graduate students eachyear to spend a summer with my team in Kenya, conducting research on African carnivores.IRES funds permit students to utilize comparative methods, and to undertake projects designedto acquire new and useful information about the carnivores inhabiting the Mara-Serengetiecosystem. IRES funds also permit continuance of a training partnership with three Kenyanscientists and one young American PhD-level biologist; this team of trainers enables IRESstudents to address a broad array of research questions about the behavior, conservation andphysiology of African carnivores, ranging from the evolution of their cognitive abilities toanthropogenic effects on their stress physiology. Opportunities to participate in this IRES projectare widely advertized, and students are selected based on a set of criteria that includescholarship, creativity and diversity. Undergraduate participants will be selected from a hugenational pool, and graduate student participants will be selected from a smaller local pool. Pairsof undergraduate and graduate students will be linked by topical research focus, and they willwork closely with specific Kenyan trainers. All Kenyan trainers are closely affiliated with theKenya Wildlife Service (KWS); initial training activities will take place at KWS HQ and at theKWS Training Institute. IRES students will then be transported to the Masai Mara NationalReserve, in southwestern Kenya, where four of them will be housed at each of our two tentedresearch camps. Students will spend several weeks developing and executing their fieldresearch projects in the Mara, working closely with Kenyan trainers and Kenyan students. Whilein Kenya, IRES students will also receive explicit training in science writing, and present theirwork orally at the Carnivore Researchers Conference held each year at KWS HQ. The researchopportunities we offer to students are unparalleled, not only to investigate the biology of severalcarnivore species that remain very poorly understood, but also to make important contributionsto behavioral ecology, stress physiology and conservation biology. In addition to providingsupport for one graduate student program assistant, IRES funding will profoundly influence theprofessional development of eight top American students each year, and offer themextraordinary opportunities to learn a wide array of field research skills in a spectacular naturalsetting. IRES students will receive training in, and conduct research projects investigating, boththe basic and applied biology of African carnivores. The economic well-being of Kenya isintimately linked with conservation of African carnivores, but our ability to conserve theseanimals is often limited by how little we know about their basic biology. Guided by Kenyantrainers whose professional lives are dedicated to the conservation of African wildlife, IRESstudents will gather data to allow important improvements in the management policies used inKenya's national parks and reserves. IRES participants will learn a great deal about African lifeand culture, and about the complexities associated with carnivore conservation in a developingnation. This IRES experience will thus contribute significantly to the development of a newgeneration of global scientists who are united in their desire to understand and protect thenatural world.Non-technical abstract.This international research training program allows advanced undergraduates and junior graduate students to spend extended periods conducting field research on free-living African carnivores in Kenya, building on a strong long-term program of carnivore research in the Masai Mara National Reserve. Several students each year will undertake projects designed to acquire new and useful information about the carnivores inhabiting the Mara-Serengeti ecosystem, and to develop strong, long-lasting professional relationships with Kenyan scientists. A strong team of American and Kenyan trainers will help students address a broad array of research questions about the behavior, conservation and physiology of African carnivores, ranging from the evolution of their cognitive abilities to effects of human activity on their stress physiology. Pairs of undergraduate and graduate students will be linked by topical research focus, and work closely with local experts. While in Kenya, students will receive explicit training in science writing, and present their work at an annual conference on carnivore biology sponsored by the Kenya Wildlife Service. The research opportunities offered to students here are unparalleled, not only to investigate the biology of several carnivore species that remain very poorly understood, but also to make important contributions to behavioral ecology, stress physiology and conservation biology. The knowledge acquired in this research should facilitate conservation of African carnivores, and thus contribute to the economic well-being of Kenya, which is intimately linked with revenues from eco-tourism. This research program will also contribute significantly to the professional development of a new generation of global scientists who are united in their desire to understand and protect the natural world.